Turkey Talk for 2014

[SilkieSensation]

Arielle, can you let me know what all breeds you will be hatching this year? I & several people from the PA thread are interested in poults &/or eggs.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I am starting to look for a pair of turkey's. Went to the sell barn and the lady only had last years spring chicks. For $40 a piece. I prefer to by baby's with my chickens and had planned on doing the same with turkey's. But was informed it is really hard to raise them from hatchlings. And that I shouldn't raise them with my chickens. And that their pen should be off the ground, which sounds kinda mean to me.I'm so confused now. So my questions are...
1. Is it really that hard to raise turkey the first year from hatchlings?
2. What would you recommend for a first time raiser? Starting with poults or last years spring chicks?
3. When I build their pen should it be off the ground?
4.And is $40 really a reasonable price for a one year old bird? $15 for a poult?
Don't want to start something full of ignorance and them not have a happy good life. I like the best I can give all my animals and love to spoil them I guess cause I fill a lil guilty they all end up on the table. Please help!

"Really hard to raise them" depends on your brooding technique. I am a first time poult raiser. I had 10 poults and 10 chicks shipped to me last June. There was a shipping delay, so 3 of the poults and 3 of the chicks died in transit. But all of the ones that arrived alive did quite well, and are now big teenagers. So if you're experienced at brooding chicks and you have really good success rates with very few losses, then you can probably brood turkeys. On the other hand, if your success rate with chicks is marginal, then turkeys are probably too fragile for your brooding technique. If that's the case, you might want to buy birds that are at least a month old, or more if you're not confident in your setup.

If you do brood your own poults, brooding chicks together with them will make it much easier. Chicks are very precocious -- they seem to know how to do everything right out of the egg. Turkey poults are pretty clueless. If no one teaches them how to drink and eat, they may not figure it out on their own. So you can have the chicks teach them by example, or you can spend a lot of time teaching them yourself. In my group it wasn't just eating and drinking, but also social behavior in the beginning. The chicks were the first to dustbathe as the poults looked on, then finally the bronze poult tried it, then all seven piled into the same hole in the lawn (too cute!!!). There came a time, maybe ~4-7 weeks old - can't remember exactly, when the brooder was expanded to the max and it was still too crowded. The turkeys, being significantly bigger, were then moved outside to a transitional pen with supplemental heat, while the chicks were kept inside at night but joined the turkeys during the day. That setup was continued for a week or so until permanent outdoor pens could be finished. Every morning was the same -- the turkeys would get up at sunrise, jump off their perches and eat and drink, then just stand there waiting. They had no idea what to do. But as soon as the chicks were put outside the fun began -- jumping and flying and all manner of play. Chicks can serve as "life tutors" for poults and help them survive the brooding period.

The concern of raising chickens and turkeys together is a disease called blackhead. It doesn't make chickens sick, but chickens can carry it. It kills turkeys. So if you raise chickens and turkeys together, you need to find out if the chickens you have, or the chicks you get, carry the disease. It doesn't exist in all areas of the country, so call your county agricultural extension and ask if it exists in your area. If it doesn't, then chickens from local sources are probably safe, as long as the seller (or you) have not brought in chickens/chicks from outside the local area recently. If you're getting chicks from a hatchery, a feed store (which probably gets them from a hatchery), or any other non-local source, then you need to ask very specific questions of the supplier. Most people won't know if their chickens carry blackhead unless they raise them with turkeys. So you may have to contact the local county ag extension of your supplier to find out if it's a possibility.

Regarding keeping turkeys off the ground, what was the context of that recommendation? Was that just for poults during their first 3-4 weeks, or was that long term? I have seen many sources recommend not letting poults outside or touch the ground until they are at least 3 weeks old. The reasoning has been that their immune systems are so immature, and they are so fragile, that they will pick up every germ around and they will die because they have no immune system. After reading that from many reputable sources, I wondered how a turkey hen accomplished this feat. I decided that if my stock had such poor vigor it wasn't worth raising, or if my yard was so filthy that it killed vigorous stock than I didn't deserve to raise birds. So I took my poults out as soon as the lawn was dry and the day was warm enough to do so (since brooded poults don't have a hen to keep then warm or protect them, you do need to use some common sense -- obviously down-covered poults should not be out on wet grass on a cold wet day without a hen to keep them warm). They loved it, and no one got sick. I would never consider raising turkeys off the ground beyond the brooding stage. They are big, heavy birds that need padded footing or they will have serious foot problems. Raising them on wooden slats or wire or plastic grating would be quite painful as they gained size.

Yes, $40 is a fair price for a yearling, and $15 is a fair price for a new poult. You can get poults cheaper through the hatcheries, but then you have to buy 10-15 minimum and pay shipping, so it usually doesn't end up being cheaper. If the birds are from excellent lines or have some additional assurance of disease protection (such as from an NPIP farm) then that price could be considered a bit low.

I love that you want to give them the very best life until it's time for them to go to the table. I do everything possible to give my birds the happiest, most natural life possible, so that they only have one bad day. But if you raise poults, be careful. They're quite personable -- they may not make it to the table. Starting with young adults might be easier for you from that respect, as they'd be less likely to become pets.

 

[Arielle]

Arielle, can you let me know what all breeds you will be hatching this year? I & several people from the PA thread are interested in poults &/or eggs.

I'm keep a pen of speckled sussex, buff orpingtons, blue Ameraucana over easter eggers, Bourbon reds and Sweetgrass.

A project pen of Dark BLue AMeraicana over barred hens and blue hens. All hens lay a brown egg. THe offspring will lay an olive egg. THe depth of coloring will depend on the shade of brown.

I sometimes make black copper marans available.

I will be making eggs available; but not likely chicks unless I get a deposit and pick up is at the farm; I will hatch poults for sale from the farm. My batches are small and not likely to have enough to ship.

 

[memphis]

I pm'd you about your Speckled Sussex. Would love to talk to you about them!!

 

[DraigAthar]

Attending the NOrtheast Congress yeaterday was a delight!!!! THe second largest show in the US.

THe most turkeys I had seen at a show, I didn;t count-- about 20-30. SOme not the best representatives of the breed-- made me realize we have a long way to go to restore this bird as dinner. A blue slate went to champion row for the juniors. A bronze for the adults. GUess that is the 'open" show. Never the less exciting to see turkeys are making a come back!!

I went today, that bronze on champion row was gorgeous!!!

 

[SilkieSensation]

I'm keep a pen of speckled sussex, buff orpingtons,  blue Ameraucana over easter eggers, Bourbon reds and  Sweetgrass. 

A project pen of Dark BLue AMeraicana over barred hens and blue hens. All hens lay a brown egg. THe offspring will lay an olive egg. THe depth of coloring will depend on the shade of brown. 

I sometimes make black copper marans available.

I will be making eggs available; but not likely chicks unless I get a deposit and pick up is at the farm;  I will hatch poults for sale from the farm. My batches are small and not likely to have enough to ship.

I would be interested in bourbon reds & sweetgrass. Wingstone is also intetested in sweetgrass. I would be willing to pay the extra to have them raised out a couple weeks so fewer can ship at once. Wing may be as well. I will have her pm you.

 

[NewToFarming]

Ok, I am still learning turkey LOL. I had witnessed a few times today of my young Tom breaking up roosters fights! What an added bonus in having turkeys!! Is this a common behavior in toms? He just got them away from each and did not try to hurt any of them. One of the hens laid down for him today too but he made no attempts to mate.

 

[Arielle]

Ok, I am still learning turkey LOL. I had witnessed a few times today of my young Tom breaking up roosters fights! What an added bonus in having turkeys!! Is this a common behavior in toms? He just got them away from each and did not try to hurt any of them. One of the hens laid down for him today too but he made no attempts to mate.

HE must know the figid weather is coming in-- not a good time for poults. LOL

 

[Sydney Acres]

Ok, I am still learning turkey LOL. I had witnessed a few times today of my young Tom breaking up roosters fights! What an added bonus in having turkeys!! Is this a common behavior in toms? He just got them away from each and did not try to hurt any of them. One of the hens laid down for him today too but he made no attempts to mate.

My toms do the same thing. I don't know if this is common or if it's just a trait of a few individuals. I have 2 toms, and they don't tolerate fighting between anyone but themselves. The problem I have is that if the fight they broke up had a lot of drama or display in it, then the two toms get all revved up and start to fight themselves. Not a problem if the smaller one backs down quickly. But there have been 4-5 fights that have lasted more than 2 hours, and one over a period of 2 days. So at first I loved that they broke up fights, but now I wish that they just didn't notice.

 

[NewToFarming]

My toms do the same thing. I don't know if this is common or if it's just a trait of a few individuals. I have 2 toms, and they don't tolerate fighting between anyone but themselves. The problem I have is that if the fight they broke up had a lot of drama or display in it, then the two toms get all revved up and start to fight themselves. Not a problem if the smaller one backs down quickly. But there have been 4-5 fights that have lasted more than 2 hours, and one over a period of 2 days. So at first I loved that they broke up fights, but now I wish that they just didn't notice.

Oh wow! That is a long fight and thank you for the heads up on that! I only have the one tom so right now that would not be an issue but if I would add any others in the future, this is good to know and watch out for!