Everything Frank said x 3 ! LOL
Turkeys For 2013
- Thread starter kuntrygirl
- Start date
- Status
Does anyone have or has anyone had a hen with spurs? I have noticed on one of my smallest hens, a good size set of spurs. I will try to get a picture of her today and post it. I do notice that each turkey in the flock has their individual attributed and flaws, some are larger than others, some of the hens are really large, almost as large as the larger toms, while some appear to be very large in the breast and some have larger legs, while in some the legs are quite thin. Since my goals are for sustainable meat, with the most rapid growth rate, without AI, I will cull the thin legs, as the heavier legs can provide stronger support for a larger frame. I will also cull any undersized birds, as Hollands are suppose to be very large to provide a lot of meat for the freezer. For everyday meals, I am going with the Midget Whites, because we are at the empty nest age! For one sitting extended family meals and a more colorful bird around the yard, I chose Bourbon Reds, Narragansetts, Black Spanish and Standard Bronze.
The only thing I am wondering about, is weather I can free range the extra toms, together, while they are putting on enough weight to harvest at around 18 months? I figure is I put the hens into breeding pens with only one tom, I can also have the "spare" tom with the other flock of toms. I also will be reducing the breeding hens of each breed to fit all of each breed into 10'x10' breeding pens. How many hens do you put into a breeding pen with your breeding tom? I have 7 in a pen right now with 3 large dog carriers and they look a little cramped. I will be taking the eggs and incubating them, so they don't fight over raising poults and will continue laying. One has chicken eggs right now and hardly leaved the nest. I sure hope those eggs hatch soon! I have never seen any birds this broody!
The only thing I am wondering about, is weather I can free range the extra toms, together, while they are putting on enough weight to harvest at around 18 months? I figure is I put the hens into breeding pens with only one tom, I can also have the "spare" tom with the other flock of toms. I also will be reducing the breeding hens of each breed to fit all of each breed into 10'x10' breeding pens. How many hens do you put into a breeding pen with your breeding tom? I have 7 in a pen right now with 3 large dog carriers and they look a little cramped. I will be taking the eggs and incubating them, so they don't fight over raising poults and will continue laying. One has chicken eggs right now and hardly leaved the nest. I sure hope those eggs hatch soon! I have never seen any birds this broody!
I am sorry I have not been on, my neighbors hunting dogs got under the fence and into our pasture and killed my Silver turkey hen!! :'( I only have one baby girl from her but I have about a dozen of her eggs in the incubator!! So now I am desperately ISO a Silver Auburn young hen or more!!! I have been scouring the Internet for breeders, but considering the Auburns are the rarest heritage breed and the silvers are even more so, I am not having any luck!! I was sick about it for days!!! 
- Thread starter
- #1,014
I am sorry I have not been on, my neighbors hunting dogs got under the fence and into our pasture and killed my Silver turkey hen!! :'( I only have one baby girl from her but I have about a dozen of her eggs in the incubator!! So now I am desperately ISO a Silver Auburn young hen or more!!! I have been scouring the Internet for breeders, but considering the Auburns are the rarest heritage breed and the silvers are even more so, I am not having any luck!! I was sick about it for days!!!
OH ON!!!!!! So sorry to hear that. That burns me up when I hear of predators killing birds. So Sorry.
- Thread starter
- #1,015
Does anyone have or has anyone had a hen with spurs? I have noticed on one of my smallest hens, a good size set of spurs. I will try to get a picture of her today and post it. I do notice that each turkey in the flock has their individual attributed and flaws, some are larger than others, some of the hens are really large, almost as large as the larger toms, while some appear to be very large in the breast and some have larger legs, while in some the legs are quite thin. Since my goals are for sustainable meat, with the most rapid growth rate, without AI, I will cull the thin legs, as the heavier legs can provide stronger support for a larger frame. I will also cull any undersized birds, as Hollands are suppose to be very large to provide a lot of meat for the freezer. For everyday meals, I am going with the Midget Whites, because we are at the empty nest age! For one sitting extended family meals and a more colorful bird around the yard, I chose Bourbon Reds, Narragansetts, Black Spanish and Standard Bronze.
The only thing I am wondering about, is weather I can free range the extra toms, together, while they are putting on enough weight to harvest at around 18 months? I figure is I put the hens into breeding pens with only one tom, I can also have the "spare" tom with the other flock of toms. I also will be reducing the breeding hens of each breed to fit all of each breed into 10'x10' breeding pens. How many hens do you put into a breeding pen with your breeding tom? I have 7 in a pen right now with 3 large dog carriers and they look a little cramped. I will be taking the eggs and incubating them, so they don't fight over raising poults and will continue laying. One has chicken eggs right now and hardly leaved the nest. I sure hope those eggs hatch soon! I have never seen any birds this broody!
I will have to look and see if my girls have spurs.
- Thread starter
- #1,016
The first poults of the year. They have been outside for a couple weeks now.
- Thread starter
- #1,017
Hey everyone. I did bumble foot surgery on one of my Toms this weekend and I have a lot pics. They are graphic though. I didn't want to post them in the event someone has a weak stomach. If anyone would be interested in seeing bumble foot on a Bourbon Red Tom, let me know and I will post before and after pics.
My tom is recovering inside and will be for probably a couple weeks. This time it was MAJOR surgery.
Let me know who would be interested and I will post the pics.
Anyone else experience bumble foot with any of their turkeys?
My tom is recovering inside and will be for probably a couple weeks. This time it was MAJOR surgery.
Let me know who would be interested and I will post the pics.
Anyone else experience bumble foot with any of their turkeys?
I'd like to see them. I've never dealt with bumblefoot personally, but this would be nice to see, since I'll be using wire cages for brooding for the first time ever.
Not with my turkeys, at least not heritage turkeys, but then my oldest is only 3 years old. I think you said somewheres yours were 5 years. I have with the BBW's and meat chickens that were just too fat to carry their weight, so I needed to cull them anyway. I would love to see how this is done, because I am sure eventually it will happen, since it is so common! I have a meat chicken, Meyers October Cornish Rock Cross going on 5 months old that has it. I was going to cull, but really think I should learn how to do this. Things are so much easier to learn from people who can show you how to do things, instead of just reading about it in a book! Please do post all the pictures you can, if not on La-ers, then in a turkey thread that is marked Graphic, so no one with a weak stomach has to watch! I don't understand why, when we start to describe something as graphic, people don't stop watching, or would click on a post about doing surgery or slaughtering if they didn't want to see them, but go figure?
- Thread starter
- #1,020
GRAPHIC PICS...........DO NOT LOOK AT IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH !!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, here goes...............
Well this weekend, I noticed that my older Tom, who is no longer in the breeding pack, was not himself. I have about 300 animals but I look at all of them every day and I look for unusual behaviors, signs, symptoms, injuries, etc. Well my Tom was in one spot of the chicken yard for an unusual long amount of time and the other turkeys were unusually close to him. He is my Old Tymer and he keeps to himself and doesn't bother anyone. So, when I saw this I went out to the chicken yard to see what was going on. I picked him up and immediately noticed that he had lost some weight. So, I brought him inside and checked him out . I always check his feet first because he has a history of bumble foot. Well, lo and behold, the bumble foot was back. He get bumble foot 1- 2 times a year and I have to do minor surgery. I think that the reason it keeps re-appearing is because I am not digging out the "plug" that's in there and so then it continues to grow. Well, this time, I think I got the entire plug out.
Well, this is what I did.
I went to the bathroom and filled his foot spa tub up with warm water and Epsom salt. He has his own foot spa tub. I picked him and put him in his tub. Here is a pic of what he looks like in his foot tub. This is a pic from last year, so you can see how I have him set up. I let his feet soak for about 30 minutes. I check on him every 5 minutes to make sure that he is ok. I usually close the door and turn the light out but I have a night light in there so there is at least some light. This allows him peace and tranquility. (well, it does that for me.)
I have my surgery items on hand before I begin. My list includes:
1. Gloves
2. Razor Blades
3. Gauze
4. Neosporin
5. Tweezers
6. Paper Towels
7. Blue Kote
8. Special spray from my vet for cuts and injuries
9. Pan of fresh warm water
10. Spray bottle of warm water with Epsom salt.
After 30 minutes, I took him out and placed him on a flat surface. This time I placed him on a chair because I needed to get a good position to begin my work and I couldn't do that on a table top this time. I placed a towel on the chair and on the floor below me. I covered his face with a towel. During this time, he is not fighting or moving . By now, he knows the procedure. He usually takes a nap when I start surgery and I wake him up when I'm done.
So, I got the foot that has bumble foot. This is what it looked like before I began.
I took a razor blade and I cut around the dark scab/plug. There was a little blood but not much. I took the tweezers and pulled the black scab off. A good pull would pull out the entire plug but I didn't get that on the first plug, so I had to dig and dig and dig all of the crap out of there.
After trying to clean all of the crap out, this is what the bottom of the foot looked like. Unfortunately, I could tell that there was still crap in there but I could not get to it. So, I turned his foot over and I found yet another bumble foot ON TOP of his foot, so I had to work on that area as well.
Bumble foot on TOP of this foot.
So, now I had to work on getting more crap out. So, this time, I played with the scab to see how easy it would be for me to get that plug. Well, I was able to pluck that plug out and I was sooooooooooooooooooo relieved. This is what the plug looks like. It is VERY important to make sure you get the plug out. If not, the bird will continue to have bumble foot as my Tom has. The plug that I pulled out is shaped just like a ear plug but kinda looks like a kernel of corn.
Pic of Plug from Bumble foot
After pulling out the plug, there was really no more crap in there. I made sure that all of the crap was out of there and cleaned him up really good with the items on the list. I used the spray bottle of Epsom salt and water and cleaned up the area.
The hole where the plug was pulled from was deep. It's length was from the top to the bottom of his foot. Bumble foot had spread straight through his foot pad. Here are the pics so that you can see what I mean. This was the worst that I have ever seen it. But that's my fault because I never got it completely out and this is what happened because of my mistake. I was always afraid to go too deep thinking that I would hurt my turkey but you have to get all of it out. If not, this is what you will have to deal with.
So, for now, my tom is inside in the wash room recovering. I have been hand feeding him because he has lost weight. Something that I noticed as to why he lost weight was because he was not able to stand in front of the feeder to eat. So, it looks like he chose to not eat in the chicken yard. He would have starved to death if I would not have noticed something was wrong with him. I noticed that he was not able to eat when I watched him in the laundry room without him knowing that I was watching him. I had his water and feed in with him and he was able to stand up to drink but for some reason, when it came time for him to eat, he was not able to. He had to sit down on his comforter to eat and he was having a hard time doing that. I guess after using all of his strength to drink, he couldn't stand any longer to eat.
Although he is not able to stand on the foot that I did surgery on for a long period of time, he is recovering fine. I am hand feeding him 3 times a day and giving him vitamins. I am trying not to fatten him up too much because I don't want to him to put on too much weight with that foot being injured. He is getting grits and eggs for breakfast and for lunch he is getting game bird crumble mash. I will probably get out the blender and juicer and blend him up some Mean Grean healthy smoothies with lots of veggies and feed him.
So, there you go. This is what I was dealing with this weekend.
Everyone, please check our turkeys and all of your other birds for bumble foot. Bumble foot can be on the top of the foot as well as the bottom.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
ETA: Wanted to explain Bumble foot for those that do not know.
Explanation from Wikipedia
Other Links
http://poultry.allotment.org.uk/advice/chicken-health/bumblefoot
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-treat-chicken-foot-sores.html
Ok, here goes...............
Well this weekend, I noticed that my older Tom, who is no longer in the breeding pack, was not himself. I have about 300 animals but I look at all of them every day and I look for unusual behaviors, signs, symptoms, injuries, etc. Well my Tom was in one spot of the chicken yard for an unusual long amount of time and the other turkeys were unusually close to him. He is my Old Tymer and he keeps to himself and doesn't bother anyone. So, when I saw this I went out to the chicken yard to see what was going on. I picked him up and immediately noticed that he had lost some weight. So, I brought him inside and checked him out . I always check his feet first because he has a history of bumble foot. Well, lo and behold, the bumble foot was back. He get bumble foot 1- 2 times a year and I have to do minor surgery. I think that the reason it keeps re-appearing is because I am not digging out the "plug" that's in there and so then it continues to grow. Well, this time, I think I got the entire plug out.
Well, this is what I did.
I went to the bathroom and filled his foot spa tub up with warm water and Epsom salt. He has his own foot spa tub. I picked him and put him in his tub. Here is a pic of what he looks like in his foot tub. This is a pic from last year, so you can see how I have him set up. I let his feet soak for about 30 minutes. I check on him every 5 minutes to make sure that he is ok. I usually close the door and turn the light out but I have a night light in there so there is at least some light. This allows him peace and tranquility. (well, it does that for me.)
I have my surgery items on hand before I begin. My list includes:
1. Gloves
2. Razor Blades
3. Gauze
4. Neosporin
5. Tweezers
6. Paper Towels
7. Blue Kote
8. Special spray from my vet for cuts and injuries
9. Pan of fresh warm water
10. Spray bottle of warm water with Epsom salt.
After 30 minutes, I took him out and placed him on a flat surface. This time I placed him on a chair because I needed to get a good position to begin my work and I couldn't do that on a table top this time. I placed a towel on the chair and on the floor below me. I covered his face with a towel. During this time, he is not fighting or moving . By now, he knows the procedure. He usually takes a nap when I start surgery and I wake him up when I'm done.
So, I got the foot that has bumble foot. This is what it looked like before I began.
I took a razor blade and I cut around the dark scab/plug. There was a little blood but not much. I took the tweezers and pulled the black scab off. A good pull would pull out the entire plug but I didn't get that on the first plug, so I had to dig and dig and dig all of the crap out of there.
After trying to clean all of the crap out, this is what the bottom of the foot looked like. Unfortunately, I could tell that there was still crap in there but I could not get to it. So, I turned his foot over and I found yet another bumble foot ON TOP of his foot, so I had to work on that area as well.
Bumble foot on TOP of this foot.
So, now I had to work on getting more crap out. So, this time, I played with the scab to see how easy it would be for me to get that plug. Well, I was able to pluck that plug out and I was sooooooooooooooooooo relieved. This is what the plug looks like. It is VERY important to make sure you get the plug out. If not, the bird will continue to have bumble foot as my Tom has. The plug that I pulled out is shaped just like a ear plug but kinda looks like a kernel of corn.
Pic of Plug from Bumble foot
After pulling out the plug, there was really no more crap in there. I made sure that all of the crap was out of there and cleaned him up really good with the items on the list. I used the spray bottle of Epsom salt and water and cleaned up the area.
The hole where the plug was pulled from was deep. It's length was from the top to the bottom of his foot. Bumble foot had spread straight through his foot pad. Here are the pics so that you can see what I mean. This was the worst that I have ever seen it. But that's my fault because I never got it completely out and this is what happened because of my mistake. I was always afraid to go too deep thinking that I would hurt my turkey but you have to get all of it out. If not, this is what you will have to deal with.
So, for now, my tom is inside in the wash room recovering. I have been hand feeding him because he has lost weight. Something that I noticed as to why he lost weight was because he was not able to stand in front of the feeder to eat. So, it looks like he chose to not eat in the chicken yard. He would have starved to death if I would not have noticed something was wrong with him. I noticed that he was not able to eat when I watched him in the laundry room without him knowing that I was watching him. I had his water and feed in with him and he was able to stand up to drink but for some reason, when it came time for him to eat, he was not able to. He had to sit down on his comforter to eat and he was having a hard time doing that. I guess after using all of his strength to drink, he couldn't stand any longer to eat.
Although he is not able to stand on the foot that I did surgery on for a long period of time, he is recovering fine. I am hand feeding him 3 times a day and giving him vitamins. I am trying not to fatten him up too much because I don't want to him to put on too much weight with that foot being injured. He is getting grits and eggs for breakfast and for lunch he is getting game bird crumble mash. I will probably get out the blender and juicer and blend him up some Mean Grean healthy smoothies with lots of veggies and feed him.
So, there you go. This is what I was dealing with this weekend.
Everyone, please check our turkeys and all of your other birds for bumble foot. Bumble foot can be on the top of the foot as well as the bottom.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
ETA: Wanted to explain Bumble foot for those that do not know.
Explanation from Wikipedia
Other Links
http://poultry.allotment.org.uk/advice/chicken-health/bumblefoot
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-treat-chicken-foot-sores.html
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