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wingstone said:
Wing here... Happy to say after many years of not being able to have farm guests due to the shared family living situation. We have finally bought our own place... we are headed north... pm me and I will give the new address...I expect to see Fisherlady at my doorstep.. No animals at this time due to the move but will need to restock in the spring.
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Not sure how I missed this... SOOOO Glad to see you back!! :wee
 
We did a late order of broad breasted white turkeys that are about a week and a half old, I thought that timing our chick hatch to coincide would work well so the chicks could help teach the turkeys how to eat, etc. It was fine, but now I'm realizing I'm short on brooder space for this many birds! They are going through food and water so fast that it's hard to keep up with filling them in my little dining room brooder, but I'm not sure they are feathered enough to go downstairs to the big brooders without a heat lamp.

Last night I'm not sure if one of the poults just got so hungry or what but it started pecking a few of the other poults vents. Woke up this morning to my daughter telling me a baby turkey was bleeding on its but. There were three that were pecked until bleeding actually. I cleaned them and sprayed them with blu-kote and made sure the food stayed filled all day (and kept watch on the butt picker). One of the picked turkeys seems more lethargic still after a whole day... I think I should separate them to the downstairs brooder space (and leave the picked turkeys up here for healing up. Also, the blu-kote looks red under the red heat lamp and it keep freaking me out that my babies are covered in blood!

They should be able to cuddle and keep themselves warm in a ~70F garage, right? They have wing feathers, but their bodies are still fluff. There are 12 turkeys (so it would be 9 downstairs) and ~16 chicks that would go in their own brooder separate from the turkeys.
 
I just sat and watched them for a bit and as soon as I encouraged the picked birds to get up and eat and drink, the picker started going after their vents again. I flicked its head away every time it went after them (so, once every second) and it just didn't learn not to do it. It would even try to be sneaky and go around the feeder to come back from the other side... it was intent on picking. SO, for tonight, I put the picker in a basket with a lid next to the brooder. Not sure how I'm going to separate them tomorrow, but for tonight, the picker is confined... hopefully all of the other birds will remain uninterested overnight.
 
emorems0 said:
I just sat and watched them for a bit and as soon as I encouraged the picked birds to get up and eat and drink, the picker started going after their vents again. I flicked its head away every time it went after them (so, once every second) and it just didn't learn not to do it. It would even try to be sneaky and go around the feeder to come back from the other side... it was intent on picking. SO, for tonight, I put the picker in a basket with a lid next to the brooder. Not sure how I'm going to separate them tomorrow, but for tonight, the picker is confined... hopefully all of the other birds will remain uninterested overnight.
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Sorry you're dealing with this. Sounds like a pain in the butt. :smack

I couldn't help myself! Anywho, are you giving them a high enough protein feed? Those meat birds need a lot more than standard poultry. Also, are they too crowded? Is there something for them to climb up on to combat boredom? I would try those things and see if it helped.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Sorry you're dealing with this. Sounds like a pain in the butt. :smack

I couldn't help myself! Anywho, are you giving them a high enough protein feed? Those meat birds need a lot more than standard poultry. Also, are they too crowded? Is there something for them to climb up on to combat boredom? I would try those things and see if it helped.
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Nice butt joke! :lol:
Thanks to @Blarneyeggs hot tip we got the last meaties they were selling in Parksville tractor supply. That saved me a trip up to Quakertown. I'm checking back to hear how your white turkeys are getting on. I'll also be making a quick chicken tractor so they can eat some grass and bugs outside.

Has anyone tried a bug zapper in their coop to attract, zap, and drop bugs to the coop floor?
 
kie4 said:
Nice butt joke! :lol:
Thanks to @Blarneyeggs hot tip we got the last meaties they were selling in Parksville tractor supply. That saved me a trip up to Quakertown. I'm checking back to hear how your white turkeys are getting on. I'll also be making a quick chicken tractor so they can eat some grass and bugs outside.

Has anyone tried a bug zapper in their coop to attract, zap, and drop bugs to the coop floor?
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Never tried that. Does frying a bug reduce it's nutritional value?
I've heard of someone who took a can of cat food, punched some holes in it and hung it high about the birds. The flies laid eggs there and the maggots dropped to the ground to pupate, becoming chicken dinner instead. Never tried it because I think the smell might not be appreciated.
 
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Winding down from a long day at fair. Here are some of the things offered at the Silent auction which ends at noon Saturday. And yes, that's 'Farmer Barbie' holding a chicken.

 
dheltzel said:
Never tried that. Does frying a bug reduce it's nutritional value?
I've heard of someone who took a can of cat food, punched some holes in it and hung it high about the birds. The flies laid eggs there and the maggots dropped to the ground to pupate, becoming chicken dinner instead. Never tried it because I think the smell might not be appreciated.
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This sounds like a plan for my Main Coop, it's right next to our buck pen, so I really don't see how it could smell any worse out there.
 

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