Turkey Talk for 2014

[NewToFarming]

Hello all, It has been forever since I have been on here. Crazy how work gets in the way of the fun stuff all the time! Thought I would post some pics of my guys and gals all grown up. It has been a year now since I got them and the hens had hatched out some babies who are no longer babies. I believe I have 2 Jakes that will eventually need a new home. There has been no fighting yet but lots of strutting around each other. Oh and I have a broody hen right now. Do they normally go broody at this time of year? She was broody at the beginning of the season.

This is the main man around here.



This is the crazy broody. LOL I have no idea why she tried to cram herself in the kitty pan because she has much larger nesting areas set up for her.

One of the young boys



This girl here is the boss of everyone



Some of the group

 

[Attila the Hen]

I'd really like to have the answer to the broody time frame also. We expect a harsh winter here so I took her eggs from my broody hen. I so hope I haven't done her wrong on this. I could put some chicken eggs under her but am afraid they will break.

 

[desertmarcy]

Hello all, It has been forever since I have been on here. Crazy how work gets in the way of the fun stuff all the time! Thought I would post some pics of my guys and gals all grown up. It has been a year now since I got them and the hens had hatched out some babies who are no longer babies. I believe I have 2 Jakes that will eventually need a new home. There has been no fighting yet but lots of strutting around each other. Oh and I have a broody hen right now. Do they normally go broody at this time of year? She was broody at the beginning of the season.

This is the main man around here.



This is the crazy broody. LOL I have no idea why she tried to cram herself in the kitty pan because she has much larger nesting areas set up for her.

One of the young boys



This girl here is the boss of everyone



Some of the group

Really nice looking birds

 

[K Epp]

I love the Narri. Yours are beautiful. I really miss my big tom strutting around. I don't miss his bad behavior. He wanted to be the Farm Boss... I never could get him to understand that is my job.

 

[NewToFarming]

Thank you! My boy is pretty laid back, thank goodness! He has gotten quite huge and I couldn't imagine having something like that come after you!

 

[K Epp]

Thank you! My boy is pretty laid back, thank goodness! He has gotten quite huge and I couldn't imagine having something like that come after you!

Mines name was Jack short for Jack A**. I bought him and a Bourbon Red when he was 3 yrs old. The guy I got him from got him at a auction. I really hated moving him again, but I have kids and a 45 lb turkey who wanted to chase your feet wasn't a good thing. The teenage boys who help me on the farm some times are borrowing him. They wound up with no tom for their hens. That arrangement has worked out well.

The Bourbon Red cane from the same place, but he is a sweet heart.

 

[BullChick]

Hello all, It has been forever since I have been on here. Crazy how work gets in the way of the fun stuff all the time! Thought I would post some pics of my guys and gals all grown up. It has been a year now since I got them and the hens had hatched out some babies who are no longer babies. I believe I have 2 Jakes that will eventually need a new home. There has been no fighting yet but lots of strutting around each other. Oh and I have a broody hen right now. Do they normally go broody at this time of year? She was broody at the beginning of the season.

This is the main man around here.

I may be riding out your way in the spring! Sheesh! Gor-geous!!!!

If I have asked this question in the past, I apologize. I expect my BR to have perfect tails as above. Not that coloration. Just with the perfect arch/ring along the tips. I looked up BR, and I see that the pictures look as messed up as my three boys. Is that an okay trait? My one boy with the best tail, and (go figure) girl with the best tail are the smallest of the groups. Just a tad. And she is a little lighter. I want to breed for meat, but I also want to breed for a better looking fan. I need to know before spring who gets to breed. Should I keep the biggest, and not worry about tails? Also, with the lighter hen, will her babies possibly be splashed with white where it shouldn't be?

The second best tail displaying, the smaller one is the best, and the almost all brown not displaying. He is all brown with maybe four center feathers being white.

See how she is lighter?



Attila the Hen, she won't break chicken eggs.

 

[3b blu]

How do u guys go about keeping a big flock I only have the two? Can u keep them in a run and coop them together at night will they fly over a fence? Will they fight cooped up? Just trying to figure out for next year if I ever get eggs would like some more right now my two are just in a large coop cow shed we turned into coop with a couple of bantams... Thanks curious what u guys do we are trying to think of planning for something...

 

[Arielle]

If I have asked this question in the past, I apologize. I expect my BR to have perfect tails as above. Not that coloration. Just with the perfect arch/ring along the tips. I looked up BR, and I see that the pictures look as messed up as my three boys. Is that an okay trait? My one boy with the best tail, and (go figure) girl with the best tail are the smallest of the groups. Just a tad. And she is a little lighter. I want to breed for meat, but I also want to breed for a better looking fan. I need to know before spring who gets to breed. Should I keep the biggest, and not worry about tails? Also, with the lighter hen, will her babies possibly be splashed with white where it shouldn't be?

The second best tail displaying, the smaller one is the best, and the almost all brown not displaying. He is all brown with maybe four center feathers being white.

See how she is lighter?



Attila the Hen, she won't break chicken eggs.

Feather damage is par for the course. My toms get feathers torn out by the resident muscovy drake. THen the feathers regrow. ALso in confinement, the feathers get damaged. So that should not be confused with coloring of the feathers.

Hardiness, and health, and carcass conformation should come before coloring.

having said that if you want to make progress on color and on the aforementioned traits the more poults you can raise the more improvement you can make. WHen I hatched a number of poults, I was able to cull for better tail feathering one year, as in eliminating all birds with red feathers in the tails. But I did it only one year. THis was because I had enough stock to pick from that year, and I made the tail the characteristic to focus on that year.


A far as the hen being lighter-- now I need to go look at my girls. BUt mine are kept in the shade so that wont help either. If she is what you have, then you need her , as is. Generally speaking my males are darker than my girls.

I keep several boys as back ups. ANd often for mixing up the genetics as I started with 2 birds.

THis is just my opinion and how I do things.

 

[Arielle]

How do u guys go about keeping a big flock I only have the two? Can u keep them in a run and coop them together at night will they fly over a fence? Will they fight cooped up? Just trying to figure out for next year if I ever get eggs would like some more

right now my two are just in a large coop cow shed we turned into coop with a couple of bantams... Thanks curious what u guys do

we are trying to think of planning for something...

In my experience . . .

raise up youngsters separately from adults
they are healthier when they are in the open and not cooped up tight
the larger the area to range the healthier
If food and water are readily avail able, the youngsters dont stray too far and benefit from having chickens among them to help them stay in the area-- like baby sitters. And everyone stayed in that paddock.
Babies learn best when they have an older bird to imitate.
Poults can be given a high protein level than the adults so separating the groups can be beneficial on that point.

Fencing needs to be sturdy-- nothing they can get tangled in.

Oh-- have a warm place to brood them all with a reliable heat source.