Turkey Talk for 2014

[BullChick]

I was making great progress on the pen when my mother-in-law showed up. She just left, and I am not in the mood to build anymore. Great!
Oh well. Lunch, and then I am going to go back to building... And ignoring that she told me I should do what I was going to do, but decided not to. Changing my mind a million times stinks!

 

[Sydney Acres]

I was making great progress on the pen when my mother-in-law showed up. She just left, and I am not in the mood to build anymore. Great!
Oh well. Lunch, and then I am going to go back to building... And ignoring that she told me I should do what I was going to do, but decided not to. Changing my mind a million times stinks!

I have a rule on my farm: you show up without notice, you help me with whatever project I'm working on, no exceptions!!! (OK exceptions for emergencies.) If you can't help, or are useless when you help, or don't want to help, you need to leave. "And please sweetie, you know I love seeing you, so next time you want to visit just give me a call first so I can be sure I don't have something urgent scheduled that day.

" Needless to say, I don't get very many unannounced visitors. I make it a rule to suddenly be working on the most difficult or disgusting projects whenever my gate alarm goes off unexpectedly

.

Never undervalue the polite, but proper training of those around you, regardless of the species!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
I'm so sorry. Try to keep looking if you can. Are her wings trimmed? If not, is she able to fly well? Unless she was sleeping or brooding, it's just hard to imagine a land predator being able to kill a turkey in an open field. If she's capable of flying, the predator has to get close enough to ambush her before she can fly away, which is hard for a large predator to do if the grass is all laying over, and there's no cover around, unless she just really wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. Do you have any eagles around? Even though eagles only weigh 8-13 lbs, they can carry off prey that weighs more than they do, especially if there's an open field to give them a long distance to gain height before hitting trees. They don't usually want prey that big, as it's a lot of effort, but heritage birds are heavier than they look from the air, and the young, less experienced eagles often take prey that the mature eagles wouldn't bother with unless desperate.

Hoping for the best. All fingers and toes crossed for you.

 

[BullChick]

Another break, but I think I am 15 minutes from adding the bedding. Then again, I can't believe the day is almost gone. I swear I was only out there another half an hour. I did flip the pen. I will post a couple pictures if no one criticizes. I didn't think it was going to be so hard! Between the nails not holding the walls on, boards being where they "shouldn't" be, and trying to hold boards up while nailing, it is more involved than I thought.
Now, who votes that the 2 BBW will be okay in a coop overnight when it is going to be 40*. They did fine out in the "open" at 50* Monday night. They didn't even cuddle together.

Their day pen. They can go upstairs, but don't.


Where they are at night, and on rainy days. You see why they need to go outside.

 

[TurkenItUp209]

I have 5 eggs on lock-down. I accidentally rolled one of the eggs....is that a death sentence to the embryo? They are due Saturday.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Another break, but I think I am 15 minutes from adding the bedding. Then again, I can't believe the day is almost gone. I swear I was only out there another half an hour. I did flip the pen. I will post a couple pictures if no one criticizes. I didn't think it was going to be so hard! Between the nails not holding the walls on, boards being where they "shouldn't" be, and trying to hold boards up while nailing, it is more involved than I thought.
Now, who votes that the 2 BBW will be okay in a coop overnight when it is going to be 40*. They did fine out in the "open" at 50* Monday night. They didn't even cuddle together.

Their day pen. They can go upstairs, but don't.


Where they are at night, and on rainy days. You see why they need to go outside.

Oh, I remember that stage -- way too big for the brooder but don't want to leave them outside yet.

Don't worry, you're not alone. Pen building always takes 10 times longer than you think it should. At least it's done now.

It's a very cute pen, much cuter than any of mine. Clearly you put a lot of work into it. I assume that this is just their transition pen, as they look like they're going to be too big to fit under the roosting house before much longer.

If they have plenty of bedding and there's no wind, I would think that they would be able to handle 40 degrees at this age. But since they're not acclimated to it, and they don't want to go into their house yet, they might be more comfortable it they had a sheet or some large towels clipped to the outside of the wire to minimize drafts and retain heat during this transition.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I have 5 eggs on lock-down. I accidentally rolled one of the eggs....is that a death sentence to the embryo? They are due Saturday.

No, accidently rolling an egg once during lockdown isn't deadly. The hen moves them a little bit too. You just don't want to regularly or roughly move them around. At this stage the poult is trying to orient itself to pip in the right place, so frequent movement isn't a good idea.

Don't worry, I thought the same thing last month. I had a broody hen that got off the nest on day 19 to eat, and I snuck in and candled the eggs. I was in a huge hurry to get everything done before she got back. Afterwards, I realized that I wasn't specifically paying attention to whether or not I put them back exactly in the same position and orientation that I had found them. I called a more experienced friend wondering if I'd just killed the whole clutch. She assured me that I hadn't.

 

[BullChick]

Nice looking crate. Makes it look like an easy job to add a few walls, right?


That is the door. I already know they won't fit through it very long. It works for now, though.


A tote if they want to snuggle in it.


This is a chicken. Don't let the fur like feathers fool you. I wasn't expecting the straw to explode when I cut the first string. I also didn't realize how much it would fill the crate!


They seemed to like the run. Lots of head room!

 

[NewToFarming]

I'm so sorry. Try to keep looking if you can. Are her wings trimmed? If not, is she able to fly well? Unless she was sleeping or brooding, it's just hard to imagine a land predator being able to kill a turkey in an open field. If she's capable of flying, the predator has to get close enough to ambush her before she can fly away, which is hard for a large predator to do if the grass is all laying over, and there's no cover around, unless she just really wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. Do you have any eagles around? Even though eagles only weigh 8-13 lbs, they can carry off prey that weighs more than they do, especially if there's an open field to give them a long distance to gain height before hitting trees. They don't usually want prey that big, as it's a lot of effort, but heritage birds are heavier than they look from the air, and the young, less experienced eagles often take prey that the mature eagles wouldn't bother with unless desperate.

Hoping for the best. All fingers and toes crossed for you.

I have been looking but not finding anything. There are no other feathers but in that one area. There was no blood or anything like that in this area either. Her one wing was clipped when I got her and I had gotten her last August and she would have been a year old next month. I have seen hawks here but no eagles that I had seen anyhow. I was thinking maybe she bedded down for the night and was on her way back to the barn in the early morning hours and she couldn't get away fast enough??? I have been told there are coyotes here but have not seen them. There are a group of trees about 2 football fields away and that is where the wild turkeys would go at night in the fall. I don't believe she is coming back this time which makes me sad because she was a very sweet girl. Turkey boy has been upset and calling for most of the day. He has become more protective of the other two girls and beds down with them at night where they are broody.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
I'm so sorry.

With only one wing she probably couldn't get enough lift. Hope we're wrong. Coyotes suck!