Turkey Talk for 2014

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
It sounds heavenly. As far as I know there's no significant difference in the breeds other than color, if they're bred to the standard. I believe the heritage Bronze is about 2-3 pounds heavier than the Bourbon Reds at full maturity, so that may slow down a large male, but the superior camouflage of the Bronze (in most environments) might be more beneficial.

You might have a few losses around the stream if there are enough trees for a predator to hide in, but overall it sounds like turkey paradise. If you had a livestock protection dog that wouldn't hurt the turkeys but would chase off the foxes and badgers, then you potentially could prevent all losses.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote: I've noticed that the personalities of mine are quite different, but I don't have enough individuals to know if the differences are breed-based or just differences in individuals. Since you've had so many, what would you say are the differences in the personalities between the varieties, and do you think it's mostly breed-based or line-based?

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote: That's a great solution! Sounds like she won't be a complete stranger for long.

 

[Reyvaughn]

ok.. first.. is there a way you can block the fan a bit (like add a removable partition to slow down/ redirect the air flow)?.. you don't want to block the flow.. just have it blowing a bit softer or more around the eggs...

Are the poults all making it to hatch then dieing after they pip?.. or are they not making it that far?
and are these your eggs .. or shipped ones?

I have no idea how I'd block the air flow some. Maybe cardboard that diverts it to the back of the incubator and on the eggs in the trays but not on the eggs in the hatcher. Not sure how that would work with the turner, though.

Most poults die between days 18 and 25 before ever going into lock down. This is my first one to pip and die - but not the first chick to do that. I never had that last year but this year I have had a few. There was 3 others that pipped and died in the shell in this batch. One pipped on the wrong end, the chicks rolled it (I set them all so the area they should pip is facing up) and pip area was down. That one drown. The others, I don't know. One was a Maran that started to zip and died.

The turkey eggs are my own this round. I have some shipped midget whites set for the Easter HAL.

I used this Sportsman last year as well. When I clean it - and I did think maybe I had a bacteria issue - I vaccum, wipe with disinfectant wipes and spray with Oxine AH (not activated with citric acid - I don't need my incubator ruined). I just got my humidity bucket, so no more opening the incubator half way through the hatch to refill the water.

As a recap - 16-26% humidity before lock down and 65-70% during lock down. I have staggered hatches though. So, I have eggs going into lock down every 3-5 days. My chicks are doing really well with around 90% hatch rates after lock down (my eggs and shipped). My poults are not...

 

[yinepu]

Quote: I've noticed that the personalities of mine are quite different, but I don't have enough individuals to know if the differences are breed-based or just differences in individuals. Since you've had so many, what would you say are the differences in the personalities between the varieties, and do you think it's mostly breed-based or line-based?

for mine it has been mostly bloodline related... I have gotten turkeys from porters as well as local.. the locals are a bit... well.. putting it politely.. nuts...
and I found that when I crossbred turkeys from porters with the locals the offspring tended to mellow out quite a bit.

my palms for instance.. porters were pretty laid back.. but the local palms were so crazy we ended up putting them in the freezer.
and it really didn't seem to matter which of the breeds I got from porters.. all were laid back.. a few may have been a bit nosier than others... but that was about it

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
it could be that there are some bad genetics involved (lethal genes)... but my first guess would be bacterial

when I clean an incubator I don't use the wipes.. I found that they didn't really get into all the nooks and crannies...

this is what I do for my coolerbators.. so you may have to try a few adjustments for the sportsman:

My normal procedure for cleaning the incubator is as follows:
Turn off the unit and allow the bulbs / heating elements to cool.. removing any shells, paper towels, cartons, matting and so on that have been in the bottom of the incubator..
once the bulbs are cool i take the incubator outside and use an air hose to blow out any dust
Then I remove the bulbs and wipe them down with vinegar, then peroxide, alcohol and finally the Oxine and set aside
I make a paste of distilled water and baking soda and using a clean rag ..scrub the inside of the incubator (I never reuse the rags without a good machine washing.. I never use sponges for cleaning since they can harbor bacteria).
The baking soda paste is carefully rinsed out (avoid getting any of the mixture into the light bulb sockets or wiring of the fan and thermostat)
After the baking soda I use a spray bottle with white vinegar in it and wet down the inside of the incubator.. fan blades and thermostats are wiped by hand with a paper towel or clean rag that is wet with vinegar
after the vinegar is dry I do the same misting and wiping again with peroxide
Once the peroxide has dried I repeat the process with a spray bottle of alcohol and then once that is dry I use the Oxine...
bulbs are replaced once the incubator is dry and it is taken back inside to be set up for the next batch of eggs.
I double check the temperature and make sure the bulbs and fan are in good working order before setting the next batch of eggs.

I do staggered hatches all the time too.. but between every few I make sure to clear out one bator to give it a good cleaning.. then move eggs back into it to clean the next

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote: I've noticed that the personalities of mine are quite different, but I don't have enough individuals to know if the differences are breed-based or just differences in individuals. Since you've had so many, what would you say are the differences in the personalities between the varieties, and do you think it's mostly breed-based or line-based?

for mine it has been mostly bloodline related... I have gotten turkeys from porters as well as local.. the locals are a bit... well.. putting it politely.. nuts...
and I found that when I crossbred turkeys from porters with the locals the offspring tended to mellow out quite a bit.

my palms for instance.. porters were pretty laid back.. but the local palms were so crazy we ended up putting them in the freezer.
and it really didn't seem to matter which of the breeds I got from porters.. all were laid back.. a few may have been a bit nosier than others... but that was about it

That's good to know. I assumed it was more line based than breed based. I only have one Royal Palm. Got her in the variety pack from Sandhill. She's not a good fit in the flock. She's anxious and flighty, doesn't like being handled, and is disruptive to the flock. So she's usually either pecking someone else when she thinks she has the upper hand, or someone's pecking her when she's annoying them. She's freezer bound. The Bronze hen is very defensive on the roost at night, both to other hens and to people, but otherwise tolerates daytime handling but doesn't crave it. The Slate hen is never aggressive, tolerates handling but doesn't crave it. The two Spanish Black hens are 24/7 cuddlemuffins, as are the two Slate toms.

 

[Haida]

Oh, this will be fun!

1. Are you prepared for Turkey season for 2014?
-Barely. My breeders are all ready to go, but I still need to finish up my brooding room and fencing for my growing babies.

2. When do your hens start laying eggs?
-They started at the middle of March, but not consistently until March 26th. I think all 4 of them are laying, I get two eggs a day and I have 4 hens.

3. What breeds do you plan on raising for 2014?
-Spanish Blacks and Standard Bronze... I want to hybridize them as I like them both, but I plan on keeping "pure" birds as well. :3

4. What is your current Tom/Hen Ratio?
-1 to 4

5. How many poults do you plan on hatching?
-20 to 60 (I was going to sell a few, I dunno, we'll see)

6. Did you order any poults from other hatcheries? If so, what hatchery, what breed and how many are you expecting?
-No, I don't want to order from a huge hatchery if I don't have to.

7. Are you ordering turkey eggs from someone? If so, how many?
-I'm trying to get my grubby little hands on some Standard Bronze eggs, lol, if anyone has any to sell, let me know!

8. Will you be using an incubator to hatch your turkey eggs?
-I have two Hovabators cleaned and waiting... going to start my first setting of 20 this Wednesday!

9. Do you want your hens to go broody so that they can hatch eggs?
-No. I'm not set up for this, and besides, I like incubating.

10. Will you be selling eggs and/or poults?
-Hopefully, if I am able to hatch/collect enough.

11. What are your feed plans for 2014? Anyone trying fermented feed for their flock?
-I would like to try fermenting, but I don't know enough about it. I won't be trying this year.

12. Do you have your housing ready for your poults and turkeys?
-Adult turkeys, yes, they have a fenced in yard and a horse barn. The poults? We're working on it, their brooders are about half-way complete. And we still need to put up fencing, but it's been so cold here, the ground is still frozen.

13. How many turkeys will you be processing for your freezer for 2014?
-At least 20 for my husband and I to share with family members.

14. What did you do this year that you want to do different next year (2014)?
-I have more hens (last years' poults) this year as well as a different tom. I want to be more proactive when something goes wrong (nothing last year did, really, but I still worry about not noticing things early enough). I want a better hatch rate than last year. I only had a 50% hatch rate; this year I am making sure the hens eat well and that my incubators don't fluctuate. I moved them into the basement, which is as damp as anyone can imagine, but it has excellent air flow and the humidity actually stays really low. I was incubating emu eggs in January down there and they hatched with no problems! We had a lot of interest from coworkers and friends for Thanksgiving turkeys, so we were hoping to sell a few! I also want to put more turks in the freezer, because, dang, they are gooood.

This was fun!

 

[Momhunter]

Does anyone have some extra broad breasted turkey eggs they would like to sell? I love my royal palms and slates for regular meals but would like to raise some broad breasted for the holiday meals. Don't really care what color they are. Please pm me if you would sell some. Thanks.

 

[TherryChicken]

Hi everyone. I live in austin texas and have been looking for fertile turkey eggs with now luck. Does anybody have any they are willing to sell? I am hatching for a friend of the family's... does not matter on breed.