Chickens, and things related

   / Chickens, and things related #771  
Turkey Update,

Yesterday, Steph and I spent the day in a workshop put on by the Texas Department of Fish and Game, along with Texas A&M, Texas Parks and Wildlife and Stephen F. Austin University. It was an all day workshop that covered just about every aspect of managing wildlife on your land and how to improve the land to benifit the wildlife.

One of the speakers is Doctor, and professor who is in charge of the Turkey restoration efforts in East Texas. He explained the history of the Eastern Turkey here, and he told us about the efforts to re-stock the Eastern Turkey. He said that in every other state, the process was to put out three male turkeys and 9 females in a dozen different areas, but all fairly close to each other. Then they would sort of mix in with each other and start their own populations. The following year, they would add more birds, but in smaller numbers and a few less locations. This is the proven method that has worked everywhere but here. In every attempt, that method has failed. With over 7,000 birds transplanted here, most have disapeared.

The last two years, they have come up with a new method. They call it super stocking , and instead of putting out a dozen birds in each group, they are putting out 70 birds. This way, if half die off, there are still enough left over to breed. There is a two year cylce that is where they either disapear, or start to increase their numbers. This has gone on two yeas now, with half the birds having radio transmitters on them. They are doing great in four areas that they are doing this.

After listening to the experts and what they are doing, I've come to the conclusion that any efforts on my part will be foolhardy and a waste of time and money. Another thing that has me convinced that this is a bad idea for me to try on my own is that the Eastern Turkey covers about 1,200 acres of range. I have 68 acres and I'm working on it all the time.

With the efforts that are underway, and the success that they are finally now starting to document, it's just a matter of time for them to transplant birds to my county.

I have now given up all thought of raising any turkey's.

Eddie
 
   / Chickens, and things related
  • Thread Starter
#772  
Bummer that you can't do it yourself, although if you really want to you could always add to the population that they place in your county. Or you could try 30 at a time and see how it goes, I say if it is something that interests you why not do it. I think this spring I am going to hatch out an incubator full of cortunix quail and take them out to our farm and see how they do. The mature in only 6 weeks and I think I can put around 100 eggs in the incubator so we will see when it comes to time for that.

I bought some hens from a guy that was getting rid of his flock. Year and a half old barred rocks, rhode island red, and aracaunas, with a silver laced wyandotte and something partridge thrown in for good measure. I also took the chickens I hatched out there so I only have my three layers and the three week old chicks at my house. We are now trying to get the hens used to the new nest boxes out at my brother in laws. Fun times.
 
   / Chickens, and things related #773  
I went to the local auction 2 weeks ago and all the poultry was going for very cheap. I assume people were thinning their stocks before winter and there was way more supply than demand. I ended up with 6 easter egg layers and 4 mixed breed bantams, for $1 each. My wife had to drag me out of there before I bought any more. I didn't really need them, but for $1, who can pass that up? None of them are laying age yet, but they seem to be close. Hopefully they'll start before winter.

Saturday I tilled the top of my dam in order to plant some grass seed, following a bit of work I had done. My dad was seeding while I was walking the dam picking up rocks that I had worked up. I was absentmindedly throwing the rocks out in the pond. Out of sheer, unimaginable 'luck' I hit one of my male ducks square in the head and killed it. I couldn't have done that in a million years if I had been trying. I wasn't throwing huge rocks either, golf ball sized and smaller. I had to have hit it just in the right spot in the head. Unbelievable.

He tasted pretty good, but it was a huge pain to pluck. That down is a big mess, much more labor intensive than plucking a chicken.
 
   / Chickens, and things related #774  
Dooleysm, with that much luck on your side at that time you should have immediately run, not walk, to the nearest lottery outlet and plunked down for 1 ticket. Glad it was not wasted, hope the questionable luck continues!! Oh by the way i am still laughing!!
 
   / Chickens, and things related #775  
Well, I've been MIA from here for a while. Glad to see the chicken folks are still at it.

You may recall that our chicken experience began last Spring when my daughter got her 20 chicks as part of a 4H project. The goal of this project was for the kids to raise their chickens, keep a log book of their experiences & expenses, research breed information, photos, etc. The culmination of the experience was September 17 - opening day of our county fair - when the chickens, log books and photos were judged.

Each student was to enter 4 birds - 2 roosters and 2 hens - from each of their 2 breeds (8 birds total). My daughter has all bantams - blue silkies and black cochins. She did not have any decent rooster specimens in her blue silkie stock, so the program advisor told her to enter 4 hens from this breed.

There were about 350 chickens entered for competition. Molly came home with a trophy for Best in Breed for one of her blue silkies and several ribbons - Reserve Best in Breed (essentially 2nd place) for another of her blue silkies, a 2nd place ribbon and 5th place ribbon for a couple of her black cochins. She also won a 2nd place ribbon in her age group for her log book and a 2nd place ribbon in her age group for her photo submission - one that you folks have all seen - Molly walking Toby the rooster on a leash (I can't believe that didn't take 1st place :D).

Needless to say, Mom and I are very proud of the efforts she put into this project. Certainly, having a winning bird was due in the largest part to luck in the chicks we received. Despite my efforts in coop building - having a nice home played no part in these awards (other than keeping them from getting eaten by predators). In fact, the kid who took home the most trophies (including the Supreme Grand Champion Chicken - OK, I'm making up that name) had free range birds. No special coop, no special diet, no special care. I swear - his prize-winning chickens were as big as geese. Probably weighed in at 9 lbs.

Still only getting 1 or 2 eggs/day from 15 hens. But, even with that, we're still accumulating eggs faster than we can eat them.

So that's the update from here. Sorry to hear that Eddie is giving up on turkeys. His arguement seems sound, though.
 
   / Chickens, and things related #776  
bmac,

Congratulations to you, your wife and especially your daughter!!!!

It's very nice to hear of your success.

Thanks for sharing,
Eddie
 
   / Chickens, and things related #777  
We're getting about 6 eggs/day and only recently has my wife mentioned that she's having trouble using them up. I think it's because the size of the eggs has started to grow. We're getting eggs that are about the size of what you get in the store now, maybe a bit smaller, but much larger than the golf ball sized specimens we had been getting.

I got a tiny white egg last night, I think it came from one of the auction birds I bought 2 weeks ago.

I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but one of my bantams went broody several weeks ago. I decided to give her some eggs to sit on. She started out sitting in a nestbox that is on the end of my row of 6 boxes. That is the box that most of the hens like to lay in. I had trouble with them constantly going in and laying their eggs in her box and then she'd be sitting on a huge pile of eggs. I finally marked the eggs she was sitting on so I could pick out the new eggs each day.

Then I moved her over one box, which is a box that the hens almost never laid in. They followed her over there and kept laying under her. I moved her over one more, to the middle box, which I have never, ever found an egg in. Don't you know, they still crawl in there and lay eggs in her box. Not all of them, but I almost always find 2 or 3 new eggs under her, in this box that none of the chickens have EVER used. It's fairly comical. At least she's gotten used to me picking her up to get the eggs out from under her. She doesn't peck at me any more.

I've been meaning to shine a light on those eggs she's sitting on to see if there's anything in them, but I've been too busy winterizing the coop. I trenched in a direct-bury wire and put an outlet in the coop so I can plug in a heat lamp or heated waterer, if they become necessary. I scored a used insulated exterior door that I hung last night in place of my homemade concoction, that had badly warped and let in all kinds of air. I constructed a 'foyer' out of straw bales around the chicken doorway that leads to the attached run. I've got spare pieces of carpet that I can use over that doorway if the straw proves inadequate.

Tonight I'm hoping to cut a new piece of plexiglass for the window that fits better, and add a latch to keep the window closed tight. A few pieces of weatherstripping around the new door and I think they'll be set for the winter.
 
   / Chickens, and things related #778  
I got the plexiglass cut and installed and the latch installed too. I had a few spare minutes before dark and decided to try to candle the eggs. No luck there as my flashlight wasn't powerful enough. I did, however, manage to drop and crack one of the eggs she was sitting on. After being suitably mad at myself I decided to crack it all the way open and inspect the inside. There was definitely a chick growing in there. If I can manage to keep from breaking the rest of her eggs, we should have some chicks peeping around here in a couple weeks.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but they're definitely on the way.
 
   / Chickens, and things related #779  
Dooley, your hen is certainly coming to roost. I take it there are some roosters around in the coop? At least at some point. Funny how they will follow the one that broods. Must be some survival instinct that has not been bred out yet.

Never tried to have chics (on purpose at least) 1 dog here will chase the chics around until it catches them and assists in their demise, but you all have me thinking. But i have enough to do just getting ready for goats and getting the cattle on a truck.

I have chicken wire in the windows and then remove the plexi for the summer and put back in in the winter, no latches need apply and keeps the cats out as well. Like the idea of the foyer with hay bales, but i would probably just knock them over with the tractor when plowing for snow.

Have been mixing corn, oats, and crumble to keep feed prices down.
 
   / Chickens, and things related #780  
This hen went broody right around the time when my dogs ate my previous rooster and I went out and bought another one at the auction. That's why I wasn't positive that she was sitting on fertilized eggs, but it sure seems like it now. I don't feel like dealing with chicks all winter long in my barn, so I'm planning to let this hen try to raise them. If they make it, fine, if not, oh well, such is life.
 

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