Turkey Talk for 2014

[Chaneys Ranch]

Let the adventure begin!

Wow, have an identical scene in my turkey coop. Dare NOT put your hand near her, you may be missing a digit or two

I don't think there is a single egg under her either, except the fakes. Tried to look with a welding glove on, she is flat psyco!
We are moving them to the permanent coop this weekend, should be able to break her broodiness then, hopefully.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My flock passed their PT testing today and I got my certified free flock number

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congrats thats awesome!

 

[tniron]

Just to let anyone interested in eggs or poults from Good Shepherd Poultry. I talked with Mr. Frank Reese of Good Shepherd Poultry tonight. He said he does not ship hatching eggs any more. If you want birds or eggs you must go to his farm. Nice fellow but he said it was a nightmare so he won't ship them anymore.

 

[BullChick]

I have commented in the past about being new to the idea of raising meat. When I think of the BBW, I am not having a problem. It is the Bourbons! For the past few days I have been unable to say that I am going to eat a baby, a poult, or "whatever hatches". The moment I get to that part of what I am saying, I have to stop, and try to not cry. This really is what I want. I want to <deep breath> I really think it is going to be great to process 3-5 Bourbon youngsters next fall to fry up with some friends.
Will I get over this sudden emotion of feeling like a horrible, sick person for wanting to do that?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I have commented in the past about being new to the idea of raising meat. When I think of the BBW, I am not having a problem. It is the Bourbons! For the past few days I have been unable to say that I am going to eat a baby, a poult, or "whatever hatches". The moment I get to that part of what I am saying, I have to stop, and try to not cry. This really is what I want. I want to <deep breath> I really think it is going to be great to process 3-5 Bourbon youngsters next fall to fry up with some friends.
Will I get over this sudden emotion of feeling like a horrible, sick person for wanting to do that?

MC its hurts. I always feel bad processing and often I have DH or our good friend do the deed.
Once its over i can handle it. I cant kill them, yet. I can process the birds.

 

[TurkenItUp209]

Seems this is the place for the advice, so here goes.

I have a breeding trio of two year old Narragansett's both hens are laying an egg a day the last week, before they were skipping a day. They are 2.5 years old. I have two incubators one with 7 (if we did it right will hatch in 10 days) and a group of 14 from the last week to go in tomorrow.

Here is my concern, these girls want to be moms, I can tell when I take their eggs they are upset.

I want to know how long can I wait until I let them brood their own clutch? Can I harvest eggs for the next few months and incubate/hatch them for more poults and then let both hens have a natural hatch say the start of summer? Late june?

My tom is actively mating them and I know all my eggs are fertile.


Thanks for any insight to a newbie turkey guys journey!

TIU209

Don't ignore me please, i know somebody has some insight? no?

 

[Sydney Acres]

Just to let anyone interested in eggs or poults from Good Shepherd Poultry. I talked with Mr. Frank Reese of Good Shepherd Poultry tonight. He said he does not ship hatching eggs any more. If you want birds or eggs you must go to his farm. Nice fellow but he said it was a nightmare so he won't ship them anymore.

Oh no, I was hoping to get some from him in a few years. Well, I'll need to find someone who wants to take a road trip to the Midwest in a few summers.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I have commented in the past about being new to the idea of raising meat. When I think of the BBW, I am not having a problem. It is the Bourbons! For the past few days I have been unable to say that I am going to eat a baby, a poult, or "whatever hatches". The moment I get to that part of what I am saying, I have to stop, and try to not cry. This really is what I want. I want to <deep breath> I really think it is going to be great to process 3-5 Bourbon youngsters next fall to fry up with some friends.
Will I get over this sudden emotion of feeling like a horrible, sick person for wanting to do that?

I hope I never get to the point that I'm casual about it. It's a big deal -- it's ok to be upset. It shows that you care about your birds, and means that you will always look for ways to minimize their stress.

 

[fintuckyfarms]

Don't ignore me please, i know somebody has some insight? no?

Narragansett's make excellent moms! Let nature take its course...

 

[Sydney Acres]

Seems this is the place for the advice, so here goes.

I have a breeding trio of two year old Narragansett's both hens are laying an egg a day the last week, before they were skipping a day. They are 2.5 years old. I have two incubators one with 7 (if we did it right will hatch in 10 days) and a group of 14 from the last week to go in tomorrow.

Here is my concern, these girls want to be moms, I can tell when I take their eggs they are upset.

I want to know how long can I wait until I let them brood their own clutch? Can I harvest eggs for the next few months and incubate/hatch them for more poults and then let both hens have a natural hatch say the start of summer? Late june?

My tom is actively mating them and I know all my eggs are fertile.


Thanks for any insight to a newbie turkey guys journey!

TIU209

I never take their eggs when they're watching. Turkeys are very emotional, and I don't want them to think that the nest is insecure and go lay their eggs somewhere else. It can be hard to find the free range turkey nests. I have one hen who dug a hole behind a pile of branches, and covers her nest with leaves every time she finishes using the nest. I leave 1-2 ceramic eggs in each nest so that they keep using the nest, but not so many that they think that there's enough to brood.

You can let them brood their own clutch any time you want, and they go broody. Different individual hens will finish laying at different times, so if you wait too long they may stop laying without going broody on your schedule. Certainly you'll maximize your hatch by collecting and incubating every egg until the very end of the season, then let them brood the last eggs, but sometimes your schedule and their broody schedule don't agree. so you may miss the opportunity for them to brood if you wait until the last minute. When they will stop laying depends on the individual birds, and where you live, which determines how long your photoperiod is. If they're over 2 years old and you just got them, you might contact the previous owner to ask when they started and stopped laying each year, and how often they went broody.

When you decide you want them to go broody, you can either stop collecting the eggs, or you can continue collecting and storing, but add 1-2 ceramic or throw-away eggs to the nests every day. That may encourage the hens to start brooding, since they tend to brood only after there's enough eggs in the nest. Once they've held their brood for a few days, you can put all the collected eggs under them at the same time, so they will all hatch within a short time, and you don't lose poults because of a staggered hatch.