Picking up Handsome and Gretal
April 6, 2012, Good Friday and it's time to pick up our pair of breeding Ridley Bronze Turkeys. I am very excited. Oh and they are not for Easter dinner! Maybe next year:)
The Ridley Bronze is a heritage turkey...What is a heritage turkey you ask?
Wikipedia "A heritage turkey is one of a variety of strains of domestic turkey which retains historic characteristics that are no longer present in the majority of turkeys raised for consumption since the mid-20th century. Heritage turkeys can be differentiated from other domestic turkeys in that they are biologically capable of being raised in a manner that more closely matches the natural behavior and life cycle of wild turkeys. Heritage turkeys have a relatively long lifespan and a much slower growth rate than turkeys bred for industrial agriculture, and unlike industrially-bred turkeys, can reproduce without artificial insemination.
More than ten different turkey breeds are classified as heritage turkeys, including the Auburn, Buff, Black, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Royal Palm, Slate, Standard Bronze, and Midget White.
Lots more info on Wikipedia
I worked last week building the pen and enclosure for them. I feel very confident that we will be able to look after these two turkeys.
Dwight and I have had laying chickens for the last 4 or 5 years and they travel with us to the cabin every summer. This year we will have 2 breeding turkeys and hopefully some babies (poults) as well)
Building the pen. Not being a hundred percent sure if all of this is going to work and if we will take to raising a few turkeys I am not building anything too permanent or expensive but using materials mostly on hand. Att the same time making it look nice as well and strong enough to keep predators out. A friend of our gave us a bunch of chain link fencing so I used the shorter section to go around part of our wood shed lean to that I built last fall. Made a door, put all the brick from our maple syrup pit around the perimeter of the enclosure. Perfect place to store the brick till next maple syrup season and keeps animals from trying to dig underneath. The outside pen is 7' by 7' and the inside enclosure is 6 by 6'
In anticipation of moving or making a new pen I built 8 sections of 3 by 6 panels covered in 1/2" hardware cloth and plywood gussets on the corners for strength. These I can bolt together in any manner I want and put some tin, wood or chicken wire on top to make a nice run at the cabin for them. We will see how that all goes when the time comes.
The Ridley Bronze is a heritage turkey...What is a heritage turkey you ask?
Wikipedia "A heritage turkey is one of a variety of strains of domestic turkey which retains historic characteristics that are no longer present in the majority of turkeys raised for consumption since the mid-20th century. Heritage turkeys can be differentiated from other domestic turkeys in that they are biologically capable of being raised in a manner that more closely matches the natural behavior and life cycle of wild turkeys. Heritage turkeys have a relatively long lifespan and a much slower growth rate than turkeys bred for industrial agriculture, and unlike industrially-bred turkeys, can reproduce without artificial insemination.
More than ten different turkey breeds are classified as heritage turkeys, including the Auburn, Buff, Black, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Royal Palm, Slate, Standard Bronze, and Midget White.
Lots more info on Wikipedia
I worked last week building the pen and enclosure for them. I feel very confident that we will be able to look after these two turkeys.
Dwight and I have had laying chickens for the last 4 or 5 years and they travel with us to the cabin every summer. This year we will have 2 breeding turkeys and hopefully some babies (poults) as well)
Building the pen. Not being a hundred percent sure if all of this is going to work and if we will take to raising a few turkeys I am not building anything too permanent or expensive but using materials mostly on hand. Att the same time making it look nice as well and strong enough to keep predators out. A friend of our gave us a bunch of chain link fencing so I used the shorter section to go around part of our wood shed lean to that I built last fall. Made a door, put all the brick from our maple syrup pit around the perimeter of the enclosure. Perfect place to store the brick till next maple syrup season and keeps animals from trying to dig underneath. The outside pen is 7' by 7' and the inside enclosure is 6 by 6'
In anticipation of moving or making a new pen I built 8 sections of 3 by 6 panels covered in 1/2" hardware cloth and plywood gussets on the corners for strength. These I can bolt together in any manner I want and put some tin, wood or chicken wire on top to make a nice run at the cabin for them. We will see how that all goes when the time comes.
Transporting the Turkeys
I wanted to build a cage to carry the turkeys home in but realized it might be kind of heavy with two turkeys in it so I thought of making two cages...I would have to transport them to the cabin this summer anyway.
The lady I bought them from told me that she often uses an empty feed bag and cuts a corner off for their head to go through. Well that sounded easy enough. You need two people for this job and if I had to do it again I would have built the cages. She also recommended a dog crate....that sounds wonderful. Anyway Handsome and Gretel remained calm enough except for once and I have to pull over because Handsome had stuck his head back in the bag and couldnt get it out so here I am pulled over on the side of the highway in the back of the van with my hand in the hole trying to fish a hot ugly...whoops did I say that?....turkey head back through the hole. I text Dwight to tell him to have a pair of scissors ready by the coop so I could cut them out of the bag the moment I arrive. The bag is like a mesh and their toes can get stuck in them as well.
Gretal has a limp and prefers to stand on one leg....I wonder if she hurt it in the bag?
I wanted to build a cage to carry the turkeys home in but realized it might be kind of heavy with two turkeys in it so I thought of making two cages...I would have to transport them to the cabin this summer anyway.
The lady I bought them from told me that she often uses an empty feed bag and cuts a corner off for their head to go through. Well that sounded easy enough. You need two people for this job and if I had to do it again I would have built the cages. She also recommended a dog crate....that sounds wonderful. Anyway Handsome and Gretel remained calm enough except for once and I have to pull over because Handsome had stuck his head back in the bag and couldnt get it out so here I am pulled over on the side of the highway in the back of the van with my hand in the hole trying to fish a hot ugly...whoops did I say that?....turkey head back through the hole. I text Dwight to tell him to have a pair of scissors ready by the coop so I could cut them out of the bag the moment I arrive. The bag is like a mesh and their toes can get stuck in them as well.
Gretal has a limp and prefers to stand on one leg....I wonder if she hurt it in the bag?
The turkeys are fascinating! A lot of people have never been up close to a turkey and the tom turkey is almost scary, actually he is scary and his whole head thing is unbelievable and ever changing, going from red to blue, green, purple, shrinking, growing and then you have all the sounds he makes. Check the short video I made of him doing his horny dance. I'm actually a bit nervous when I am squatted next to him....what if he jumps me. Heck I put in a pile of sand in his pen and he climbs aboard the pile and starts mating! All he does all day long is his mating dance. We have had them for 4 days now.
The first night I went out to check where they were sleeping and they were both in the outside pen lying on the ground so I picked them up and put them on the roast in the coop. Later in the evening I saw that Gretel has moved over to the top of the nest box. Last night I noticed they were on the ground in the outside pen so today I put in a roost out there...will let you know.
The first night I went out to check where they were sleeping and they were both in the outside pen lying on the ground so I picked them up and put them on the roast in the coop. Later in the evening I saw that Gretel has moved over to the top of the nest box. Last night I noticed they were on the ground in the outside pen so today I put in a roost out there...will let you know.
My advice, get to know your birds, move slowly around them, talk to them, touch them often to get used to you so they are easier to handle when you need to handle them or check them out.
March 10, 2012
I was in this evening to put up the perch in the outdoor run and also threw in a chunk of wood for Handsome to roost on cause I dont think he will be able to get his fat ass up any higher than that but at least it will get him off the ground and away from his poops that he does through the night.
I find that things are cleaner if I go with a bucket and kitty litter scooper in the morning and pick up what I can and into the compost. Back yard turkey keepers can do this:)
I introduced a log in their pen this afternoon...Gretel chirped at it, pecked at it, Handsome was not sure what she was doing and his red wattle lost all its red color and his feathers all fell down but only briefly. Such a fun thing to watch.....I should bring my caffe latte out in the morning in the Adirondack chair and just observe for awhile. They love when they can see me.
8:10 pm
Yeahhhhhh, I just checked in on them and Gretel is up on her 4' perch and Handsome is on the ground...so I rolled the log in...Handsome was not in his full romantic regalia as it was almost dark, so I just gently guided him to the log and he jumped up...good job Handsome!
You always want your turkeys and chickens up on a roost.....they do most of their pooping in the night and it keeps them out of it and cleaner.
March 11, 2012
Gorgeous day, high of 10. Gretals sore foot seems to be a bit better although I think she may always have a bit of a problem with it as it seems to be slightly malformed. I will have to watch her offspring to make sure I only keep the best ones for breeding purposes if I go that far with them. She likes her high perch very much. Tonight I brought in the bottom of the Romain lettuce for them and she was on Handsomes log.
March 17, 2012
Well there is no point in filling in till now because I woke up to the pen having been broken into....I used poultry staples that got pulled out along the side of the chain link fencing on their outdoor run. Handsome was dead with a bite mark on his rump and Gretal is missing with lots of feathers inside and out. I suspect our dog Theo, a lab rotty mix who also killed a chicken a few weeks back. He is always in at night and last night he was out, his stomach is also very tight so he had a good feed. I will have to find a new home for him cause I dont think I can train this instinct out of him.
Gosh I feel terrible. I even had a baby monitor but not beside the bed and he rained very heavily last night.
NEW TURKEYS
Sorry but I have not posted here in a long time. The end of summer brings us another pair of turkeys....Bonnie and Clyde. In the fall we picked up a Tom...we named him Noel....he will be our Christmas turkey.
Feb. 25/2013
Turkeys are all fine...we did not eat Noel. Clyde got a cold this winter and I got him fixed up....I just thought I might lose him so would need the other Tom. The other reason we did not eat Noel was that he could have used a few more pounds on him and not having ever slaughtered a turkey we were too busy to figure it out....maybe Easter turkey?
April 27, 2013
Well we did end up eating Clyde, one other reason was because he was skittish and Noel is so gentle and sweet...Dwight slaughtered him and all went well for the first time. Clyde dressed out at 17 lbs. Easter dinner for 8 with leftovers. It was delicious!
We have changed Noel's name to Clyde.....it just works better. April 10 Bonnie started to lay eggs. I thought that too early because the nights were dipping below 0 most nights and I knew the eggs would not be good plus I was not sure if Clyde did his job. So long as I keep taking her eggs she will keep laying. I put the eggs in the wine cellar, turned them once every day and then when the weather looked right I placed the last 12 she had laid in her nest. The next day she was on them for good. She never moved for food or water the entire time. Tomorrow was the hatch day...day 28 but this morning with the breaking of dawn came the first breaking of an egg with the peeping and cooing following....you see I was sleeping with a baby monitor.
May 27
Happy day, Clyde did his job and the eggs are good. At this moment I have the monitor beside me and am listening as one by one the little darlings are hatching. It can take up to 24 hours to hatch them all so I will not be going into the turkey coop...other than peeking in through the door. I want to make sure she stays on the nest until they all break free from their tough shells.
Clyde has been separated from her for about 10 days....we have him in a dog run not far. He hurt his leg a few days ago. He lies down most of the time and hops, a bit more quiet. I checked him and dont see anything but he does seem to be a bit better now. It is so nice when you have a calm gentle turkey. I will try to make sure the new babies are tame although mama isn't.
Out of the 12 eggs, 8 hatched. I was able to sneak when she finally left the nest to get the other four eggs to make sure that one was not about to hatch. If it was and she did not return to the nest then it would get cold and die before it could get out. I brought them to the house and "candled them" in a dark room with a bright flashlight against the egg. Two of them I could see the yoke, one was clear and the fourth was solid so I was sure there was a chick inside until I turned the egg over and saw a flat area which indicated to me that it was not good.
March 10, 2012
I was in this evening to put up the perch in the outdoor run and also threw in a chunk of wood for Handsome to roost on cause I dont think he will be able to get his fat ass up any higher than that but at least it will get him off the ground and away from his poops that he does through the night.
I find that things are cleaner if I go with a bucket and kitty litter scooper in the morning and pick up what I can and into the compost. Back yard turkey keepers can do this:)
I introduced a log in their pen this afternoon...Gretel chirped at it, pecked at it, Handsome was not sure what she was doing and his red wattle lost all its red color and his feathers all fell down but only briefly. Such a fun thing to watch.....I should bring my caffe latte out in the morning in the Adirondack chair and just observe for awhile. They love when they can see me.
8:10 pm
Yeahhhhhh, I just checked in on them and Gretel is up on her 4' perch and Handsome is on the ground...so I rolled the log in...Handsome was not in his full romantic regalia as it was almost dark, so I just gently guided him to the log and he jumped up...good job Handsome!
You always want your turkeys and chickens up on a roost.....they do most of their pooping in the night and it keeps them out of it and cleaner.
March 11, 2012
Gorgeous day, high of 10. Gretals sore foot seems to be a bit better although I think she may always have a bit of a problem with it as it seems to be slightly malformed. I will have to watch her offspring to make sure I only keep the best ones for breeding purposes if I go that far with them. She likes her high perch very much. Tonight I brought in the bottom of the Romain lettuce for them and she was on Handsomes log.
March 17, 2012
Well there is no point in filling in till now because I woke up to the pen having been broken into....I used poultry staples that got pulled out along the side of the chain link fencing on their outdoor run. Handsome was dead with a bite mark on his rump and Gretal is missing with lots of feathers inside and out. I suspect our dog Theo, a lab rotty mix who also killed a chicken a few weeks back. He is always in at night and last night he was out, his stomach is also very tight so he had a good feed. I will have to find a new home for him cause I dont think I can train this instinct out of him.
Gosh I feel terrible. I even had a baby monitor but not beside the bed and he rained very heavily last night.
NEW TURKEYS
Sorry but I have not posted here in a long time. The end of summer brings us another pair of turkeys....Bonnie and Clyde. In the fall we picked up a Tom...we named him Noel....he will be our Christmas turkey.
Feb. 25/2013
Turkeys are all fine...we did not eat Noel. Clyde got a cold this winter and I got him fixed up....I just thought I might lose him so would need the other Tom. The other reason we did not eat Noel was that he could have used a few more pounds on him and not having ever slaughtered a turkey we were too busy to figure it out....maybe Easter turkey?
April 27, 2013
Well we did end up eating Clyde, one other reason was because he was skittish and Noel is so gentle and sweet...Dwight slaughtered him and all went well for the first time. Clyde dressed out at 17 lbs. Easter dinner for 8 with leftovers. It was delicious!
We have changed Noel's name to Clyde.....it just works better. April 10 Bonnie started to lay eggs. I thought that too early because the nights were dipping below 0 most nights and I knew the eggs would not be good plus I was not sure if Clyde did his job. So long as I keep taking her eggs she will keep laying. I put the eggs in the wine cellar, turned them once every day and then when the weather looked right I placed the last 12 she had laid in her nest. The next day she was on them for good. She never moved for food or water the entire time. Tomorrow was the hatch day...day 28 but this morning with the breaking of dawn came the first breaking of an egg with the peeping and cooing following....you see I was sleeping with a baby monitor.
May 27
Happy day, Clyde did his job and the eggs are good. At this moment I have the monitor beside me and am listening as one by one the little darlings are hatching. It can take up to 24 hours to hatch them all so I will not be going into the turkey coop...other than peeking in through the door. I want to make sure she stays on the nest until they all break free from their tough shells.
Clyde has been separated from her for about 10 days....we have him in a dog run not far. He hurt his leg a few days ago. He lies down most of the time and hops, a bit more quiet. I checked him and dont see anything but he does seem to be a bit better now. It is so nice when you have a calm gentle turkey. I will try to make sure the new babies are tame although mama isn't.
Out of the 12 eggs, 8 hatched. I was able to sneak when she finally left the nest to get the other four eggs to make sure that one was not about to hatch. If it was and she did not return to the nest then it would get cold and die before it could get out. I brought them to the house and "candled them" in a dark room with a bright flashlight against the egg. Two of them I could see the yoke, one was clear and the fourth was solid so I was sure there was a chick inside until I turned the egg over and saw a flat area which indicated to me that it was not good.
I am feeding them game bird starter, 28 percent protein...mama gets it too. Every day I go in with a chopped boiled egg and the chicks love it. I want to tame them and get them used to me. Too bad mama was never tamed. She is very protective of them so I have to be careful...slow and easy. The weather is very good outside. It is so interesting to hear all the different sounds mama makes.
I found a grub outside and brought it in to feed them but it moved and they were afraid. You would think mama would eat it but she picked it up, nibbled it and dropped it, did that a few times till the chicks finally went for it. So that is how she teaches them.
They are small and she often just lies down so that they can cuddle underneath her...it is so sweet
I found a grub outside and brought it in to feed them but it moved and they were afraid. You would think mama would eat it but she picked it up, nibbled it and dropped it, did that a few times till the chicks finally went for it. So that is how she teaches them.
They are small and she often just lies down so that they can cuddle underneath her...it is so sweet
July 9, 2013
All poults are doing fine and really starting to grow. Almost 6 weeks old now...just started them on turkey grower as our intentions are to raise them for meat. It is hard to sex them but because they are all from the same nest I am gauging it on their size. There are two that are slightly smaller and I will be selling them to a friend on Sunday as 8 turkeys are too many for us. Also I am noticing that some of the bigger ones when excited get a red colouring on their necks, also indicating males I think. It is so sweet to see a few of them still under her wings even though they are now roosting high up.
All poults are doing fine and really starting to grow. Almost 6 weeks old now...just started them on turkey grower as our intentions are to raise them for meat. It is hard to sex them but because they are all from the same nest I am gauging it on their size. There are two that are slightly smaller and I will be selling them to a friend on Sunday as 8 turkeys are too many for us. Also I am noticing that some of the bigger ones when excited get a red colouring on their necks, also indicating males I think. It is so sweet to see a few of them still under her wings even though they are now roosting high up.
At about four weeks they started to roast. In their outside run I have a few things for them to jump up on and higher places to roost as well. a few times a day i feed them greens and break them or cut them into small pieces... they love it. now that they are older i just hold them in my hand and they break off their own pieces. When they see me now they really start cheeping. I feed them plantain, dandelion, clover, alfalfa and the odd comfrey leaf.
Fresh water, I always clean out the water container, at 6 weeks I really notice them starting to drink a lot.
July 14, 2013
I cant believe it....some of my 6 week old poults are starting to strut or display1 They are the size of small hens at the moment and I have started them on the turkey grower. The intention is for the freezer. Today I sold 2 turkey poults. I think it was one male and a female. Out of 8 I am guessing there are 2 females. There a slightly smaller than the others as well as being very cautious...The males seem to be more tame as well as getting a bit red on the front of their throats.
Dwight and I just built another run for them to give them lots of room. They is a big layer of sand in it as they love to have their dust baths plus every few days I go in with the fan rake and rake up the poop and into the compost.
My big male hurt his leg over a month ago and still seems to have a problem with it. He is in a separate run but they can all see each other. In a few weeks I will but Bonnie back with him.
July 15, 2013
Very hot and humid today...the turkeys are all panting (their beaks are open) This is normal when it is very hot.
One of my poults (well on his way to becoming a jake) must have hurt his leg somehow in the night. Perhaps when he came down from the roost. You have to make sure they have enough room to fly down without crashing into something. The injured poult wants to lie down all the time and I am worried the others will bother him so I put him in with Daddy Clyde who also has a bad leg so now they are lying quietly beside each other watching the rambunkous siblings.
Fresh water, I always clean out the water container, at 6 weeks I really notice them starting to drink a lot.
July 14, 2013
I cant believe it....some of my 6 week old poults are starting to strut or display1 They are the size of small hens at the moment and I have started them on the turkey grower. The intention is for the freezer. Today I sold 2 turkey poults. I think it was one male and a female. Out of 8 I am guessing there are 2 females. There a slightly smaller than the others as well as being very cautious...The males seem to be more tame as well as getting a bit red on the front of their throats.
Dwight and I just built another run for them to give them lots of room. They is a big layer of sand in it as they love to have their dust baths plus every few days I go in with the fan rake and rake up the poop and into the compost.
My big male hurt his leg over a month ago and still seems to have a problem with it. He is in a separate run but they can all see each other. In a few weeks I will but Bonnie back with him.
July 15, 2013
Very hot and humid today...the turkeys are all panting (their beaks are open) This is normal when it is very hot.
One of my poults (well on his way to becoming a jake) must have hurt his leg somehow in the night. Perhaps when he came down from the roost. You have to make sure they have enough room to fly down without crashing into something. The injured poult wants to lie down all the time and I am worried the others will bother him so I put him in with Daddy Clyde who also has a bad leg so now they are lying quietly beside each other watching the rambunkous siblings.
