I have to find a better way that this only because, although I have an acre and a half, it is desert, LOTS of desert, and very few plants and no grass, so I will be fermenting my feed, as I do with my chickens.
We made one over a year ago-- it sits in one location for 2 reasons: it is very heavy and I don't have a tractor to move it, and the land is too rough. Letting those birds free range has solved the problem of the mud issue but then predation becomes another issue . . . .
Thank you to everyone that responded
Quote:
Mine go to roost well before dark . . . I still don't have an ideal set up yet.
And coutesy of sally sunshine-- seemed appropriate on our thread here:
I'm new to breeding turkeys. I got two Standard Bronze strait run poults who turned to be Hens. Amazingly I didn't kill them because I knew nothing other than they were cute and I needed a couple. I fed then medicated chick starter and raised them with chicks. They are big babies and act a lot like dogs. I got two toms to go with them. Actually I planed on keeping one and selling the other, but haven't gotten around to that yet,,, lol
It's that time again for us to talk about our Turkey plans for 2014. Laying season has come upon some of us already and for others, laying season will be here in a few months to many months down the line. Let's talk about our turkey plans for 2014.
A few things we can discuss could be.
1. Are you prepared for Turkey season for 2014? Probably not
2. When do your hens start laying eggs? Haven't started yet, only 6-7 months old
3. What breeds do you plan on raising for 2014? Unsure if I will breed, but have one blue slate tom, one blue slate hen, and one Spanish black hen that I would consider breeding.
4. What is your current Tom/Hen Ratio? Currently two toms and five hens, but may cull one tom and two hens this year.
5. How many poults do you plan on hatching? Haven't decided
6. Did you order any poults from other hatcheries? If so, what hatchery, what breed and how many are you expecting? Not this year. Ordered 15 assorted APA breeds from Sandhill Preservation Center in 2013, but Buffalo gnats killed much of their breeding flock so they were only able to send 10 poults. Three died in shipping, so seven are left (2 blue slate toms, one blue slate hen, two Spanish black hens, one heritage bronze hen, one royal palm hen)
7. Are you ordering turkey eggs from someone? If so, how many? No
8. Will you be using an incubator to hatch your turkey eggs? Probably not. If do decide to breed, would likely have the hens brood.
9. Do you want your hens to go broody so that they can hatch eggs? Yes, IF I decide to hatch out poults.
10. Will you be selling eggs and/or poults? Unlikely, but haven't decided for sure. Would consider it to the right home (free range or partial free range, humane, low-density management).
11. What are your feed plans for 2014? Anyone trying fermented feed for their flock? Primarily free range pasture and Purina Flock Raiser until they start laying, then switch to Purina Layena (either Game Bird version, or chicken version, haven't yet decided)it's on my endless "to do" list.
12. Do you have your housing ready for your poults and turkeys? Yes and no. My "temporary housing" seems to be working out well, so eventually I may get around to building permanent housing. But I will be cross fencing more areas through the woods and pastures for them to have several 1-2 acre paddocks to explore.
13. How many turkeys will you be processing for your freezer for 2014? Hopefully three of the 2013 birds, and maybe some early 2014 poults if I hatch any, but I'm getting more attached to turkeys than to my chickens. Culling may be difficult.
14. What did you do this year that you want to do different next year (2014)? I'd trim their wings sooner. Luckily nothing serious happened, but I should have been more responsible. I enjoyed seeing them fly into trees and onto the roof and just play around so much that I put up with them flying out of their fenced yard into areas where they could have been attacked by stray dogs or coyotes, or hit by a car. Luckily my neighbor saw them one day walking down our street, then through another neighbor's yard, then heading towards a local lake. They were just about to cross a busy street when my neighbor herded them back onto my property. The thing that finally did it was a friend had all her Moscovy ducks fly out of their pen one day and killed by coyotes. After that I immediately trimmed their wings to keep them in their yard (it's an acre of pasture and trees, so they still have plenty to do). Now they're safer, and I don't spend nearly as much time retrieving them from places they don't belong, or apologizing to neighbors for trespassing.
PLEASE feel free to post ANYTHING you want about your turkeys, to include posting pics of those cute poults and those handsome and beautiful turkeys. Our discussion is not limited to the above topics. Especially for those who need help with hatching, poult problems, etc. No question is a dumb question, so don't be afraid to ask anything. We are all here to learn and we can learn from each other. Regardless if you keep your turkeys for pets or for food. It doesn't matter. Your problem and experience with your eggs, incubating, hatching, brooding, raising poults/adults can help the next person.
We are all turkey lovers and there are A LOT of experienced turkey people on this thread who are more than willing to help. So let's talk turkey!
