Turkey Talk for 2014

[K Epp]

Rockerhen do your turkeys ever get near your Silkies? I have never let mine free range at the same time and wondered if it was possible. My turkeys share the barn with my LF flock and I have seen them get rough with them at feeding time, but seem to fo okay the rest of the time.

 

[RockerHen]

Rockerhen do your turkeys ever get near your Silkies? I have never let mine free range at the same time and wondered if it was possible. My turkeys share the barn with my LF flock and I have seen them get rough with them at feeding time, but seem to fo okay the rest of the time.

All of the time. When I open the door to the silkie coop for free ranging, the turkeys usually go right in to sample their feed, even though they eat the exact same kind. I have never seen the turkeys pick on the silkies at all. They even respect the rooster if he jumps at them for getting too close. Then again, several of these birds were raised by silkies, and they probably see them as just other members of the flock. A lot of my current turkeys were raised by chickens, I think it helps them to not bully the chickens so much when they get older.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote: I only sell poults from home & usually have a waiting list. I'll have slates & palms both this year. Looking to add some more colors as well.
Hi SilkieSensation,
How do you handle the logistics of selling from home? Do you have people come to your farm, or do you deliver the poults to a different location? If people come to your farm, do you limit them to a specific area to prevent potential spread of disease, or have you had any problems in that area? If people see your stock on your farm, have you ever had any problems with theft of your birds after a visit? How and where do you advertise? Have you ever had any negative experiences in selling birds?

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Try this product: http://www.hensaver.com/Hen-Holster.html. Hensaver is a wonderful company, owned by a woman with a PhD in geology who had to quit her corporate job to take care of her special needs daughter. Since she had to be home anyway, she started a sanctuary for farm animals, mostly poultry. She is very creative, and has come up with wonderful products for pet poultry (and cats and dogs) that are either unique, or are significant improvements on existing products from other companies. All her products are now produced in the U.S. The above product is new, and is a combination diaper and harness. It looks like a good design. It comes in three sizes, with the XL described as fitting large roosters, ducks, and standard geese. So it may or may not be big enough for a turkey hen, depending on how big she is, but probably not big enough for a tom, I would think. But you can call the company to ask what your options are. I have had questions about modifying her products in the past, and have gotten wonderful advise. It may be as simple as elongating a few straps, or she may be able to make a custom fitted diaper for your pet turkey.

If you do decide to get a house turkey, be very careful with it on smooth floors. I had a pet house chicken years ago (long story), and if she got excited or startled while on a smooth floor she would start to run and slip around uncontrollably. I don't know how she kept from breaking a leg. With the long legs that turkeys have, you might not be so lucky. I would either put down lots of area rugs for traction, or keep it out of non-carpeted rooms, or consider turkey shoes. They aren't that hard to make. I had a rooster years ago that had severe bumblefoot when I got him. Routine treatment wasn't working because he was so big that the constant pressure on the wounds prevented healing. I contacted someone who specialized in treating pressure wounds on the feet of people with diabetes. I explained the situation, and after he got done laughing he agreed to teach me how to make modified shoes for the rooster to relieve the local pressure and allow the wounds to heal. They were easy to make, and the rooster left them on. He immediately started walking better, and after several months his feet healed. The specialist now has a picture in his waiting room of Emerald wearing his shoes, with a caption underneath that says "We'll find a way to heal almost any foot wound." If all you need is traction, you could probably cut a pattern out of cloth to start, with Velcro closure along the top of each toe (from nail to foot, not around the width of the toe), and Velcro around from the front to the back of the foot. Once you got the pattern right, you could make the shoes out of something like moccasin leather or heavy denim, and then super glue on some thin soles along the entire length of each toe, plus the main part of the foot. Or you could buy one from hensavers (http://www.hensaver.com/Birdy-Bootie.html). (I didn't look to see if they had them until I had already typed this out. The webpage says these are non-slip. Be sure to call an make sure they would be appropriate for your situation, for turkeys, and for long term use.)

Having had a house chicken in the past, I wouldn't necessarily recommend one. They are a lot of work, even with a diaper. You have to really, really, carefully bird proof your house -- there's so many ways for them to injure themselves in the house. They get into everything, and onto everything. And a turkey is so tall that one jump onto the counter and it's into even the highest things. And be super careful to keep it away from the stove burners -- feathers can catch on fire, and feet and faces can be severely burned. You can't cook with ANY non-stick pans or baking dishes -- if they burn the fumes are deadly to birds. But it's not all bad. If you're willing to put in the work, and are able to be really careful, they can be a lot of fun. And you'll develop an amazing bond with your housebird. But having done both inside and outside birds, I think overall the outside bird is happier, and it's a lot easier and more practical to keep them outside. You can still develop a strong bond with an outside pet.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Hi SilkieSensation,
How do you handle the logistics of selling from home?  Do you have people come to your farm, or do you deliver the poults to a different location?  If people come to your farm, do you limit them to a specific area to prevent potential spread of disease, or have you had any problems in that area?  If people see your stock on your farm, have you ever had any problems with theft of your birds after a visit?  How and where do you advertise?  Have you ever had any negative experiences in selling birds?

I advertise here & craigslist. All of my birds are penned & no one goes into our pens but us. I typically have my sale birds in a specific area & don't usually take people to where my other birds are housed. I've never had a problem with theft.

 

[chickadoodles]

I have a black spanish hen that is 9 months old and she keeps attacking my cockerels. I already had to move her to a different pen as she picked on all the young ones and tried to pull them apart. She has hurt my one last light brahma cockerel so bad that he has limped and laid around for 2 months after she hurt his foot and tried to rip it off.... I don't know what to do... I was hoping she would give me some eggs to hatch but I don't know if she will let my tom breed her. She is so bad. She has never let me touch her or have anything to do with her. My tom saved me once when she tried to fly at my face, he jumped up and bounced her backwards! My tom is a hand fed pet that does not mind me petting him and feeding him. She is in a 17'x50' run with only 3 cockerels and a tom there is plenty of room and they have a coop they share. Any suggestions?
P.S. I raised these turkey with my chickens since they were all day olds and they have always gotten along with each other. Except for a couple cockerels that tried to breed the turkey hens and they learned quick that was not going to work. The turkey hens chased and got them and taught them better manners! lol

 

[wsmith]

All of the time. When I open the door to the silkie coop for free ranging, the turkeys usually go right in to sample their feed, even though they eat the exact same kind. I have never seen the turkeys pick on the silkies at all. They even respect the rooster if he jumps at them for getting too close. Then again, several of these birds were raised by silkies, and they probably see them as just other members of the flock. A lot of my current turkeys were raised by chickens, I think it helps them to not bully the chickens so much when they get older.

I have always raised my turkey poults with chickens. They get along fine, and are very tolerant of each other. The chickens are in charge however..... Looking forward to my standard bronzes this spring

 

[SilkieSensation]

I have a black spanish hen that is 9 months old and she keeps attacking my cockerels. I already had to move her to a different pen as she picked on all the young ones and tried to pull them apart. She has hurt my one last light brahma cockerel so bad that he has limped and laid around for 2 months after she hurt his foot and tried to rip it off.... I don't know what to do... I was hoping she would give me some eggs to hatch but I don't know if she will let my tom breed her. She is so bad. She has never let me touch her or have anything to do with her. My tom saved me once when she tried to fly at my face, he jumped up and bounced her backwards! My tom is a hand fed pet that does not mind me petting him and feeding him. She is in a 17'x50' run with only 3 cockerels and a tom there is plenty of room and they have a coop they share. Any suggestions? P.S. I raised these turkey with my chickens since they were all day olds and they have always gotten along with each other. Except for a couple cockerels that tried to breed the turkey hens and they learned quick that was not going to work. The turkey hens chased and got them and taught them better manners! lol

All of the time. When I open the door to the silkie coop for free ranging, the turkeys usually go right in to sample their feed, even though they eat the exact same kind. I have never seen the turkeys pick on the silkies at all. They even respect the rooster if he jumps at them for getting too close. Then again, several of these birds were raised by silkies, and they probably see them as just other members of the flock. A lot of my current turkeys were raised by chickens, I think it helps them to not bully the chickens so much when they get older.

I have always raised my turkey poults with chickens. They get along fine, and are very tolerant of each other. The chickens are in charge however..... Looking forward to my standard bronzes this spring

Except for my bbw hen, my hens have always been more flighty than my toms. I think it's the hen's nature to be more wary. However, they shouldn't be mean. I won't toletate a mean bird. They usually end up on the diner table. My poults always get raised with the chicks. Right now I have ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys & goats all in the same pen while waiting to move to the new house. No problems except goats pigging out on bird food & getting fat.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I have a black spanish hen that is 9 months old and she keeps attacking my cockerels. I already had to move her to a different pen as she picked on all the young ones and tried to pull them apart. She has hurt my one last light brahma cockerel so bad that he has limped and laid around for 2 months after she hurt his foot and tried to rip it off.... I don't know what to do... I was hoping she would give me some eggs to hatch but I don't know if she will let my tom breed her. She is so bad. She has never let me touch her or have anything to do with her. My tom saved me once when she tried to fly at my face, he jumped up and bounced her backwards! My tom is a hand fed pet that does not mind me petting him and feeding him. She is in a 17'x50' run with only 3 cockerels and a tom there is plenty of room and they have a coop they share. Any suggestions?
P.S. I raised these turkey with my chickens since they were all day olds and they have always gotten along with each other. Except for a couple cockerels that tried to breed the turkey hens and they learned quick that was not going to work. The turkey hens chased and got them and taught them better manners! lol

Sometimes temperament is due to stress, sometimes its genetic, and sometimes it's just an individual thing. Was she a sweet little poult that was also handraised, and then started having issues when she was 4-6 months old? If that's the case then she may not tolerate being the only hen sharing a run with 3 cockerels and a tom. Even if she is good at defending herself, having to do so constantly can cause major changes in her temperament. I would try putting her in a run with either some other turkey hens (1-3 only, nothing overwhelming) and no males, or in a run with just her and her intended tom, but definitely no cockerels. (Even after the cockerels have been "taught better manners" they're still obnoxious and unrelenting from the turkey hen's point of view.) Once she realizes that she doesn't have to defend herself at every turn, she may calm down.

On the other hand, if she's always been anxious and aggressive, even as a tiny poult when life should have been stress-free and happy, then she may have some brain problems. Lots of animals (and people) are not quite put together right from a brain chemistry point of view. There are numerous substances in the brain that have to balance perfectly for us to react "normally" to the stresses of everyday life. When these substances are not in the right proportion with each other, we overreact or underreact to situations (or do any number of other inappropriate things -- think of all the inappropriate or truly criminal human behaviors, ranging from mild depression to homicide). That is the whole principle behind all the medications some people take for depression, social anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc, etc is to try to properly balance all the substances in the brain that need to work together for people to react properly to everyday life. These issues are well documented not just in humans, but in dogs, cats, horses, and parrots -- all the pet species that people fall in love with and invest in the individual animal. There's no reason to assume that it doesn't happen in all species, but is just undocumented and untreated.

Some of these issues are inherited, and some are not. Since she is truly too aggressive now (flying up at your face), you should see if she calms down when put in a non-stressful living situation. That may solve everything. If not, then you need to decide whether or not to breed her, because this is not something that should be passed on to other birds. If you do decide to breed her, carefully monitor both the male and female offspring for a year. If there's no problems with them, then her problem may not be heritable (or it may be recessive, so breeding her could still be a risk).

 

[chickadoodles]

Sometimes temperament is due to stress, sometimes its genetic, and sometimes it's just an individual thing. Was she a sweet little poult that was also handraised, and then started having issues when she was 4-6 months old? If that's the case then she may not tolerate being the only hen sharing a run with 3 cockerels and a tom. Even if she is good at defending herself, having to do so constantly can cause major changes in her temperament. I would try putting her in a run with either some other turkey hens (1-3 only, nothing overwhelming) and no males, or in a run with just her and her intended tom, but definitely no cockerels. (Even after the cockerels have been "taught better manners" they're still obnoxious and unrelenting from the turkey hen's point of view.) Once she realizes that she doesn't have to defend herself at every turn, she may calm down.

On the other hand, if she's always been anxious and aggressive, even as a tiny poult when life should have been stress-free and happy, then she may have some brain problems. Lots of animals (and people) are not quite put together right from a brain chemistry point of view. There are numerous substances in the brain that have to balance perfectly for us to react "normally" to the stresses of everyday life. When these substances are not in the right proportion with each other, we overreact or underreact to situations (or do any number of other inappropriate things -- think of all the inappropriate or truly criminal human behaviors, ranging from mild depression to homicide). That is the whole principle behind all the medications some people take for depression, social anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc, etc is to try to properly balance all the substances in the brain that need to work together for people to react properly to everyday life. These issues are well documented not just in humans, but in dogs, cats, horses, and parrots -- all the pet species that people fall in love with and invest in the individual animal. There's no reason to assume that it doesn't happen in all species, but is just undocumented and untreated.

Some of these issues are inherited, and some are not. Since she is truly too aggressive now (flying up at your face), you should see if she calms down when put in a non-stressful living situation. That may solve everything. If not, then you need to decide whether or not to breed her, because this is not something that should be passed on to other birds. If you do decide to breed her, carefully monitor both the male and female offspring for a year. If there's no problems with them, then her problem may not be heritable (or it may be recessive, so breeding her could still be a risk).

We had her in the hen run but she kept hurting the young pullets. And some that we paid a good bit for. My DH got upset when he saw her trying to rip one apart and he picked her up and put her in the other run. The cockerels all run from her! They are terrified of her. And she talks all the time and now is making a new wining noise. I think she wants out of the run to find a wild tom. She does not act like she is going to let my tom breed her. She keeps away from him. But she is at laying age. We are going to have to make her a nest box of some kind she does not like the half barrel we gave her in the coop?
I appreciate all the helpful info thank you so much. I told my DH we may have to divide the run and leave the cockerels on one side and her and ace on the other.