Turkey Talk for 2014

[fintuckyfarms]

Is there any hope my turkeys will lay in the barn? What kind of area, box, ect. do I need to provide for them.

LOL, only if you lock them in . They like to hide and I mean hide and seek champions. I have only seen them nest on the ground though. Behind a thick sticker bush, under a boat, behind the AC unit (much to the dismay of the repair man), behind a sheet of plywood leaning against a wall, in a 55 gallon drum laying on its side or at the neighbors. I think you get the idea

 

[chicken pickin]

Oh, they look delicious! I'm new to turkeys, and my girls are only 7 months old. How old are they when they start to lay? I assumed that it would be their first spring, like chickens, but don't know for sure. How big do I need to build their nest boxes? I've seen large turkey nest boxes on the ground, but is that what they prefer? Or do they also like the option of stacked or elevated boxes, like chickens? How big are the eggs compared to an "extra large" chicken egg?

Turkey eggs ARE delicious! They do start laying their first spring depending on you region some peoples seasons start much sooner than others. Like kuntrygirl is down south so her season just started up where as here in NH I don't expect mine to start up again until end of march-ish. Nest boxes can be very simple like something leaning up against the coop wall. I use a pallet leaning and they like that just fine. I have also seen people use branches. boxes can be used or built or even crates, I would say some where around 16 x 16 maybe. And I would keep it ground level, from what I have seen in my own experience and on BCY nest tend to be on the ground. The eggs are quite large once they get into the swing of laying. My first year the eggs were chicken egg sized for half the summer then they increased in sized and were very big. They make the best over easy egg breakfast mmmmm

yum.

Here is what I use for a nesting area




and here are some turkey eggs mixed in with Marans eggs

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Live and learn-- I have heard all these "problems" before, so you are not the first. THe key is to put to good use what you have learned. I don't have an answeron the nipping rooster-- yup it hurts.

 

[Arielle]

Right now I've 8 turkey. The ages are: 2.5 year old BR female, 1.5 yr old Blue Slate female, 2 8month old BR-1 male 1 female, 1 8 month old BR/BS female (blue w/red highlights) 2 6 month old BR- 1male 1femsle, & 1 6 mo old Rusty Black. The Rusty Black is also a cross of the BR/BS. I'm keeping her!

2 are promised to a friend for her freezer. I plan on keeping 1 male & 2 female for breeding. Will the young ones be old enough for breeding this spring?

Did you get your answer?? THe girls start laying the next spring. And as you have heard, the date depends on you location meaning lighting and temps.

This hen came from a royal palm mother and a royal palm/bourbon red father. Her coloring is remarkably similar to that of Narragansett pictures I've seen. She is my shortest hen, but is the boss and also is the friendliest to us. She is also the most loud, usually instigates the cat and crow chasing incidents.

SHe is very pretty!! I love my Narri boys.

Quote: Depends. My line of boubons lay a smaller egg than some of the Narri eggs I"ve seen. My sweetgrass also lay an egg similar to my bourbons.

Here is what I use for a nesting area




and here are some turkey eggs mixed in with Marans eggs

Great nexsting set up!! I keep my breeder birds penned. THen hens choose a corner and the bedding is straw and sticks and leaves. THey hollow it out a bit and share the nest.


Lovely chocolate eggs.

 

[chicken pickin]

Great nexsting set up!! I keep my breeder birds penned. THen hens choose a corner and the bedding is straw and sticks and leaves. THey hollow it out a bit and share the nest.


Lovely chocolate eggs.

Thank you! I love my Marans and Im very happy with the color they lay.

 

[Arielle]

What line are they? Where did you get them? Are they also meaty??

 

[chicken pickin]

What line are they? Where did you get them? Are they also meaty??

The lady I got them from hatch from 2 different sources that time, she said the chicks I got could either be Bev Davis lines or Wade Jean/Ron Presley lines. I got them as day olds from someone local that bought hatching eggs from a breeder not exactly sure who though. They are quite beefy. I have 2 roosters and 3 hens.My newest boy I kept is a moose he is over melanized so doesn't have great color but I loved his size and he is super sweet so I added him to my OE coop to get a darker richer olive egg.
This is Rebel this morn he is 7 months old(hes for making Olive Eggers)


This was his brother at 5 months old(rehomed)


Here is a bad picture of my main roo(He is 1 1/2years old, I plan to replace him with a better colored roo) he has a sweet laid back personality though


Here are some hens from this morn

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Thank you so much for this post, both the details in the text and the pictures. It really puts everything in perspective. Much easier than I though it would be.

Since the eggs are smaller during the first several months from a first year hen, it seems like it would be best to wait until the eggs have reached full size before incubating them. Logically, that should result in a larger poult with better survivability. Is that true?

I noticed that more than one hen is in the nest area. Do turkey hens normally share a nest area, or do they fight to push the other out of the nest? What about brooding? Is that a private matter, or do they brood in adjoining nests?

Regarding the large eggs, if you're not incubating them, how do you store them in the refrigerator? They don't look like they would fit in a typical egg carton. Are there special egg cartons that you order? Or do you store them in a bowl, or something else? With my chicken eggs, I can store them for 5-7 months in the refrigerator, but they need to be in an enclosed cardboard egg carton to last that long.

Do turkey eggs freeze well? I found a great method for freezing chicken eggs in an old 1950's farming guide (back when nothing went to waste). Separated egg whites can be frozen as is. They do expand slightly with freezing, so some room must be left for expansion if freezing in a rigid container, just like with water. For freezing whole eggs or separated egg yolks, the yolk material will get hard and pasty is not stabilized, so the yolks need to be broken and scrambled for the stabilizer to work properly. They can be stabilized with either 1 teaspoon salt or 1 teaspoon honey per cup of scrambled whole egg, or cup of scrambled egg yolks. The honey or salt must be thoroughly scrambled in with the egg before freezing for it to work. I was worried that the honey would form a clump when mixed with cold eggs, which it does, but it still does the job if mixed well. (I've not tried the salt method, since that seems like a lot of salt to me, but the honey-stabilized eggs make wonderful omelets -- not excessively sweet.) For chicken eggs, I scramble 5 eggs with one teaspoon honey and pour it into a one quart ziplock freezer bag. I remove all the air before sealing. Then I lay the bag flat on a cookie sheet and smooth it out evenly before freezing. That freezes them as fast as possible, which minimizes large ice crystals and results in a better product. Once frozen, the bags are rigid and thin, so I put them in a box and store them in the freezer upright, much like cards in a recipe box. To use, I thaw them in a bowl of tepid water for 20-30 minutes, then cut off a bottom corner of the freezer bag and squeeze out the contents. Easy, and no mess. The book suggests that the mix can be poured into ice trays after scrambling, then remove the frozen cubes to store in a different container. This would allow you to pull out smaller quantities to defrost, since one cube would approximate one egg. That would work if you use the salt for stabilization, or if you use room temperature eggs with honey, but if you use refrigerated eggs to mix with honey the honey does tend to clump, so you might get some cubes that are too sweet and some that didn't stabilize at all.

 

[chicken pickin]

Thank you so much for this post, both the details in the text and the pictures. It really puts everything in perspective. Much easier than I though it would be.

Since the eggs are smaller during the first several months from a first year hen, it seems like it would be best to wait until the eggs have reached full size before incubating them. Logically, that should result in a larger poult with better survivability. Is that true?

I noticed that more than one hen is in the next area. Do turkey hens normally share a nest area, or do they fight to push the other out of the nest? What about brooding? Is that a private matter, or do they brood in adjoining nests?

Regarding the large eggs, if you're not incubating them, how do you store them in the refrigerator? They don't look like they would fit in a typical egg carton. Are there special egg cartons that you order? Or do you store them in a bowl, or something else? With my chicken eggs, I can store them for 5-7 months in the refrigerator, but they need to be in an enclosed cardboard egg carton to last that long.

Do turkey eggs freeze well? I found a great method for freezing chicken eggs in an old 1950's farming guide (back when nothing went to waste). Separated egg whites can be frozen as is. They do expand slightly with freezing, so some room must be left for expansion if freezing in a rigid container, just like with water. For freezing whole eggs or separated egg yolks, the yolk material will get hard and pasty is not stabilized, so the yolks need to be broken and scrambled for the stabilizer to work properly. They can be stabilized with either 1 teaspoon salt or 1 teaspoon honey per cup of scrambled whole egg, or cup of scrambled egg yolks. The honey or salt must be thoroughly scrambled in with the egg before freezing for it to work. I was worried that the honey would form a clump when mixed with cold eggs, which it does, but it still does the job if mixed well. (I've not tried the salt method, since that seems like a lot of salt to me, but the honey-stabilized eggs make wonderful omelets -- not excessively sweet.) For chicken eggs, I scramble 5 eggs with one teaspoon honey and pour it into a one quart ziplock freezer bag. I remove all the air before sealing. Then I lay the bag flat on a cookie sheet and smooth it out evenly before freezing. That freezes them as fast as possible, which minimizes large ice crystals and results in a better product. Once frozen, the bags are rigid and thin, so I put them in a box and store them in the freezer upright, much like cards in a recipe box. To use, I thaw them in a bowl of tepid water for 20-30 minutes, then cut off a bottom corner of the freezer bag and squeeze out the contents. Easy, and no mess. The book suggests that the mix can be poured into ice trays after scrambling, then remove the frozen cubes to store in a different container. This would allow you to pull out smaller quantities to defrost, since one cube would approximate one egg. That would work if you use the salt for stabilization, or if you use room temperature eggs with honey, but if you use refrigerated eggs to mix with honey the honey does tend to clump, so you might get some cubes that are too sweet and some that didn't stabilize at all.

I incubated the turkey eggs when they were smaller with fine results. I don't know if anyone has experienced anything different.

My hens share a nest area and they also brood together no problem. I have more hens this year so I will give them a second nesting area, keeping the one in the coop and adding the 2nd outside the coop.

For storing eggs for eating I either leave them in a basket on my counter or in an egg carton in the fridge(with lid open since it doesn't shut with the eggs inside) I have not frozen eggs ever, eggs don't last long enough in my house, they are either incubated, eaten daily or sold.

 

[TexasLisa]

Do turkey eggs freeze well? I found a great method for freezing chicken eggs in an old 1950's farming guide (back when nothing went to waste). Separated egg whites can be frozen as is. They do expand slightly with freezing, so some room must be left for expansion if freezing in a rigid container, just like with water. For freezing whole eggs or separated egg yolks, the yolk material will get hard and pasty is not stabilized, so the yolks need to be broken and scrambled for the stabilizer to work properly. They can be stabilized with either 1 teaspoon salt or 1 teaspoon honey per cup of scrambled whole egg, or cup of scrambled egg yolks. The honey or salt must be thoroughly scrambled in with the egg before freezing for it to work. I was worried that the honey would form a clump when mixed with cold eggs, which it does, but it still does the job if mixed well. (I've not tried the salt method, since that seems like a lot of salt to me, but the honey-stabilized eggs make wonderful omelets -- not excessively sweet.) For chicken eggs, I scramble 5 eggs with one teaspoon honey and pour it into a one quart ziplock freezer bag. I remove all the air before sealing. Then I lay the bag flat on a cookie sheet and smooth it out evenly before freezing. That freezes them as fast as possible, which minimizes large ice crystals and results in a better product. Once frozen, the bags are rigid and thin, so I put them in a box and store them in the freezer upright, much like cards in a recipe box. To use, I thaw them in a bowl of tepid water for 20-30 minutes, then cut off a bottom corner of the freezer bag and squeeze out the contents. Easy, and no mess. The book suggests that the mix can be poured into ice trays after scrambling, then remove the frozen cubes to store in a different container. This would allow you to pull out smaller quantities to defrost, since one cube would approximate one egg. That would work if you use the salt for stabilization, or if you use room temperature eggs with honey, but if you use refrigerated eggs to mix with honey the honey does tend to clump, so you might get some cubes that are too sweet and some that didn't stabilize at all.

Thank you for posting how to freeze eggs! I love going back to the old way of doing things!

Lisa