How ya doin'

[CarolPNW]

Doing as well as can be Hi and Good Morning

 

[Carol Dee]

 

[baymule]

I'm thinking about raising a few turkeys next year. Maybe we'll have a home grown turkey for Thanksgiving. If they don't all die on me........

Thanksgiving! time of family gatherings, may all of you be safe.

 

[flowerbug]

I'm thinking about raising a few turkeys next year. Maybe we'll have a home grown turkey for Thanksgiving. If they don't all die on me........

Thanksgiving! time of family gatherings, may all of you be safe.

yes, and good luck on growing your own gobblers.

they run around in the wild around here. they are so dumb and are prime food for every predator that is big enough to take them down but they survive because they have huge numbers of babies and they're not over-hunted.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I did that once Bay. I got eggs and only one hatched, a Midget White. He was a little tough, not sure I aged him enough before cooking. I hatched him in an incubator, timing chicken eggs so they would hatch at the same time so i could raise them together. I had one turkey egg out of six hatch, shipped eggs. Glad I had the chicks to raise him with. That's the only bird I ever named. I called him Pilgrim, partly because of his special day but mostly because the way he was strutting around reminded me of John Wayne. Fans will understand.

I tried that again the next year. Five out of six shipped eggs hatched. But every one of them died before they got close to butcher size. I think a wild bird introduced blackhead to my flock. It never bothered the chickens but it wiped out the turkeys. Pure blind luck with blackhead showing up that second year.

I urge you to go for it. Either it works for you or it doesn't. One way to find out.

 

[flowerbug]

...
I tried that again the next year. Five out of six shipped eggs hatched. But every one of them died before they got close to butcher size. I think a wild bird introduced blackhead to my flock. It never bothered the chickens but it wiped out the turkeys. Pure blind luck with blackhead showing up that second year.
...

i've never even heard of blackhead before... what is it?

 

[Ridgerunner]

i've never even heard of blackhead before... what is it?

Sort of like zits. Oil builds up in the body's pores and can turn black.

Seriously Blackhead disease (histomoniasis) is an important poultry disease that affects turkeys, chickens, and game birds such as partridges, pheasants, and quail.

It doesn't usually bother chickens that much but once they are infected they remain carriers for life. It is deadly to turkeys. You often see warnings to not keep chickens and turkeys together because of Blackhead. If the disease is present, the chickens will be carriers which means dead turkeys. If the disease is not present your chickens cannot give it to turkeys. I find on the chicken forum that many people have trouble understanding that last point.

 

[thejenx]

I feel like this:

 

[Carol Dee]

Checking up on 'ya all ... still hanging in there? 2020 is almost over.

 

[digitS']

That's just what I need.

Someone with that look of friendly interest!

.

Steve