Turkey Talk for 2014

[Pyxis]

Do you guys mind if I join in? I won some sweetgrass/royal palm mix turkey eggs in a raffle three weeks ago, and after a three hour ride home I popped the five eggs in the incubator. Four of the five are doing well and I'm hoping for a good hatch. These will be my first turkeys.

 

[chickadoodles]

FOUND THE HEN!!!

Hiding under a bush. It was a rainy day here and the males sat on their perches allllllllll day sp hoped she had decided to do the same where ever she was and with warm daylight tomorrow she would show up for a meal. DH couldn't wait that long so he went hunting . . . .lol

@ Sue-- good luck tonight-- eager to hear your findings!!!

Good thing she is ok!

Good luck to all with eggs!

 

[chickadoodles]

Do you guys mind if I join in? I won some sweetgrass/royal palm mix turkey eggs in a raffle three weeks ago, and after a three hour ride home I popped the five eggs in the incubator. Four of the five are doing well and I'm hoping for a good hatch. These will be my first turkeys.

Hello and Welcome! Please join in we all love turkey here

 

[Sydney Acres]

FOUND THE HEN!!!

Hiding under a bush. It was a rainy day here and the males sat on their perches allllllllll day sp hoped she had decided to do the same where ever she was and with warm daylight tomorrow she would show up for a meal. DH couldn't wait that long so he went hunting . . . .lol

@ Sue-- good luck tonight-- eager to hear your findings!!!

WHEW!!! That's a big worry you an put away. I hate it when I can't find my girls, even for a few hours.

 

[gevshiba]

I'm really perplexed! I bought and hatched 8 BR eggs. One poult that I thought had splayed legs at hatch, probably had slipped tendons. I culled him. Then another that was about a week and a half old slipped a tendon. He was culled. A friend thought that was probably an injury. I've been hatching from my BR pair and last week, I had one hatch with slipped tendons. I popped them back in and he was great for 2 days, then slipped one again. This time, it won't stay in. I've been trying to splint the leg, but can't keep the splint where it needs to be. So yesterday, I sold 4 poults. The youngest was probably 5-6 days old. I delivered them, they were fine. The woman called this morning to say one slipped a tendon during the night. Why? They were all perfectly fine and rowdy. I feed fermented, non GMO, soy free game bird starter. I keep them on shelf liner for several days before I put them on sand/paper towels in the big brooder. Any ideas? Anyone know how to fix slipped tendons? I won't be breeding the ones from my pair, they're for the freezer, but I'm not happy about culling babies.

I'll be upgrading my stock next year.

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

From what I've read, Perosis (slipped tendons) is usually caused by a nutritional deficiency, most notably biotin, manganese and choline, but also seen frequently is a deficiency is in niacin and folic acid. I would start by giving them a B-complex supplement and see if that makes a difference.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Do you guys mind if I join in? I won some sweetgrass/royal palm mix turkey eggs in a raffle three weeks ago, and after a three hour ride home I popped the five eggs in the incubator. Four of the five are doing well and I'm hoping for a good hatch. These will be my first turkeys.

Hi, welcome to turkeys. You'll have to be careful, as some people fell they're even more fun than chickens! That's going to be a beautiful mix, with the possibility of several patterns. We'll want to see pictures. Even though you've probably hatched lots of chicks, turkey's are just a little different. Here's a link to a great article on hatching turkeys: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/turkey-incubation-and-hatching-guide. And here's a second link outside BYC: http://www.porterturkeys.com/egghatchingtips.htm.

If you haven't already done so, you might want to check with your county extension office to see if there is a disease called Blackhead where you live. Chickens carry it harmlessly, but if they give it to turkeys the turkeys die from it. So there are some areas in the country where you need to take special precautions to keep the two species on the same farm, some areas where you just can't have both successfully, and other areas where it's not at all a concern.

When the poults hatch, you may notice that they aren't as precocious as chicks. While chicks seem to be born knowing how to eat, drink, scratch, dustbathe, socialize, etc, poults aren't quite so well equipped. So they need to be shown where their water and food are, and may need to have their beaks dipped. Keeping marbles in the water/food bowls can help, as long as the marbles are shiny and too big to swallow. Keeping a few newly hatched chicks with newly hatched poults can make life much easier, as the chicks act as tutors and teach the poults everything they need to know. (assuming, of course, that there's no concern about Blackhead).

Have fun with your poults. Be warned, though, when they get a little bigger, they fly quite well.

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

FOUND THE HEN!!!

Hiding under a bush. It was a rainy day here and the males sat on their perches allllllllll day sp hoped she had decided to do the same where ever she was and with warm daylight tomorrow she would show up for a meal. DH couldn't wait that long so he went hunting . . . .lol

@ Sue-- good luck tonight-- eager to hear your findings!!!

Great News!!!

 

[Pyxis]

Hi, welcome to turkeys.  You'll have to be careful, as some people fell they're even more fun than chickens!  That's going to be a beautiful mix, with the possibility of several patterns.  We'll want to see pictures.  Even though you've probably hatched lots of chicks, turkey's are just a little different.  Here's a link to a great article on hatching turkeys:  https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/turkey-incubation-and-hatching-guide.  And here's a second link outside BYC:  http://www.porterturkeys.com/egghatchingtips.htm.

If you haven't already done so, you might want to check with your county extension office to see if there is a disease called Blackhead where you live.  Chickens carry it harmlessly, but if they give it to turkeys the turkeys die from it.  So there are some areas in the country where you need to take special precautions to keep the two species on the same farm, some areas where you just can't have both successfully, and other areas where it's not at all a concern.

When the poults hatch, you may notice that they aren't as precocious as chicks.  While chicks seem to be born knowing how to eat, drink, scratch, dustbathe, socialize, etc, poults aren't quite so well equipped.  So they need to be shown where their water and food are, and may need to have their beaks dipped.  Keeping marbles in the water/food bowls can help, as long as the marbles are shiny and too big to swallow.  Keeping a few newly hatched chicks with newly hatched poults can make life much easier, as the chicks act as tutors and teach the poults everything they need to know. (assuming, of course, that there's no concern about Blackhead).

Have fun with your poults.  Be warned, though, when they get a little bigger, they fly quite well. 

Thank you! I don't think blackhead is a problem in my area, and I have a neighbor who keeps turkeys with chickens with no problem, but I will double check. I was planning on raising them with chicks so hopefully they won't have a hard time finding the food and water. And I'm used to flying birds, I keep guineas I was hoping to free range them. Do turkeys do well as free range birds?

 

[gevshiba]

From what I've read, Perosis (slipped tendons) is usually caused by a nutritional deficiency, most notably biotin, manganese and choline, but also seen frequently is a deficiency is in niacin and folic acid. I would start by giving them a B-complex supplement and see if that makes a difference.

Thank you! Would that be something specifically for poultry? Would some raw meat help, or kelp? Those I have on hand.

I dislike the feed I'm using, but the feed store won't carry the stuff I liked anymore, so I'm stuck with this peanut based feed.