Turkeys For 2013

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
X2, so sorry, I would be so angry and upset! Glad the birds are safe.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Sorry to hear about your poults Farmer

I have a question and a little vent. I belong to a facebook poultry BST page locally and I posted my Red Bronze poults on there to sell, someone was intersted and wanted to know if Turkeys were aggressive. ALL my turkeys are puppy dogs so I said No turkeys are very friendly. I had someone chime in and say that Borboun Red turkeys were very aggressive and that he was not trying to interrupt a sale but he did not want to see any young children get hurt. He said Toms especially were mean. Is this true? I am pretty shocked at this statement, he said he has been raising Turkeys for 25 years. I just have never heard of turkeys being aggressive and I know kuntrygirl that is your breed and I've never heard you say they were mean. I'm a bit offended he would go onto a public page and call me out like that but maybe he knows something I don't?

Just my $.02 but...... OH, MY! I think I would ask him to explain his comments if it happens again. that's not right! "raising turkeys for 25 years" doesn't explain anything, For that matter, how do u even know that's true. if he wants to insult specific breeds, and your activity & posts, give it right back to him! What he did was unacceptable and the person that manages/hosts the page should question his rude actions UGH, I hate rude

One of the swap trade sell pages I joined on facebook is local for me. All the posts now get approved by the founder. She also boots anyone that interferes or interrupts transactions (unless its a scam), and insists on PMs only. There's no open discussion on the transactions, members just post "sending PM". But we can post funny stuff, sound off, laugh etc too. Really don't understand why some folks can't be gracious, and have a good time at it too

 

[chickadoodles]

Thanks TexasLisa I thought it was cute!

 

[newduckie]

Just have to add my two cents in here also. I have to turkeys, the hen is Red Bourbon and the tom is Royal Palm. I have maintained two for years. Cant seem to get the same breed at the same time tho.. lol. I started out with this same combo years ago and then regretted not buying the same breed. My tom got killed and so I bought a male Red.... which turned out to lay an egg.. so a friend gave me two Royals and the hen got ..GOT by a dog or coyote. so we are back to my unproductive female who does not lay and my Royal Tom. I am by no means an expert, but I know my birds and they are ot an aggressive bird. My geese take on that role..lol. About three weeks ago tho, I did trip, or something that scared the female and when she squalked.. here he came, and he was wanting to fight me. He was making sounds that I have NEVER heard him make. He usually struts about three steps behind me and follows me everywhere. He hit me across the face that day with a wing but I was able to grab him by the neck and take him to the ground. This is my tecnique with all my animals that try to show me who is boss. I had to take my male goose down last night again, so we will be cool for a month or so...lol. I get them by the neck and force them to the ground and then proceed to pet them and tell them how pretty they are. Rub their chests and back and heads. THEY hATE It!! they avoid me for as long as their little pea brains can remember it. I have only done it the one time to my Tom and he is back to following me but nicely.. And I take responsibility for that one time. He was just protecting his woman, but I cant let him get his bluff in on me.. but just between us, it scared me pretty bad and if he had really wanted to hurt me, he could have because he is HUge. So.. all this rambling to say, if this man of 25 years of turkeys thinks they are mean.. he is doing something to deserve it. We all expect it a little bit in the spring of the year while they are in the mating rituals, but as the norm... no..

 

[earlsgirl]

I would

Up until this year I always had bronze - I didn't think the whites were very attractive to live with. I always started out with 15 birds, but  lost a third to half of my flock to raccoons. This year, I raised a few whites and three Bourbons for a total of 15, and lost none of them: I was turkey rich.
The Bourbons were my favorite to have around. They jumped, flew and got into more mischief than all the others - I liked having them around. I had to tell guests to park down the driveway a bit because the goofy Bourbons might jump on their car or truck. The only issue I had with the Bourbons is that they don't get very large in the short time I keep them - one hen was only six pounds dressed. I was tempted to keep the bourbons over winter, but I don't have adequate housing for them for our harsh winters.
Next year I might go heavier on the whites, but fewer in total. I gave away 8 turkeys this year, so those people will likely want one next year. The problem is I have a bit over $800.00 invested in them when all is said and done, so I may have to say no to a few people if I raise fewer. Fortunately I have six months or so to decide.
I like having a variety of critters running about the yard. The variety makes summer much more enjoyable for me.

like to have some slates.....I love the blue/ gray ones

 

[Sally8]

Just have to add my two cents in here also. I have to turkeys, the hen is Red Bourbon and the tom is Royal Palm. I have maintained two for years. Cant seem to get the same breed at the same time tho.. lol. I started out with this same combo years ago and then regretted not buying the same breed. My tom got killed and so I bought a male Red.... which turned out to lay an egg.. so a friend gave me two Royals and the hen got ..GOT by a dog or coyote. so we are back to my unproductive female who does not lay and my Royal Tom. I am by no means an expert, but I know my birds and they are ot an aggressive bird. My geese take on that role..lol. About three weeks ago tho, I did trip, or something that scared the female and when she squalked.. here he came, and he was wanting to fight me. He was making sounds that I have NEVER heard him make. He usually struts about three steps behind me and follows me everywhere. He hit me across the face that day with a wing but I was able to grab him by the neck and take him to the ground. This is my tecnique with all my animals that try to show me who is boss. I had to take my male goose down last night again, so we will be cool for a month or so...lol. I get them by the neck and force them to the ground and then proceed to pet them and tell them how pretty they are. Rub their chests and back and heads. THEY hATE It!! they avoid me for as long as their little pea brains can remember it. I have only done it the one time to my Tom and he is back to following me but nicely.. And I take responsibility for that one time. He was just protecting his woman, but I cant let him get his bluff in on me.. but just between us, it scared me pretty bad and if he had really wanted to hurt me, he could have because he is HUge. So.. all this rambling to say, if this man of 25 years of turkeys thinks they are mean.. he is doing something to deserve it. We all expect it a little bit in the spring of the year while they are in the mating rituals, but as the norm... no..

I would expect someone to say this as this is exactly what I mean. Every domestic animal potentially be dangerous, that's why I stand back to toss the goldfish food in. But seriously, they can be aggressive to a point. (Not the goldfish) How much we allow without intervention can be the difference of getting hurt or not. I've killed several roosters for flogging me and maybe I wouldn't have if it were just DH and myself but have 3 grandchildren under 5. An aggressive animal will never be accepted here. My Tom is huge and I won't allow them to be around him alone and children tend to tease. But I would never tell someone else to be afraid just because I'm wary of what could happen. Mating between turkeys is so rough. Like I said before, it happens all the time on our Craig's List. I wish the moderator would stop it or provide a place where people can go on and tell their story of how they tease their pets and they turn on them. (Some animals do have a missing gene someplace and they are just off from the beginning)

 

[Sally8]

newduckie - I see that you are, we'll, new. Welcome! I would love to have a pair of blue slates too. They are so pretty! sue

 

[frank53061]

Is it a fluke or a trend I do not know.
I know that my first year to lay Bourbon red Hens have layed hit and miss for the last 2 to 3 weeks no more than 3 eggs from my 5 Hens in a 24 hour period.
The weather has been cold and rainy for what seems forever with a nice day here and there.
The rain has stopped for the last few days and the Sun came out and I checked the Turkey coop and found a big pile of 8 eggs all together all layed in a 24 hour period.

I have to send off some Eggs to Celie in the next day or two sooner than I thought because of the big cash of eggs I found.

Any body who would be Interested in Trading some Eggs please let me know I have 20 days now till my Incubator will be available since I have it full right now and any eggs I have between now and then may be at the end of there usefulness by the time my Incubator is available.
Remember this is the first year for my Hens to lay until I have some Incubate or Celie has some to Incubate I don't know what kind of hatch rate there will be.
As many Toms as I have Fertility should not be a problem.

 

[desertmarcy]

Hi all, I am looking for a new Blue Slate or Lavender tom. I have a lavender tom over 2 blue slate and 1 lavender hens, but he apparently is not breeding his hens since the first 5 eggs candled infertile and I have not seen him breed. He has a slight limp, not sure if it is a toenail, foot, or leg problem. He has one toenail on a "thumb"--not sure what you call the 4th toe, that curls under and almost looks like part of it may have grown through the toe? I don't know if that is even possible. Anyway, I trimmed all his nails but that did not help, he still limps, and he won't let me get aspirin into him, I have to fight him and those baby aspirins go flying and land in the dirt never to be seen again

My bloodline needs an outcross anyway, and I'd prefer to get one with brown eyes as the SOP calls for. Mine have blue eyes, which are quite beautiful actually, but not SOP. I bet it is way too expensive to ship a mature tom, even a "youngster" from last year, but if anybody knows who has them in Arizona, PM me. Otherwise I could cross my hens, I have a Narragansett, a Mottled Black, and a Royal Palm to choose from, probably would choose the Narragansett since he is very nice and that cross would give me more predictable genotypes but I really would like to breed pure.

 

[joshm97]

This is My Blue Slate Hen "Blue" she is sitting on 15 eggs. Excited for a hatch... 1 day down 27 to go!