Turkeys For 2013

[kuntrygirl]

Kuntry girl-- contrats on a great hatch.. Refresh my memory --how long did you hold those eggs and at what temp?  So cute to see the poults-- I"m going thru withdrawls. 

Lots of new faces!!  THis is turning into a great thread!! 

I know when I was looking for turkeys, the leads were few. Not many people have turkeys compared to chickens.  Is everyone finding what they are looking for??

Thank you. I held the turkeys eggs in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. I'm not sure what the temp is in my fridge. I have the knob set at the halfway point. I did have the turkey eggs in a closed foam egg carton and they were on the bottom shelf. I can check the temp that my fridge stays at and report back to you.

Yes and there are a lot of new faces. Welcome to the thread. Everyone is posting so much great info. It's always great to hear from other turkey owners and listening to what's going on at their place and what projects they are working on.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Do turkey hens go through any changes right before she is ready to lay eggs(kind of how a chicken will get bigger and bright red comb and wattles, squat, practice egg song etc) Is there anything I should be looking for to tell if its getting close?

I never see any physical changes in any of my hens. However and this is a biggie, I have noticed that they look a little more suspicious when they walk around. They are looking for hiding/laying spots that are out of the way. I have been following them when I see this behavior and lo and behold they go in the chicken house or feed storage room and find their spot and lay their eggs. It's almost as if they are whistling while they are walking around and looking back to see if they are being followed. Makes sense?

Just keep an eye on them if they are not in a pen because if they find a spot somewhere other than where they are suppose to lay, then you will end up finding something like I found......(see pic below). (eggs that I found in a bush in the front yard) They love those out of the way, dark and quiet spots where they feel VERY safe.

 

[kuntrygirl]

We're planning on adding our first turkeys (Bourbon Reds) to our flock this year as well. Looking forward to learning more from all of you!

Oh, you will LOVE that breed. They are so cool to have. So tame and so beautiful. I'm excited for you. Please post pics when you get them.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
x2

I was very fortunate to start with Bourbon Reds--they turned me on to turkeys!! I originally bought a pair and I started collecting eggs for the incubator THe Bourbons are sweet and very friendly--even the grain delivery man isn't afraid of them anymore.

. Over a year later my order from Porter's arrived. Adding Auburns, Sweetgrass and Narrigansetts--almost 5 months old. Hoping they will be laying soon.

I'm curious when though . . . as they are young will they delay laying until a certain size or age?

 

[Treebird]

I just put more ice cold eggs in the incubator this morning that were in shipping for 3 days. I checked my eggs that have been incubated now for a week and all are developing!

 

[kuntrygirl]

We're planning on adding our first turkeys (Bourbon Reds) to our flock this year as well. Looking forward to learning more from all of you!

Oh, you will LOVE that breed. They are so cool to have. So tame and so beautiful. I'm excited for you. Please post pics when you get them.

x2 I was very fortunate to start with Bourbon Reds--they turned me on to turkeys!! I originally bought a pair and I started collecting eggs for the incubator THe Bourbons are sweet and very friendly--even the grain delivery man isn't afraid of them anymore.

. Over a year later my order from Porter's arrived. Adding Auburns, Sweetgrass and Narrigansetts--almost 5 months old. Hoping they will be laying soon.

I'm curious when though . . . as they are young will they delay laying until a certain size or age?

Yours will be laying soon. My girls that were hatched last year have already started laying. So yours are probably right around the corner in terms of beginning to lay. I'm so jealous of everyone who gets their eggs from Porters. It's so tempting to try to get some from there for 2014. So the grain delivery man was afraid of your turkeys at one point and time? I smell a story there. Care to share why he was afraid?

 

[kuntrygirl]

So how is everyone's turkey nesting boxes or areas to lay eggs set up? Anyone have any type of special set up or special nesting box? Has anyone built anything larger than a regular sized nesting box for chickens?

My girls lay in the chicken house in the nesting boxes and I have some that feel safer going into the feed store building (I leave the door open halfway for them) and they fly onto the shelves (4 feet high)and will lay on the bales of hay that are stacked high on the shelves, which makes the height another foot, totaling 5 foot high area they fly onto to lay their eggs. So when I go in there to check for eggs, it doesn't look like there are any eggs in there, so I have to get a small ladder and climb up where the bales of hay are and collect the eggs. Those girls love hiding eggs. :/

 

[kuntrygirl]

I just put more ice cold eggs in the incubator this morning that were in shipping for 3 days. I checked my eggs that have been incubated now for a week and all are developing!

Good job! Congrats on the developing eggs.

 

[Arielle]

I just put more ice cold eggs in the incubator this morning that were in shipping for 3 days. I checked my eggs that have been incubated now for a week and all are developing!

I have a book on hatching eggs--focus is chicken eggs, and the long term storage is better if cold in the refrigerator. about 40 degrees for a month. Cold but not frozen seems to be the key.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I just put more ice cold eggs in the incubator this morning that were in shipping for 3 days. I checked my eggs that have been incubated now for a week and all are developing!

I have a book on hatching eggs--focus is chicken eggs, and the long term storage is better if cold in the refrigerator. about 40 degrees for a month.  Cold but not frozen  seems to be the key. 

Oh, that is GREAT info to learn. I didn't know that. Thanks for posting that information. I will check the temp of my fridge and see if it's at 40 degrees. So, they can be stored up to a month huh? Great!

Keep that information coming.