Turkey Talk for 2014

[GregClark38]

Purina Game bird chow is 30% protein. Tractor Supply store has it. The store near me didn't have it at first but they can order it. My turkeys do very well on it.

 

[BullChick]

Purina Game bird chow is 30% protein. Tractor Supply store has it. The store near me didn't have it at first but they can order it. My turkeys do very well on it.

Mine refuses to get it. Funny since they carry odd things like mini horse, mini cow and Pygmy goat feeds. Turkey, quail, ostrich, emu and the like they don't want to stock.

 

[CherMoz]

My latest hatch. There are eight poults, only four fit on her back. The rest were getting a warm up.

Another shot of them:

 

[TiaRC]

My latest hatch. There are eight poults, only four fit on her back. The rest were getting a warm up. Another shot of them:

That's adorable. I've heard that turkey mothers can be awful. Its like a 50/50 chance of getting a good broody. What's your opinion?

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Mine hate it, too. Chickens like it, but the turkeys and peafowl won't go near it.

-Kathy

 

[CherMoz]

That's adorable. I've heard that turkey mothers can be awful. Its like a 50/50 chance of getting a good broody. What's your opinion?

This is only my first year letting turkey mamas raise their brood. I am raising Midget Broad-Breasted Whites. I have two turkey hens and a tom. The one pictured is "South." The second hen is "North." (In reference to the location of their original nests.) North went broody first and hatched (12) and raised (until they were three weeks old) 6 poults (I learned I have to do a little interfering in making sure those poults know where to find food and water). North found South's nest, kicked South off

, and took over that nest, as well as adding a few of her own. North still let the original poults brood under her wings but did nothing to find food for them. South made a new nest. North's second poults started hatching, but she did not raise herself up off the poults and suffocated them

. I took the rest of those turkey eggs and put them under a broody chicken hen. That chicken hen is raising 5 poults. North started mothering her original six poults again until she found South's new nest and promptly kicked South off again

and started incubating those eggs in addition to adding her own. South made herself a new nest outside in the tall grass. This time I put a chicken "condo" over South and her nest so as to be protected from the elements and predators (and North). In the meantime, North's third set of poults started hatching and she ended up with nine more turkey poults. As these poults hatched, I actually took them away so as not to be suffocated until I knew they were eating/drinking, took the rest of the eggs away after approximately a week, and stuck the poults back under her. She has done a great job raising those poults.

About three weeks later, South finally got to hatch her eggs. She has been an AWESOME mama.

That was a long answer to your question!! They really are both excellent mamas, North to an extent. Oh, and the tom is an excellent papa! He has taken over the original six, will "throw" June bugs at them to eat, stays with them, breaks up squabbles, and waits until they are all inside before he goes in. Although the poults wanted to snuggle under him at night, that is where he drew the line

. It has really been funny to watch.

Papa and poults:



North and her third hatch (nine) after a hawk flew over:



South in the condo with some of the poults peeking out.


I thought I had a picture of the chicken mama with her five poults, but can't find it.

 

[TiaRC]

This is only my first year letting turkey mamas raise their brood. I am raising Midget Broad-Breasted Whites. I have two turkey hens and a tom. The one pictured is "South." The second hen is "North." (In reference to the location of their original nests.) North went broody first and hatched (12) and raised (until they were three weeks old) 6 poults (I learned I have to do a little interfering in making sure those poults know where to find food and water). North found South's nest, kicked South off , and took over that nest, as well as adding a few of her own. North still let the original poults brood under her wings but did nothing to find food for them. South made a new nest. North's second poults started hatching, but she did not raise herself up off the poults and suffocated them . I took the rest of those turkey eggs and put them under a broody chicken hen. That chicken hen is raising 5 poults. North started mothering her original six poults again until she found South's new nest and promptly kicked South off again and started incubating those eggs in addition to adding her own. South made herself a new nest outside in the tall grass. This time I put a chicken "condo" over South and her nest so as to be protected from the elements and predators (and North). In the meantime, North's third set of poults started hatching and she ended up with nine more turkey poults. As these poults hatched, I actually took them away so as not to be suffocated until I knew they were eating/drinking, took the rest of the eggs away after approximately a week, and stuck the poults back under her. She has done a great job raising those poults. About three weeks later, South finally got to hatch her eggs. She has been an AWESOME mama. That was a long answer to your question!! They really are both excellent mamas, North to an extent. Oh, and the tom is an excellent papa! He has taken over the original six, will "throw" June bugs at them to eat, stays with them, breaks up squabbles, and waits until they are all inside before he goes in. Although the poults wanted to snuggle under him at night, that is where he drew the line . It has really been funny to watch. Papa and poults: North and her third hatch (nine) after a hawk flew over: South in the condo with some of the poults peeking out. I thought I had a picture of the chicken mama with her five poults, but can't find it.

That's a great answer. Thank you for all the details. I let one of my silkies sit on a turkey egg and of course it hatched and she did I good job raising it. And it won't up being a hen. So next spring she should be laying and I'm hesitant to letting her sit cause if all the bad Jew Jew about turkey moms

 

[GregClark38]

Mine refuses to get it. Funny since they carry odd things like mini horse, mini cow and Pygmy goat feeds. Turkey, quail, ostrich, emu and the like they don't want to stock.

You should call their main office. I know they didn't want to order it for me at first, told me they had to order at least 4 bags at a time, I said well get it and I'll buy all of them, the manager said they had it before and it never sold and went bad. Well they got some in and someone else bought 2 bags before I could get there, lol, so now they keep it in stock.

 

[gevshiba]

I have a batch of poults roughly 3 weeks old that seem to be having issues. These are being raised no different than any of my other chicks and poults. They are indoors under a heat lamp, feed high protein chick starter and fresh water daily. The seem to have weak wobbly "drunken" legs. It all started about a week or a week and a half ago when they all got a really hard thick poopy crust layer under all their feet. I picked it off clean consistently but Im wondering if that may have caused an issue.

The reason I think their feet got like that is because I started using paper towels again once I noticed I had a shavings eater. I took the paper towels away once I noticed the feet and now their feet are fine but the poults are acting off.

Im wondering if anyone else has had this happen. I haven't lost any from this yet and they are all eating and drinking they just arent walking well at all.

Any ideas?

This is the exact description of what I read when doing research before I got turkeys. About 3 weeks, they start acting drunk. So it might be a vitamin A deficiency. What I read was feed them alfalfa. Someone on this thread (sorry, I can't think who) said romaine lettuce is high in vit. A. I feed fermented feed, so just mixed it in and they ate it right up. I wouldn't think it would hurt to try.

 

[jdduck]

I have a new Eastern Tom that is aggressive to people. Any advice on taming him down? He will eat out of my hand as long as we are on different sides of the fence. when i go in the pin he is very unpredictable some times he is fine with me and will let me clean, feed and water even pet the hen that we got with him. Other times he will get mad and challenge me the whole time and has jumped at me more than once. He has been fine with other birds, chickens and ducks, my other turkeys are still to young to be in with him. I have been hand feeding him a couple times a day for 2 weeks with treats and spending time in the pin with him but have not had any improvement. I would like for them to be able to roam with the rest of my birds but can not with him acting this way. any ideas?