Turkey Talk for 2014

[dheltzel]

Nice pea pen/turkey flight pen. I'd love to see specifics on how big it is and how it was build/designed, basically all the important details needed if someone were to build one themselves. Is that sand on the floor? What do you use to scoop such a large area?

The royal palm is a pretty boy, but I agree that the marbled black hen is spectacular. Did she come from Porters?

She did come from Porters, by way of someone the raised (and spoiled) her and her 2 sisters. I bought them when they were half grown.

The pen is 24 x 24. 3, 8 ft 2x4's for each side, 8 ft high. Basically, I didn't saw anything. 2x4 welded wire (4 ft wide) over everything, even the top. I used zip ties in places I should have used hog rings. Fixed that after the big ice storm that burst the roof apart. It could have benefited from better/more bracing too. I laid more of the welded wire on the ground around the perimeter to exclude digging predators.

The sand was dumped next to the pen and I paid a teenage boy to shovel it into the pen and spread it around. Oh to be young and strong again - but I digress.

Biggest regrets:
1) used zip ties
2) should have put sand there and built the pen around the sand pile
3) should have made it bigger, of course.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. Here is a better pic right after I built it, before they turned it to mud.

 

[chickadoodles]

My (favorite) pet marbled black hen. We have 3 of these hens, but this is the one that comes and sits by me whenever I'm around, purring seductively (at least I assume it would be seductive to a tom turkey)



This is our tom (Royal Palm). He was once picked on by the peas, so we separated him to grow a bit more. This time, the tables were turned and we had to separate him for the safety of the peas. He was clearly out for revenge!

Your birds are beautiful. Love your pen also.

 

[NewToFarming]

Maybe they just wanted their privacy! Clearly they've figures it out. How many poults, and where are the cute pictures?

I did post the pictures I could get so far on page 286. Mom isn't leaving the nest very often but I caught her off the other day. Not the greatest but hopefully I can get some more soon. The remaining 2 eggs in the picture did hatch but one did not pull through, I am not sure why. I found it last evening So, I now have 8 poults.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

Hi lbrykowski2011,

Welcome to turkeys. They're amazing and wonderful birds.

I think one of the reasons that you're getting confused is because some of the recommendations you're reading are for heritage turkeys, and some are for the broad breasted turkeys, and maybe you don't realize how different these two groups are. The heritage turkeys are similar to wild turkeys in the care they need, but they are domestic birds. They need high protein diets when they're young, they fly, they roost up high, they grow slow, they breed and reproduce naturally, and they come in purebreds and often there are mixes of those purebreds. There are specific guidelines (the Standard of Perfection) for what the purebreds of many breeds are supposed to look like, although they don't all reach those goals. The hens of most breeds should reach 18-23 pounds by 1-2 years old, and the toms of most breeds should reach 26-33 pounds by 1-2 years old. When eaten, they are typically slaughtered around 8-10 months of age, but can live and reproduce for many, many years

The broad breasted birds, on the other hand, are not at all like that. They are a hybrid that has been specifically developed through generations of selective breeding to have one characteristic -- to gain weight as fast as possible, at the lowest feed cost, to create the biggest possible profit for factory farming. Nothing else is considered, as long as enough of them reach slaughter size to be profitable. When they're young they seem just like the heritage birds, and do all the same things. But they RAPIDLY grow to huge size, to the point that their size prevents them from doing almost everything that nature intended them to do, other than eat. They can't breed naturally (they are artificially inseminated in commercial agriculture), they quickly outgrow their ability to run and play and fly and roost and everything else, except eat. If not slaughtered by the time their legs become too uncomfortable to walk, they eventually park themselves in front of the feeder and just lay there eating, pooping, and gaining more weight. The toms will get over 50 lbs, and the hens over 40 lbs, sometimes substantially more, by the time they're a year old, although they usually don't live that long. That level of growth is a huge stress on their heart, and many die of heart failure as they get older (and sometimes while younger). Most are slaughtered at 4-5 months of age.

There are exceptions, mostly among those that are raised as free range birds. With enough exercise, limited food, and reasonable protein levels, the growth of BB birds can be slowed down enough that they can remain comfortable, and can be kept to a reasonable size for a later slaughter date, if needed.

They will be able to use the roost for a short time until they become so heavy that they can't balance on it anymore. Be sure that it is at least 3-4 inches wide, and very well braced to hold their upcoming weight. You can make it more comfortable for them by putting several layers of foam pipe insulation over the roost and wrapping that tight with several layers of vetwrap. They will likely enjoy 8-12 inches of "white shavings" (from non-aromatic woods, such as pine, fir, aspen, etc, but absolutely no cedar shavings, which are toxic to bird lungs) as a soft bed when they get too big to roost. Sometimes if it gets too hot, they like to stand in, or sleep in, a shallow tub of water to cool down or stay cool.

Well that pretty much sums things up, lol. You guys have been the greatest, thanks so much for all the help and info. They did great last night out all night for their 1st time. They were on their roost in their coop and when the chickens came out making noise, so did they. Next time I looked out, they were up on top of their coop, I did not think at such a young age they could get up that high, 5ft. So the bird netting will be going up on the roof part today instead of the weekend.

 

[BullChick]

Quote:
Well that pretty much sums things up, lol. You guys have been the greatest, thanks so much for all the help and info. They did great last night out all night for their 1st time. They were on their roost in their coop and when the chickens came out making noise, so did they. Next time I looked out, they were up on top of their coop, I did not think at such a young age they could get up that high, 5ft. So the bird netting will be going up on the roof part today instead of the weekend.

Ha ha! One of my BR discovered she could fly over the wall yesterday. I have to put up the netting and wiring today too. Wiring above the wall, and netting on the rafters. There are nails protruding from the roof I don't want them getting cut with, and they could roost above the chickens, and bomb them.

I gave the BBW an additional 8 X 10' run this morning. They love the fresh grass and extra room. They will be happier in a few weeks if I can get the big turkey enclosure finished. The plan is for a 20 X 30' run that connects to the big garden. They can have access in the fall. They can clean it up, and fertilize for me.

 

[gevshiba]

I pulled the eggs from my broody hen on day 27, when I went to the coop and she was running around without a care in the world. It was in the low 50's and the eggs were nearly cold. She's let them get totally cold several times, but never when it was so cool outside. I left her 2, which they promptly broke one (rotten) and the second was totally gone the next day, with a BBB hen on the nest with a freshly laid BR egg under her. I took 6 to the house, candled and tossed one. These eggs were filthy and I had no idea if they were good, so I cut the top off a tissue box and sat them in that in the hatcher. 2 have hatched, one is working on it and the other 2 I decided to remove today. I wanted to check one last time, so I put them to my ear and tapped. Nothing. So I put the entire box and eggs in the trash in the kitchen while I washed the nasty egg germs off. POP! I ran out to the kitchen-yep, one exploded. I'm feeling pretty lucky it didn't explode on me, it was almost entirely contained in a box and a bag, the house doesn't reek of rotten egg and it wasn't in the hatcher. For those of you who haven't experienced an exploding rotten egg, it's pretty loud and really stinky.

Momhunter, I have 2 RP/slates and I'm assuming that's what the last one is too. It didn't work out like I had hoped, but with a first time broody and 4 busy body BBB's in the coop, I'm happy these 3 made it. Well, these 2. Don't want to count my poults before they hatch.

 

[farm n louisana]

Can somebody help wit the sex of these turkeys please thanks

 

[Sydney Acres]

Well that pretty much sums things up, lol. You guys have been the greatest, thanks so much for all the help and info. They did great last night out all night for their 1st time. They were on their roost in their coop and when the chickens came out making noise, so did they. Next time I looked out, they were up on top of their coop, I did not think at such a young age they could get up that high, 5ft. So the bird netting will be going up on the roof part today instead of the weekend.

As youngsters, it seems like their wings grow faster than their bodies. I couldn't believe how long the wings were on the babies compared to the bodies, and it gave them superior lift (coordination and control came a little later!). As they mature and put on lots of weight, the BBB/BBWs outgrow their ability to fly quickly, and the heritage breeds fly a lot less with maturity, but the hens can still get airborne.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Can somebody help wit the sex of these turkeys please thanks

How old are they, and what breed?

 

[farm n louisana]

There 5 weeks old n royal palms