Turkeys For 2013

[Arielle]

HOw do you sex them so young??????????

I only close the overhead door is the nights go under 40 degrees and they have a bed of hay in the corner, out of the draft, with a night light, and they get a lot of body heat with the rabbits in their cages in the same barn.The largest 2 poults are 7 weeks old and are a pair, the next in size are 5 weeks and also a pair, the younger ones, I have not sexed yet. They have a couple dozen poults and a couple dozen poults. doing fine in their cozy corner, and come and go as they please, with the ducks by the pond, most of the day, about 40 feet away. About dark they head for bed and I close the gate for the night.






Quote: Tilapia is delicious-- realily available in grocery stores. I like it because it is a vegetarian fish and therefore less toxins likely. I"m sure the birds do line up for tastey treats!!!

TY for the invite to come check out the thread kuntrygirl, boy you guys are active over here! lol So far my narri's have got one nest started in a barrel. This is this group of birds first breeding season so I am anxious to see how well they do. Happy hatching everyone!

Nice and cozy!!

 

[GotCoop]

Kuntrygirl, Thanks for the info on Poxine. Your recommendation on the first page (back 159 pages ago) prompted me to get the vaccine...I figured it must be pretty important if it was one of the first topics of discussion for 2013. My chickens had fowl pox last year (no ill effect) so I know its out there and i didn't want my first turkey experience to be ruined because of it. I have 15 turkey poults filling out and doing well. Expected to have some attrition along the way, but due to some good advice on this thread I think I'm going to end up with more than the 10-12 that was my end goal.

 

[joshm97]

I sold some of my poults to a customer on yesterday and just let me say that I highly recommend a care sheet to include the temp in the brooder. The family was a VERY nice family. Throughout the process of them buying the poults, we had lengthy conversations about caring, feed, etc. So they came over and bought some poults and I told them if they had any questions, DO NOT hesitate to contact me and I didn't care if they called me every 30 minutes because I was not sending my poults on a suicide mission.

So they called me with a problem in the brooder about 1 hour after leaving my house. Their brooder was 3' x 6' and they couldn't understand why the poults were 5 feet away from the light. I asked them what was the temp in the brooder and they told me 120 degrees. I was like , "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"!!!! That is too hot!!!!!!!! I told them the the poults were too hot and the poults were telling them that which is why they were 5 feet away from the light. I told them to adjust temps and monitor the temps EVERY 30 minutes and that someone needs to be on watch and monitor them throughout the night along with the temps. I am glad that they called me because the babies would have been dead by morning.

I need to go back and look on the care sheet to see if I addressed temps. Selling poults to new owners so sooooo scary. Makes me want to keep all of my babies and not sell them until they are about 3 months old.

I can't say I know a lot about turkeys I hunt the wild cousins of our birds. So I know behavior and how curious they can be but raising them I just know the basics. I would recommend just telling everyone when you talk to them about how to properly raise them. Give them all temps to keep them at and what kind of food to buy them. Make sure your customers have done alittle reaserch

 

[r4eboxer]

I am trying to keep check this thread but I cannot seem to be able to keep up. I hate just chiming in with questions all the time, y'all move to fast for me

so I do have a question. I've got a broody Jersey Giant and no more room in my incubators for a while. How many Turkey eggs can I fit under her in a single layer so she can cover them properly? I tried moving her to my poultry barn and testing out some mixed duck eggs but she would have no part of the move. Should I just put the turkey eggs in with her in the big coop? I'm afraid the other hens will break the turkey eggs, I've got someone eating eggs in there.

 

[Arielle]

I am trying to keep check this thread but I cannot seem to be able to keep up. I hate just chiming in with questions all the time, y'all move to fast for me

so I do have a question. I've got a broody Jersey Giant and no more room in my incubators for a while. How many Turkey eggs can I fit under her in a single layer so she can cover them properly? I tried moving her to my poultry barn and testing out some mixed duck eggs but she would have no part of the move. Should I just put the turkey eggs in with her in the big coop? I'm afraid the other hens will break the turkey eggs, I've got someone eating eggs in there.

One thing I've learned is that hens don't like to be moved. Period. Can you block her off in any way? I got lucky once and a hen sat in a nest box and other hens pushed in to add extra eggs but she kept vigil. But now I too have an egg eater and I don't think it would work out at all. THe only thing I can think of is can you block her off? Or move her and see if she is a rare one that accepts the move.

 

[RusticDreamer]

I can't say I know a lot about turkeys I hunt the wild cousins of our birds. So I know behavior and how curious they can be but raising them I just know the basics. I would recommend just telling everyone when you talk to them about how to properly raise them. Give them all temps to keep them at and what kind of food to buy them. Make sure your customers have done alittle reaserch

I sold some of my poults to a customer on yesterday and just let me say that I highly recommend a care sheet to include the temp in the brooder. The family was a VERY nice family. Throughout the process of them buying the poults, we had lengthy conversations about caring, feed, etc. So they came over and bought some poults and I told them if they had any questions, DO NOT hesitate to contact me and I didn't care if they called me every 30 minutes because I was not sending my poults on a suicide mission.

So they called me with a problem in the brooder about 1 hour after leaving my house. Their brooder was 3' x 6' and they couldn't understand why the poults were 5 feet away from the light. I asked them what was the temp in the brooder and they told me 120 degrees. I was like , "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"!!!! That is too hot!!!!!!!!

I told them the the poults were too hot and the poults were telling them that which is why they were 5 feet away from the light. I told them to adjust temps and monitor the temps EVERY 30 minutes and that someone needs to be on watch and monitor them throughout the night along with the temps. I am glad that they called me because the babies would have been dead by morning.

I need to go back and look on the care sheet to see if I addressed temps. Selling poults to new owners so sooooo scary.

Makes me want to keep all of my babies and not sell them until they are about 3 months old.

I'm doing that this year!!! Last year, several ppl bought 1/2 dozens at a time...most of them texted me and said they 'just died'...for no reason! YEA, RIGHT!!! Just ppl not knowing what they are doing and not listening when you try to tell them what to do!!! UGH!!

 

[pollo disco]

Quote: Actually Tilapia is raised to keep other "kept" fish pens clean. That means they eat poo. Not really veggie so to speak. Just sayin. Also, Tilapia is offered as a sustanance fish for other countries because of their ease of care and tolerance of poor water conditions. I just mention this cause I actually dislike tilapia. Now, a good pistachio butter halibut in parchment. Oh yeah baby. lol.

I just love these Turkey pics. I was able to get a couple of Rio Grande chicks but are way too young. 2 days old and I want a good enviornment for them. I will pick them up at a later time. What does everyone think on a good amount of time for those guys to mature a little? Me being a beginner and all.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Kuntrygirl,  Thanks for the info on Poxine.  Your recommendation on the first page (back 159 pages ago) prompted me to get the vaccine...I figured it must be pretty important if it was one of the first topics of discussion for 2013.  My chickens had fowl pox last year (no ill effect) so I know its out there and i didn't want my first turkey experience to be ruined because of it.  I have 15 turkey poults filling out and doing well.  Expected to have some attrition along the way, but due to some good advice on this thread I think I'm going to end up with more than the 10-12 that was my end goal.

You are welcome. I'm glad that it was helpful. I'm excited to hear that your poults are filling out well. Keep us posted.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

Actually Tilapia is raised to keep other "kept" fish pens clean. That means they eat poo. Not really veggie so to speak. Just sayin. Also, Tilapia is offered as a sustanance fish for other countries because of their ease of care and tolerance of poor water conditions. I just mention this cause I actually dislike tilapia. Now, a good pistachio butter halibut in parchment. Oh yeah baby. lol.

I just love these Turkey pics. I was able to get a couple of Rio Grande chicks but are way too young. 2 days old and I want a good enviornment for them. I will pick them up at a later time. What does everyone think on a good amount of time for those guys to mature a little? Me being a beginner and all.

Interesting . . . . I saw them raised in ponds so I didn't realize other fish were kept with them. Is that allowed here in the US? Or is all talapia in the fish market imported?

I do know I have some very salty sardines that my kids won't eat-- I will soal those to remove the salt and feed it to the birds. We much prefer canned sardines. BOnes are smaller and softer after the canning process.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I am trying to keep check this thread but I cannot seem to be able to keep up. I hate just chiming in with questions all the time, y'all move to fast for me

so I do have a question. I've got a broody Jersey Giant and no more room in my incubators for a while. How many Turkey eggs can I fit under her in a single layer so she can cover them properly? I tried moving her to my poultry barn and testing out some mixed duck eggs but she would have no part of the move. Should I just put the turkey eggs in with her in the big coop? I'm afraid the other hens will break the turkey eggs, I've got someone eating eggs in there.

No probelms with the questions. That's why we have this thread. One of my hens has had 12 eggs under her and all of them hatched. You may want to leave her where she is and just put some eggs under her. Sounds like you will have to find out who the thief is. I have the same problem and I have been trying to come up with an idea to figure out who the egg eater is. This is what I plan on doing. I will blow out an egg only keeping a little bit of egg in the shell. I will mix some red or grape kool aid and inject the kool aid in the egg and seal it up so that the inside cannot leak out. I will place a couple of these kool aid eggs in a few nesting boxes and watch the magic happen. Whoever comes out with a colorful beak, I will know that is my egg thief and I will have to deal with her accordinglingly. I will try to do a test run this weekend to see if this will work. Good luck with your hen.