Redd has been wanting turkeys. We thought about ordering some chicks from a hatchery, but there was a minimum of 15 chicks at 10.00 a chick + shipping. We decided that was a bit high and forgot about it. My dad works with a guy whose father has a menagerie of chickens, ducks, turkeys, guinea, etc. The wife is fed up with all the mess and noise and told her husband he needed to get rid of some stuff.
My dad, ever the negotiator, worked out a deal with the guy for us to get a breeding pair of turkeys. They are Bronze Breasted Turkeys and are about a year and a half old. They have just recently mated and the female has given us one egg, but I don’t think we’ll get a clutch as they are freaking out in their new digs. Here’s what they look like:
We wanted to give them a clever name, so I decided to go with Don Tomissino, from the Godfather, and being as Don Tomassino is an Italian name, his girl had to be Italian as well. I named her Dona Valentina since I got them on Valentine’s Day.
So far, they are having a bit of trouble settling in. They don’t want to go into the coop at night. I figure the previous owners must have let them sleep in the tree or on the roof of the chicken coop. Last night it was full dark before Valentina finally went inside. Tomassino had already run inside about 10 minutes before her. He could have let her know!
We’re thinking if they do hatch a clutch of poults, we’ll have to add on to the coop and give them their own little enclosure. I hate to let them out of the chicken run until they imprint on the coop because with the woods around the house, we’ll never see them again.
Of course, the feed store doesn’t carry turkey pellets, so I’ll have to buy some game bird feed. The previous owner told me to feed them corn/chicken scratch, but the chickens are HOGGING it all up before the turkeys even come out of the coop in the morning. I’ll have to come up with a better plan.
Does anyone know where i can buy acidophilus to put in the waterer? I’m sure I could do a google search, but I’d rather buy from a recommendation.
Feb 23, 2011 @ 14:15:26
I feed my turkeys and chickens table scraps too. NO egg shells or potato peels. They will eat almost everything else. My turkeys are usually up before my turkeys, so I have the opposite problem – the turkeys hogging the food! However, I found that if I place several feeders in and around and throw some corn here and there, they get something to eat.
Feb 26, 2011 @ 11:58:51
A new venture! It will be interesting to see how this works out.
Feb 26, 2011 @ 12:03:50
PS: I hope everyone is feeling better! (I’m so far behind reading about my favorite people.)
Mar 02, 2011 @ 14:24:41
They’re beautiful Paula
! My daughter in Alaska has a I think 3 turkey’s along with her, I have lost track how many chickens. And has 5 goats with I think two that will kid sometime this spring. The other day she just put 35 eggs into the homemade incubator they borrowed from friends because she didn’t have broody hen right not. They keep their chicken flock going raising their own chicks.
We are finally back to decent weather to continue and finish the barn we started last Fall. Will have separate quarters…chicken coop / other area for goats and maybe a cow one day.
My chickens are in temporary coop ( very nice one I might say ). 1 rooster / 15 hens, nice flock after butchering 11 loud and rowdy roosters 2 weeks ago. I made a nutrient dense bone broth with the feet / heads / necks and vegetables, etc…Delicious!!!
Take care, have fun with the turkey – lurkey’s ( as my dad would have called them) !!!