Turkey Talk for 2014

[Chaneys Ranch]

Gotta love Blukote! But it works so well its worth the mess.
Congrats on the eggs and the hatching chicks, all the threads are posting babies

 

[Sydney Acres]

I went to put the turkeys and chickens in tonight and one of the hens had an injury. My hens are pretty friendly, but she saw the can of Blucote and wasn't having any of it. As I was trying to catch her, I accidently "cornered" (in the middle of the coop) my fool of a rooster. He came at my face and I never saw him coming. He grabbed my glasses and yanked them off. You'd think they'd be pretty easy to find. An hour and a half of me crawling along the coop floor, sifting through all the bedding by hand and both my neighbors raking everything out to spread on the ground, which I then went through by hand. My neighbor had tried his metal detector earlier with no hits. I asked him to try it again and he found them, still in the coop. The rooster had yanked them off, then thrown them behind me. They had landed right up against the wall. We had all searched that area multiple times. It was dark by then. The good news? I got the hen doctored. But spraying something in the semi dark with no glasses gets you 2 purple hands. As for the rooster, he's had all the chances he's going to get. Always an adventure!

Great laugh at the end of the day. I could see the whole event through your post.

 

[gevshiba]

Do you mean to say you have used it with out getting it on you. Not me I always have it on me.

My hens usually squat for me and you can't move them without a bulldozer. But if they see the spray can, they can really move for such big girls. I can usually hide it, scratch their head and then spray. I get a little on the trigger finger. This time I couldn't see which way the opening was. Wrong way.

 

[RoboDuck]

Like the ducks, turkey poults need a bit higher protien than chicks. Chicks can be fed the higher protien if everyone is eating the same feed like mine do. I run about 22-24% protien for all of my young birds & 16-18% layer for everyone. If you are free ranging they will pick their own food most of the time once out ranging. I run chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, guineas & quail all on the same feed mix.

That's good. Storing and feeding separated foods is a pain in the rear. We'll just have to keep the medicated starter away from the ducks.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I never use medicated for anyone. If you expose your babies to a little sand, grass or dirt from your yard while still in the brooder they will build the cocci immunity naturally.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I never use medicated for anyone. If you expose your babies to a little sand, grass or dirt from your yard while still in the brooder they will build the cocci immunity naturally.

I do the same thing, but for years I felt like I was the only one! Several years ago the feed store in town actually ridiculed me for doing such a thing, and I had to talk to the manager each time to get them to special order non-medicated chick starter (initially the sales clerk said it wasn't made anymore). After a few years of that I started driving to a feed store in a nearby town for all my farm needs. The owner of my new store is wonderful -- respectful of each customer's different preferences and abilities, and will special order anything you want without any hassles. If you special order something in bulk he sells it to you at cost plus tax plus a small fee for his time, but not at full retail since he doesn't have to stock it or market it. And lots of his customers use non-medicated chick starter, since he gives them good husbandry advice and discusses what it takes to raise chicks without meds vs with meds.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I never use medicated for anyone. If you expose your babies to a little sand, grass or dirt from your yard while still in the brooder they will build the cocci immunity naturally.

I do the same thing, but for years I felt like I was the only one!  Several years ago the feed store in town actually ridiculed me for doing such a thing, and I had to talk to the manager each time to get them to special order non-medicated chick starter (initially the sales clerk said it wasn't made anymore).  After a few years of that I started driving to a feed store in a nearby town for all my farm needs.  The owner of my new store is wonderful -- respectful of each customer's different preferences and abilities, and will special order anything you want without any hassles.  If you special order something in bulk he sells it to you at cost plus tax plus a small fee for his time, but not at full retail since he doesn't have to stock it or market it.  And lots of his customers use non-medicated chick starter, since he gives them good husbandry advice and discusses what it takes to raise chicks without meds vs with meds.

My old mill would special order non-medicated for me. Then I found out they had an unmedicated meatbird feed that was 24% protien that would work for all of my birds so I switched to that. I moved recently & had to switch mills. The new mill has what they call Turkey Fast Grow. It's 22% unmedicated so still works for everyone. The new mill also mixes my layer feed for me with exactly the grain mix added that I want. It's almost half the price of buying it all individually, especially if I got it at a farm supply instead of a mill.

 

[lwente]

Ok so I ordered my turkey poults for this year! First time ever with Turkey's. But come the first of April I have got some Bourbon Reds coming to the farm! I have six reserved... 2 for a possible breeding pair, 2-3 for Thanksgiving dinner ( I have lots of family coming) and an extra just in case. Is that enough? I know they can be a little tricky when they're young. Any tips??

 

[Momhunter]

So I guess my turkeys are mad at me for penning them up. No eggs today : (. I put my royal palm hen and tom in along with my two blue slate hens into a breeding pen. My extra tom spent the entire day strutting around the outside of the fence. So my question to everyone is - Do you only put one tom in with a set of hens or is it ok to put two toms in a breeding pen?? They have been raised together and have been free range until now. The boys are usually always together.

 

[blueraven]

whats a good price to sell 8 month old turkeys. I am thinking of selling my 3 heritage breed turkeys all are very friendly and different breeds 2 hens a royal palm and a blue slate and tom bourbon red.