Turkey Talk for 2014

[Sydney Acres]

Now, I never thought of covering his nails! He doesn't have spurs. Just little nubs. His nails are very short already. I have Softclaws, but they'd be too small and they're red-probably not a good color to use. But I need to go to Lowe's, so I'll look for the thread protectors, I know what those are. Great idea, thanks!
Yeah, I wouldn't use red. That's just asking for trouble!

The thread protectors are color coded by size, so you may get stuck with whatever color fits. But I did notice that the brand at Ace had a different color coding than the brand at True Value, so if there's a unfortunate color on the size you need, you can try a different store. I looked for them at Lowes several times and didn't find them, but I'm sure every Lowe's is different.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Are you coming to the Northeast Congress?? Perhaps not.

I have several of their youngsters from last year. THe trio are a good combo as I really like how the young males are growing out. Still on the fence about the females. Their color is slower to develop for some reason, but it is there. By the time they are 12 months the color comes in nicely.

I broke down and bought an incubator. Since only 3 of my 5 hens are laying regularly and one of those likes to throw double yolk eggs fairly often, I started saving eggs before I decided which one to buy. When it came, it was damaged and returned. I got the replacement today. I've been trading out fresh eggs for the older ones, but it's slow going. Those BBB's smash quite a few before I can grab them. I'd like to hatch a few chicks along with the poults. I was planning on setting them about 6-7 days after the turkey eggs. This will be my first time hatching anything. I read the eggs shouldn't be older than 14 days. I only have one chicken hen. She doesn't lay every day and her eggs get smashed more often than not. So I only have 3 chicken eggs dated 1-1, 1-2 and 1-9. My turkey eggs are also from 1-1 until today. Is it worth a try? If I wait a week, I might get another chicken egg or two to trade out, but if not, they're only getting older. Should I replace the 1-1 turkey eggs? I hope to set them tomorrow. Thanks for any advise.

Yes-- go for it. You can add in egggs later if you jave room. Just be sure to mark the date of the egg going into the incubator so the start date is clear. Some people put extras on top and they roll on their sides.

Setting the chicken eggs about 5 days after setting the turkey eggs is fine. I like to have the chicks hatch a bit before the turkey eggs if possible so the first poults has a well established tudor.

Quote: You can make your own easily and with some effort get a good fit as your bird is available for fitting. I have tried several methods of contruction and at this point I would try denim material. Seal the edges or not, sew on elasatic by hand. Instructions are on line.

Sorry your girl got a tear. It happens sometimes. My broubon tom put a 5 inch gash in one of his girls. It was an accident. No other problems in all the years I had him.

 

[gevshiba]

Yeah, I wouldn't use red. That's just asking for trouble!

The thread protectors are color coded by size, so you may get stuck with whatever color fits. But I did notice that the brand at Ace had a different color coding than the brand at True Value, so if there's a unfortunate color on the size you need, you can try a different store. I looked for them at Lowes several times and didn't find them, but I'm sure every Lowe's is different.

I could always color it black with a Sharpie. Thanks!

 

[SilkieSensation]

Arielle, I may be interested in poults or eggs. Are you npip by chance?

 

[Reyvaughn]

Are you coming to the Northeast Congress?? Perhaps not.

I have several of their youngsters from last year. THe trio are a good combo as I really like how the young males are growing out. Still on the fence about the females. Their color is slower to develop for some reason, but it is there. By the time they are 12 months the color comes in nicely.

No, Mass, is to far of a drive for me. Hopefully you still have them when they start laying. I'll definitely want eggs!

 

[uphilljill]

The forecast looks good for this weekend (I was fearing snow) so I will be driving over for the day on Saturday.

Just going to see the show, but will bring along few cages "just in case" I see anything irresistible for sale.

Does anyone have good recommendations for lunch spots in the area?

 

[DraigAthar]

Hi, I'm new to turkeys! Can I play? Last summer, we bought two midget whites from zeiki (here on BYC). We'd never had turkeys before, only chickens (we raise Dominiques). We bought the two thinking we'd raise them up and one would be Thanksgiving while the other would be Christmas. We named them Turkish and Tommy. Turkish was 8 weeks old and Tommy was 6 weeks old. Well, Turkish turned out to be male and Tommy female, so she became Taffy and we decided to keep them over the winter to see if we could get any fertile eggs out of them for hatching. And thus out turkey adventure has begun.

1. I have no idea, heh.
2. Taffy laid her very first egg two days ago. By my reckoning, she's 29 weeks old. I thought it seemed a little early, but it's definitely a turkey egg and she's the only turkey hen I have. We cracked it for breakfast to see if it was fertile, and it is not. Not yet, anyway.
3. I only have the one pair of midget whites, so that's all I'll be trying to raise. Unless I get brave and pick up some hatching eggs from someone else to go along with anything Taffy might lay for me.
4. 1:1. Not ideal, I know. But so far I haven't seen Taffy let Turkish breed her at all, she's playing hard to get. It's not for lack of strutting on his part, though!
5. Not sure yet. Maybe a couple dozen at maximum. I have some coworkers interested in poults, so if I can raise a few for my freezer and a few to sell, i guess I'll be doing well for my first attempt. Cross your fingers for me ...
6. Nope.
7. Dunno yet. Maybe?
8. Yes, I love to incubate eggs myself.
9. Hard to say. Since I only have the one hen, if she goes broody too quickly I'm not going to get a lot of fertile eggs out of her! But I also like to let momma hens do what they do best, when the timing works for me.
10. Yes, poults, probably just to the couple of coworkers who have asked.
11. Never tried fermented feed. I get multi-flock pellets from the local feed store, and pasture them when the season allows.
12. The turkey pair are currently living with the chickens, but I have several smaller coops I use for broodies or small breeding groups. Taffy seems to have already chosen one of them, because she laid her first egg in one of the tiny coops, heh.
13. I'd love it if I could get at least 6 turkeys into the freezer this year.
14. This is my first year, so it's all new to me!

Oh, and here's a pic of Turkish and Taffy for you.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Welcome to Turkeys.

Turkish and Taffy are beautiful. We don't get to see a lot of Midget Whites, so thank you for posting a picture of them. How old were they in this picture, and about how much do you think they weighed?

It's amazing how often the Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys make it through the holidays. They're just so much fun it's hard to part with them when the time comes.

 

[DraigAthar]

Welcome to Turkeys.

Turkish and Taffy are beautiful. We don't get to see a lot of Midget Whites, so thank you for posting a picture of them. How old were they in this picture, and about how much do you think they weighed?

It's amazing how often the Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys make it through the holidays. They're just so much fun it's hard to part with them when the time comes.

Turkish was 22 weeks and Taffy was 20 weeks when I took that photo. I can't guess how much they weigh, I've not weighed them even once. I can tell you they fit through the chicken pop doors without any trouble. I could probably find a photo of one or more of them next to my chickens, if that'd help you gauge size at all.

And yeah, they are fun! I love watching them run, they look so ridiculous.

 

[DraigAthar]

Here's one more photo of them, hubby set this photo up on Thanksgiving day, haha.