Basic Turkey Care and knowledge, Questions ...

["JuJu" the Turkey]

Hi, I am new here! I am so happy this page exists! I am new to Turkeys. I rescued a White Broad Breasted hen just before Thanksgiving. She is just the sweetest girl ever. I want to keep her healthy and happy for as long as possible. I have done quite a bit of research in how to care for her but there is a lot of conflicting information out there so I thought I would ask the experts directly! I am aware of the problems that can arise from being over weight (balance issues, leg injuries and other heart issues. I want to avoid them at all costs. I appreciate any help and advice you can give me as I want to do the right thing and have my girl "JuJu" around for as long as possible! So here are a few of my questions...

1. If cared for properly, how long on average can a BB white hen live?

2. What are the other common health issues I should watch out for?

3. I live in northern Ohio, winters get quite cold. At what temp. is it best to bring her bring her in (garage with heat) to a warmer temp? She does have a very large coop outside with good ventilation, 2 ceramic heat lamps, heated water and hay, but recently, it dropped well below '0' outside and I brought her into a garage with a heat source. Now it has warmed up and I am wondering if by putting her back outside, the fluctuation in temperatures can cause her to become sick? Should I ease her back outside? She has been in for about 3 weeks but gets lots of exercise.

4. What is a good weight for her to stay healthy? She is 27lbs right now.

5. Yesterday, she laid her first egg. I am not going to eat it as I really don't like eggs much. It is obviously not fertile. Should I let her sit on it or take it away? Will she eat it or smash it if I leave it with her? How long can I keep it with her before rotting?

6. I read they can have an egg a day. Is this true?

7. If I put ceramic faux eggs in with her to replace her own eggs, will this slow down her egg production?

8. What exactly is "brooding". Does it simply mean she is sitting on the eggs or is it a protective behavior she may present if I were to remove them?

Last, 'JuJu' sneezes every so often (or at least I think its a sneeze) Is this normal?

I know you can probably write several book from each of my questions. So feel free to simply answer one question or all of them with just a few words. I don't want to take up much of your time and I realize I am asking a lot. Any info you can provide is very much appreciated. I am so glad I found this forum.
Thank you ALL so, so much!

 

[R2elk]

3. I live in northern Ohio, winters get quite cold. At what temp. is it best to bring her bring her in (garage with heat) to a warmer temp? She does have a very large coop outside with good ventilation, 2 ceramic heat lamps, heated water and hay, but recently, it dropped well below '0' outside and I brought her into a garage with a heat source. Now it has warmed up and I am wondering if by putting her back outside, the fluctuation in temperatures can cause her to become sick? Should I ease her back outside? She has been in for about 3 weeks but gets lots of exercise.

When you provide heat for a turkey, it prevents the turkey from properly acclimating to the weather. It is too late this year to correct this. My recommendation is that next year you do not provide heat and allow her to naturally acclimate to the weather.

I do not provide heat for my turkeys and they do fine in temperatures that can reach -30°F each winter. This year the coldest has been -17°F and they spent the night out side on their roosts and are doing fine.

1. If cared for properly, how long on average can a BB white hen live?

I have known of BBW hens that have lived as long as 5 years. It is my opinion that exercise is one of the most important things in keeping a BBW hen healthy. Lots of free range time and taking her on daily walks can help.

5. Yesterday, she laid her first egg. I am not going to eat it as I really don't like eggs much. It is obviously not fertile. Should I let her sit on it or take it away? Will she eat it or smash it if I leave it with her? How long can I keep it with her before rotting?

Do not leave eggs with her. Give her a fake egg so that she does not abandon her nest but because of their clumsiness vs heritage turkeys it is very easy for BB turkeys to break their own eggs. If you don't care to eat eggs, use her eggs for cooking/baking. Turkey eggs are excellent in baked goods and also make superb custards. You could also hard boil and crumble them and feed them back to her. Since she has started laying, make sure she has access to free choice oyster shell.

 

["JuJu" the Turkey]

Wow! Thank you so very much! I am going to take your advice. When I brought her inside, it was -2 degrees outside and wind chill to 24 below. I just could not sleep with her outside in that painful cold without knowing for sure she would be ok. I chose to error on the side of caution and bring her into the garage that was a steady 40 degrees. today it is 40 outside. Do you think I can put her in her coop for the day? I really messed up I guess. I will leave her out next winter. I do take her for walks every day. However, I read she can get frost bite and she should not walk in snow. This is another reason I'm thankful to have found this site as some places online say "no snow" and others say it is ok... Ugh!

 

[R2elk]

Wow! Thank you so very much! I am going to take your advice. When I brought her inside, it was -2 degrees outside and wind chill to 24 below. I just could not sleep with her outside in that painful cold without knowing for sure she would be ok. I chose to error on the side of caution and bring her into the garage that was a steady 40 degrees. today it is 40 outside. Do you think I can put her in her coop for the day? I really messed up I guess. I will leave her out next winter. I do take her for walks every day. However, I read she can get frost bite and she should not walk in snow. This is another reason I'm thankful to have found this site as some places online say "no snow" and others say it is ok... Ugh!

I have only ever had one turkey get frostbite in 30 years of raising turkeys. That one case was a BBB tom that had his snood get frostbite during a spell of -40°F. My turkeys are out in the snow all the time without any ill effects.

There is no harm in going from an inside temperature of 40°F to an outside temperature of 40°F.

The roosting area that my turkeys use is protected from the prevailing wind. They have free access to the coop during the day and will often spend the whole day in the coop during inclement weather but they still roost outside in all kinds of weather.

You turkey should have an area that she can get out of the weather if she chooses to do so. She should have an area that is protected from the wind and even a shaded area that she can retreat to during sunny days. I have seen my turkeys retreat to the shade on bright sunny days even during sub zero temperatures.

Since she is a BBW, I recommend something such as a bale of hay or straw that she can roost on. It is good to have something that is not very high for a BB turkey but yet gets them up off of the frozen ground to protect their feet.

My turkeys have no problem spending time in the snow.

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC! @R2elk has already given you some great advice, but I'll add to it.

1. If cared for properly, how long on average can a BB white hen live?

My two BBW hens lived to be almost 5 if I remember correctly. One died from a heart related problem I think. That hen was always the one that would pant more, or look more distressed after being handled. One day she just dropped in the middle of the field. Even though she was a beloved pet I decided to necropsy her myself (i usually just bury the pets) and what I found was that the sack around her heart was filled with fluid, so I assumed cause of death was heart related. Sadly the second one died from hardware disease from eating a sharp object that punctured her digestive tract.

BYC's DylansMom had a BBW live to be 10 years old, so keep in mind that one could live to be that old.

 

[casportpony]

2. What are the other common health issues I should watch out for?

Health issues *I* worry about are mainly blackhead (histomoniasis), and heatlth issues others have reported are worms, coccidiosis, mycoplasma, necrotic enteritis, and one called blue comb maybe?, but don't quote me on that.

Do you have a vet that you can consult with?

 

[gluglu]

1. I kept mine for max 3 years.

2. What are the other common health issues I should watch out for?
Blackhead, mycoplasma, coccidiosis

3. Turkeys of any kind(adults) lives very well outside, you need to to protect them for high winds and prolonged rain only.

4. She`s in a good form, a bit fatty. If she can walk everyday everything will be all right.

5. If you let her sit on eggs will smash those. Better use them to cook or eat. Mine are fertilized, using a big tom for that.

6.I don`t think so, but they still lay eggs at a fast rate, will try to counter my BBW hens this spring.

7. I don`t think so.

8. Brooding behaviors may be alterated on hybrids. Not many of them are good hens. Also they don`t have protective behaviours like heritage. I`ll post this days a movie about how agressive can hens be. In the lukyest case you`ll see them sitting on eggs(you should avoid that bcs you`ll get those smashed), nothing more

!!! ON THE LAST CHAPTER!!! If your hen started sneezing frequent it is bcs of the cold weather, it`s a 100% sign of mycoplasma, a disease that can kill turkeys. Watch her if she breathe hard or if she gets mucus on her beak, nose, eyes. An antibiotic should solve this if she`s really sick. normal?

Welcome to the forum & watch your hen for the signs of mycoplasma.

 

[Cayuga mama]

I'm posting my question here. I have a Royal palm tom and 2 Bourbon hens. The first hen laid and hatched out 2 babies they died 2 days later. The second hen is due in a few days, she has 13 under her.

After the first hens poults died, we bought six babies for her to raise, seems to be a good mama tom was doing ok to.
Now the tom is not allowing the hen and babies graze or drink. What should we do? He's outside the coop, he won't stop gobbling.

 

[R2elk]

I'm posting my question here. I have a Royal palm tom and 2 Bourbon hens. The first hen laid and hatched out 2 babies they died 2 days later. The second hen is due in a few days, she has 13 under her.

After the first hens poults died, we bought six babies for her to raise, seems to be a good mama tom was doing ok to.
Now the tom is not allowing the hen and babies graze or drink. What should we do? He's outside the coop, he won't stop gobbling.

Separate the tom from them immediately. Some toms can be very good with poults and then become a problem later. I believe your tom wants to breed the hen and her lack of cooperation may cause him to harm the poults. Better be safe than sorry and put him where he cannot get to them.

The other option is to put the poults in a brooder and raise them yourself.