Turkey Talk for 2014

[SilkieSensation]

Quote:
Good points. And now that I think about it, the dill pickles that go on hamburgers at fast food restaurants are stored in those buckets, and they're pickled in acidic vinegar and stored for months. Plus you can always put the bird into cold water immediately afterwards. I've never done it that way, but saw a thread on butchering chickens that recommended a swish in hot water to loosen the feathers, then a swish in cold water immediately afterwards to decrease the likelihood of the skin tearing while the bird is being hand plucked. I don't know if it works, but was going to try it next time. That would help rinse off any minute amount of chemical leaching, if any existed in the first place.

Are those 5 gallon buckets really big enough? I know the birds have lots of feathers so appear larger than they actually are, but I look at my big tom, then I look at a 5 gallon bucket, and it looks like it would be a really tight squeeze! Do you have to do the head end first, then turn it around and do the tail end and the drumsticks?

My BBW hen was 30+ pounds live weight. She DID NOT fit in a 5 gal bucket for dunking & barely fit enough to carry her back outside without soaking the house on the way. A tom her age would have never fit at all.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I have 2 baby turkeys runnin on 3 weeks one is bigher then the other they are the same age could the bigger one be a tom or is it juss growing more???

Could be either way. One of my two toms started as the largest poult, remained that way throughout the rapid growth period, and at 9 months is still significantly larger than the other tom or any of the hens. My other tom was just the average size among the seven poults. Two of the seven hens were visually larger until week 5, when the gender difference became obvious size-wise. However, the weight difference became apparent by week 3, as the toms were putting on heavier bone and muscle than the hens, which could be measured on the scale but not seen visually.

But with only 2 to compare you could have any number of explanations. You might even have a very large female poult and a very small male poult, so what seems obvious might be the opposite. Don't worry, it'll be obvious who's what really soon.

 

[Momhunter]

I have a 20+ year old 1202 and the conditions that you describe are the same conditions that I experienced.  It would hold a very steady temperature as long as the room's temperature remained the same and would increase in temperature if the room got colder or decrease in temperature if the room got colder.  Also because the electronic thermostat had a one turn pot it was difficult to fine tune the temperature setting. 

GQF sells a replacement 10 turn electronic thermostat for $83.98 plus shipping.

The other options are to replace the electronic thermostat with a digital controller.  I replaced mine with a Spyder controller which now keeps the temperature dead on target as long as the room temperature remains within the range the controller can compensate for.  In my case room fluctuations from 60°F to 80°F have had no effect other than the amount of output sent to the heater coil.  It just keeps on holding the temp at the 99.5°F that I have it set for.

Of course there are other PID digital controllers that are available for much less than the Spyders but they will also require to purchase a compatible and accurate temperature probe.

I am extremely happy with my Spyder controller, I calibrated the probe against a known accurate calibrated thermometer, set the temp offset, set the temp that I wanted to maintain and then leave it alone to do its job which it does wonderfully.

Good luck whichever way you go.

I would love to put the digital control on it. Where do you order them from and do you know the model number?? Is it easy to wire into the hatcher? Thanks!!

 

[gevshiba]

Why would the Army Corps of Engineers come for a wildlife issue? You don't have to fill a wetland to deter turkeys.

Maybe try going to your local hunting paraphernalia store and pick up some coyote urine?

We live on a lake. The Corp owns all the land around the lake and the homes boarder the Corp land. They can be a royal pain in the rear. We try not to draw attention. I'm not sure how much info I'd be asked if I call the game warden or whoever and ask about discouraging wild turkeys.

Wouldn't coyote urine attract other coyotes? I lost birds last summer to coyotes. I sure don't want to attract them. What if I let my dog hike his leg on the posts? He'd be more than happy to.

 

[gevshiba]

Quote:
If this were my property, no problem. I will be putting up a larger run with electronet later. That might do the trick. I wish he'd go steal some of those hens from the big wild flock. It's probably where he came from.

 

[payner59]

Please help! I have a turkey hen that has been sitting in her nesting box (the dog house) for two days now. There is no eggs under her as I steal them every time she gets out. Is she going broody? How do I make her stop? I really really really want more eggs from her but should I suck it up and give her eggs to sit on? Any advice is very appreciated!! Thanks.

 

[gevshiba]

The solid fence is the key. If they can't see each other they won't fight through the fence.

For Gevshiba, you may have better cooperation from the local animal control than you will get from the G&F Dept.

Thanks. I could give them a try. I'll try a few things first. It's been a week since he started coming around. Maybe he'll get tired of the hens ignoring him and leave.

 

[R2elk]

I would love to put the digital control on it. Where do you order them from and do you know the model number?? Is it easy to wire into the hatcher? Thanks!!

I got mine from Spyder.

http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

I got the Herpstat 1 basic because I wanted a grounded unit. The Herpstat Intro or the Intro + is sufficient since the old GQFs are not grounded units and only have 2 pronged plugs.

You have to remove the electronic controller and replace it with the digital controller. The other thing that I did is to separate the heating circuit from the fan circuit and because mine is an incubator I also separated the tray turning circuit. I ran an electric cord from the heating element and secondary high temp controller (set at 102°F, wafer and snap switch) through the incubator wall in order to plug it into the Spyder controller.

The cheap PID controllers is reviewed here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/all-purpose-temperature-controller-stc-1000-with-sensor

Sorry I can't help you with that one but many others can. As far as the Spyder goes, I could take pictures of my set up after this group of eggs is done. Unfortunately that won't be until sometime after Apr. 23.

Good luck.

 

[popsicle]

We live on a lake. The Corp owns all the land around the lake and the homes boarder the Corp land. They can be a royal pain in the rear. We try not to draw attention. I'm not sure how much info I'd be asked if I call the game warden or whoever and ask about discouraging wild turkeys.

Wouldn't coyote urine attract other coyotes? I lost birds last summer to coyotes. I sure don't want to attract them. What if I let my dog hike his leg on the posts? He'd be more than happy to.

The dog urine might do it--I honestly don't know how sensitive turkeys are to scents. I don't know if coyote urine draws in coyotes--I certainly wouldn't buy female coyote urine. Maybe wolf urine then?

Gotcha about the ACoE owning the land adjacent.

ETA: also maybe document these fights. Get pictures of the birds at each other and pictures of the damage to your bird. Being able to quantify/qualify damage to your property will help.

 

[gevshiba]

The dog urine might do it--I honestly don't know how sensitive turkeys are to scents. I don't know if coyote urine draws in coyotes--I certainly wouldn't buy female coyote urine. Maybe wolf urine then?

Gotcha about the ACoE owning the land adjacent.

ETA: also maybe document these fights. Get pictures of the birds at each other and pictures of the damage to your bird. Being able to quantify/qualify damage to your property will help.

My neighbor just showed me pictures of the wild tom in the run with my birds. Luckily, my tom wasn't hurt. He has a few head/snood injuries, but nothing serious and they may have been caused by a hen. One of them was schooling him on manners the other day. I guess turkey season starts soon. I'll look that up to be certain. My neighbor is already drooling. He's pretty assured of a turkey this year.