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michelle_co_gw

Turkey help?

michelle_co
15 years ago

Uh-oh. I ordered a few turkey poults, Bourbon Reds? Red bourbons? Anyway, how much of a shelter do they need for winter? The plans I've seen show a shelter that has two walls for a windblock, and is otherwise raised off the ground. This seems very drafty for a Colorado winter. What do turkeys need for our climate?

Thanks!

Michelle

Comments (24)

  • david52 Zone 6
    15 years ago

    "What do turkeys need for our climate?"

    I generally go with brining over-night, which plumps them up a bit, and then smoke them lightly for 1/2 hour with fruit wood, then, since it's so dry, a stuffing made with cornbread, wild mushrooms, celery, onions, and orange slices. That keeps the moisture in pretty well.

  • michelle_co
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Yeah, and DH suggested that we name them after his employees. :-) I am not sure if it's because they are turkeys or ???

    Cheers,
    Michelle

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    15 years ago

    LOL! There's always a good laugh around here! I was gonna say that as long as they've developed a good root system by fall they should be fine with just a windbreak!

    Wonder if Michelle will get any "real" advice on this one,
    Skybird

  • michelle_co
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    David's mouthwatering advice is clearly invitation for us to show up at his house with a fresh turkey this Fall, Skybird. :-)

    Actually, I have a run-in horse shed (that the horses disdain) that could be converted to a turkey shelter. I am not sure if I have to fully enclose it, or if I can just cover the open side with a gate and some wire to keep the predators out. If so, that would be sweeeeeet.

    Cheers,
    Michelle

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    15 years ago

    LetÂs see! Fall you say! IÂm gonna be down that way in September again! Let me know what time!

    I know a little bit about turkeysÂbut I donÂt think itÂs anything that will help you! When I was a kid my brother raised turkeys for a few years (Illinois). It was after we quit with the chickens and eggs, so he just cut the "door" in one of the chicken barns big enough for turkeys to get in and out, and they stayed in the enclosed chicken wire fence (no varmints around), and chicken barn. Sometimes heÂd let them out to roam around our 2-acre field to eat the weeds, and more than once I was designated turkey-herd! Fending off one rooster with a stick is scarey, but fending off a whole herd of turkeys is WAY scarey! Sometimes IÂd swear I could hear them going, "Surround her!" Anyway, this was 50 years ago, so IÂm not sure if I remember right, but it seems to me they always got slaughtered sometime in fall, so I donÂt remember ever having them over winter! But it does seem to me theyÂd need an enclosed shelter over winter out here. Just think: BLIZZARD! OrÂyou could provide the fresh turkey(s) for DavidÂs dinner!!!

    Ahhhh, how about the second week in September?
    Skybird

  • michelle_co
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    That will be one turkey for you, one for me, one for David, and one for David's DW. I want to see Skybird eat a whole Bigbird! :-)

    Cheers,
    Michelle

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    15 years ago

    ROFL! I'm getting my endorphin fix again tonite! But, uhhh, I don't eat a whole lot! When I make chicken, it's usually thighs, and one thigh equals 2 to 3 meals for me! Can I bring some friends to help me with THE BIRD???

    Skybird

  • dafygardennut
    15 years ago

    mmmmmm.......turkey...

    teehee

    I love this forum :-)

  • emagineer
    15 years ago

    Michelle, we had turkeys in Paker about 20 years ago. Built a cage off the ground, chicken wire around and a roof. They definitely need perches across the inside to sit on. This keeps them from laying on their chests, otherwise they will have big legs and no meaty chests.

    By the time fall had arrived they were table meals. Young turkeys to eat, old turkeys not so good. So no worries about winter unless you plan on breeding.

    Sadly, the kids had to name all of them. Every meal they would ask which one it was.

  • digit
    15 years ago

    One of the few critters I've never had, Michelle.

    Keep in mind that the lower the temperature and greater the exposure - the higher the feed bill. Birds seem to do a pretty good job at keeping themselves warm but they do it with a remarkable range in calories consumed.

    BTW - I enjoy those continuing photo's of the other chicks. Whaddya think about the new DNA news on T. rex just being a giant featherless chicken?!!?

    digitS'

    Here is a link that might be useful: Tyrannosaurus rex was just an overgrown chicken

  • michelle_co
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Emagineer - I may keep a trio of turkeys to breed. They are a fun project rather than a meat project (though if there's an extra... well...). I picked up a free dog house today, and thought I could put that in the horse shed, and that would give them a house. I can put a wire bottom in it, and half the top is loose so it would be easy to hinge it on for inside access. Not sure if it's going to be tall enough for the turkeys though?

    Digits, I believe T. Rex could have been a chicken. :-) A big, delicious chicken... I need to figure out how to grow some wheat. There's no reason I couldn't grow a large % of the bird feed. I got some red millet to plant, and am ready to get my cover/forage crop going in the garden. I am going to try clover and oats, too. Hopefully turkeys and chickens will forage on it and not turn up their beaks in disgust. :-)

    Cheers,
    Michelle

  • digit
    15 years ago

    Meat, Michelle . . they want meat . . . .. .

  • billie_ladybug
    15 years ago

    emag - is that a Boston accent? Paker??
    Michelle - sorry I left you to these buzzards for so long (ask me about the Buzzard story at the swap). I would have responded sooner, but essay due, computer crashed and I cracked. Anywho, I have a LARGE flock of turkeys part of which gets overwintered and we even have about 10 turkey poults hatched from our eggs so far this year. So what do you want to know?? We have some in the barn, with outside (east facing) pens to play in. There are extra toms in with the ducks and the whites (for Thanksgiving and 4-H) are in the old pig hut. They have been there since about early March, maybe before that even. The bourbon hens will perch, but a good Bourbon Red tom will not be able to get his butt more than a foot off the ground. They fair pretty well in any weather. Remember to feed them high protein so they don't start eating feathers. Grasshoppers, any bugs really, alfalfa and clover are all high in proteins which the birds need to produce feathers, eggs and the body fat to get them through winter. Toms will rub their breast feathers off on anything they can try to mount. Have seen them try to mate the ducks, geese and the feeder, so a lack of breast feathers this time of year is kinda normal. The biggest thing to worry about is that they have fresh, thawed water through the winter to drink. Also if your doorway is too narrow, they will beat up their wings trying to get in, may lose feathers there and possibly cause perminate damage. But once you get them growing, they are really easy to raise. Ours all know the feeding and water buckets. They know which coop is theirs and certain ones, Gobbles in particular, will lay on your feet if she wants attention, very sweet. Should I bring them to the swap? Just kidding Char.

    PS just a little info, our Bourdon Tom was Best of Show in the Poultry Barn at El Paso County Fair last year. We plan to take most of our turkeys, Bourbon Reds, Royal Palms and the Broad Breasted Whites to fair this year. Hope to see you all there. Pop in and say hi if you come out.

    Billie

  • michelle_co
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Oooh, I was hoping you'd post, Billie!

    Do you have a picture to post of your Bourbon tom that won? I'd love to see him. :-)

    What I really want to know:
    Do they need a fully enclosed, insulated shed for winter? And do mature turkeys need supplemental heat for winter?

    Do you carefully isolate yours away from chickens? From what I've read about blackhead, it may not be a problem in our dry climate. The neighbors raise turkeys, chickens, peafowl together.

    Do you sell any turkey poults or hatching eggs? If I have any luck with them, I'd like to get some additional stock next season (a tom). :-)

    And last, are they good free-rangers (in terms of avoiding predators)? We have a 12 ac. pasture behind the house, canyon with grass & ponds in the low part. It would be nice if they could go out and explore. There are some bobcats and coyotes around, but I never see them.

    THANKS!!! There's nothing like advice from other RM folks about how things work in Colorado!

    Cheers,
    Michelle

  • michelle_co
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    But DigitS, so do I! And being the one with thumbs (to properly light the barbeque, of course) - I win. :-)

    If hay gets any more expensive, they may get a bite of old Vaengur (the pony). I wouldn't feel bad feeding them a Bambi and Thumper Dinner Special, either.

    Cheers,
    Michelle

    ps. Awwww, poor pony. Now I almost feel bad.

  • billie_ladybug
    15 years ago

    I raise all the babies together. I also have a hen and now a tom that live and range with the chickens. Have never had blackhead on anyone. Mine do not have an insulated anything. The barn is 24'x30' (the peak is approx 16") and everybody has a pen inside. The chickens, banties, Palms and Reds as well as the rabbit cages all heat it up pretty good. I think there were only one or two times that I could see my breath in there all winter. I do keep a 50 gal tank in the barn that I have a heater in so I don't have to drag water back and forth. The old pig pen on the other hand, I keep two heat lamps in there which was fine until one of the turkeys tried to perch on the cord. Then another scorched his feathers on the lamp, hogging all the heat, I suppose.

    We are working on building our pens and flocks right now, but I an sure as the season progresses I will wind up with extras. Right now I have Turk, the old man who went to fair. We have not had any luck breeding him and his 4 replacements, who are not as correct as Turk is. I am using the next best to try to get some poults out of the Reds still and then he will go to fair and compete against Turk.

    The birds that I have out are pretty well sure that nothing is going to bother them here. The black hen will wander all over the front yard with the chickens. She actually sticks pretty close to them. The toms tend to stay pretty close together and don't forage a whole lot. They are busy flexing their muscles and just the typical male showing off thing. I have to make sure that I have feed in pens for them otherwise I am not sure they (the toms) would eat. The hens are busy ignoring the toms and do pretty well for themselves.

    Thing to remember, is when you have several toms, they will compete with eachother and fight over any hen they can get near. That is why Turk is currently living with the chickens and the backups are with the ducks, no fighting.

    I will see if I can find some pics, but I will have to send them to your e-mail cuz I am still pic illerate and just don't have the time to figure it out yet. Maybe over the winter? Yeah, right. But maybe they will teach me how to in that computer class I have to take...

    I am glad that you have an interest in the Bourbon Reds. Try to pick the best, truest males you can for breeding though, if you can. I will try to borrow a "Standard of Perfection" and send you a copy of the Bourbon page. It will show you what to look for in the breed. It is one that is a very old line that has lost alot of stock in the last 50 or so years, but is coming back. Such pretty and smart birds. They really are.

    Another essay by:
    Billie

  • billie_ladybug
    15 years ago

    Michelle, how is the turkey project going??

  • michelle_co
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Just waiting for the turkeys to arrive! :-) It will be a couple of weeks. I need to scrub the brooder & figure out a divider to separate the turkeys and chicks - might do it today since it's FREEZING cold outside (and I bet even colder at your place!).

    Here are the photos you sent of Turk :-) Hope it's OK to post them. If not, I'll take them down. DH - cityboy - was quite impressed.

    {{gwi:1197287}}

    {{gwi:1197290}}

    Cheers,
    Michelle

  • billie_ladybug
    15 years ago

    You will have to let me know when they show up.

    It all good. Thanks fro posting them.

    Billie

  • lkcrawford
    9 years ago

    I know this thread is pretty old, but I'm looking for Bourbon Red poults. Can't seem to find them anywhere here locally, so thought I'd start searching around on forums. Anybody have some poults for sale?

    Thanks!

  • david52 Zone 6
    9 years ago

    You can try Sandhill Preservation - they have them in their catalog.

    They're a wonderfully cantankerous lot, won't do a web page you can order from, won't take credit cards. You need to send them a check with a paper order.

    Anyway, here's a link to their turkey page, and Bourbon Reds are listed. Unfortunately, they're sold out. I have no idea if you could order now for next year.

    /not a lotta help, huhâ¦.

    Here is a link that might be useful: link

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    9 years ago

    This is probably less help than David, but Murdoch's is selling chicken peeps in their stores right now. (They're so darn cute I wanted to take an armful of them home with me! And keep them in---uh---the bathtub???) I have no idea if it's possible to get turkeys from them, but it might be worth a call. They just went online starting to list products about a year ago, and there's still a lot of stuff that's not listed--including chickens, so you won't find it online. But they have 10 stores in Colorado, with 4 of them in the Metro area, so pick one and give it a try.

    If they don't have them, possibly they'd know who does around here.

    Skybird

    Here is a link that might be useful: Murdoch's

  • ginnytrcka
    9 years ago

    My son raises turkeys for 4H and I am the poultry leader for our club in El Paso County.

    You should call the feed stores at this point and ask when they are getting their next shipment. A lot of time they only last a day or two in the stores. We try to have our online pre-orders in by January because so many hatcheries sell out, especially if you want a specific breed. Some place like Big R may not be able to tell you what breed they are (friend got Royal Palms instead of the market white turkeys one year). Kiowa Country Corner and Elizabeth Country corner are very good about knowing their breeds and ordering, but also usually take pre-orders and sell out quickly.

    BTW, My two sons won Grand and Reserve Grand Champion turkeys last year! Sorry--proud mother heart couldn't help but share that :)

    Going to the swap if you want to talk turkey.

  • lkcrawford
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the ideas. I did finally find some so I should be good. Ginny, I'm going to try to make the swap as well, so I'd love to "talk turkey". I'm totally still learning, so I love any info I can get :)