My BSW Turkey set-up - warning long post!
Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 6:46 pm
Since Bert mentioned me I thought I'd post a bit about how I raise my BSW turkeys.
Before I tried the turkeys I spent a couple of years trying to research which would be my best breed. I am only on 5 acres zoned Rural. I had egg laying chickens who free range well. A friend suggested I contact Cirrus Hill and I was lucky enough to obtain an adult quad. It was a very steep learning curve and I’ve only had them 4 years. They are delightful and frustrating at the same time. So very sweetly “dumb” sometimes but very capable of learning. In another life I worked at the Game Conservancy in the UK mostly on post mortems (I’m a microbiologist) and hatching issues but I put in time observing behaviours of hares on another project and this was very useful with my birds. My boss there had worked at Slimbridge on the reintroduction of Nene to Hawaii (Dr. J.V. Beer)
I was rather nervous of getting a Tom turkey having heard horror stories and was expecting something like a large, violent rooster! My boy is a total sweetheart and very easy to handle. I can give him a pedicure very easily before breeding season and I also put saddles on the ladies. When I first got him they free ranged and he would spend his day displaying to me while I drank coffee on the patio. He sometimes gives me a little nudge to check whether I’m interested LOL!
We now have to house the turkeys in a paddock after “the incident”. In the autumn after breeding season turkeys in the wild head off from their breeding range to forage. We also had a lot of teenage boys in the mix and these Jakes were feeling their hormones. We live on a dead-end road but the corner lot. This means there is another road running along the property. They all decided it would be a great idea to go and display on the lawn kitty corner to us. I realised what was happening and went down to collect them. By now there were a couple of trucks watching them. The chap in the first truck rolled down the window at which point they rushed him and surrounded the truck assuming he had treats! No harm done but he could hardly drive for laughing. We then decided that they needed to be confined to paddocks because the stock fencing around the perimeter of the property was not a challenge as they fly so well.
We have 2 large paddocks and these can each be split into 2 more if needed. The main paddock has electric fence at 2 heights around it, 6” and 18” There is a picture of the main paddock. We fenced with sheep and goat fencing because that keeps juveniles in better and then we extended using boat wrap string. This is flat and doesn’t last long but is cheap and easy to replace. This paddock (see picture) is about 120ft x 80ft and has the main coop and 2 broody coops in it. They also have various roosts made out of cedar posts and “play” structures for the young birds to practice roosting. The white pines provide great amusement for them. My neighbour (a farmer, ha ha) was at great pains to point out the “white turkeys can’t fly and can’t breed” so I’d been ripped off. She may have turned to drink when she saw all the babies and the birds roosting in the trees. Our main predators here are coyotes so the fence is wired and great grey owls but we have had no issues. We do have to watch for skunks when there are broodies and youngsters around. There is a picture of one of my broody girls roosting on the play structure with a couple of youngsters under her wings. She also is pictured on Feathersite.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Turk ... ville.html
We have planted the paddocks up with a few end of season bargain fruit bushes and plant sunflowers in strips in the paddocks. Apples, watermelon and corn are a welcome treat.
We made the small broody coops pictured because they provide good protection for the girls and young birds. They are about 6x4 and my hens usually brood 2 per house. They generally cooperate on sitting and raising the kids. A dog pen is put around for the first week after hatch. We get them at TSC and they are very adaptable to different uses as are the coops e.g. cockerel grow out pens. We have sets of wheels so we can move them too.
The main coop has a double door at one end to allow them to fly out of the roosts and a triple door in the side. There are grids so the door can either be fully closed or sections opened to provide ventilation in the heat. There are also vents in the main coop for airflow. We have added a hoop house for the winter essential here, so they have some space in winter not that winter worries them much. We use shavings with a layer of hay on top in the main coop because the hay is easily moved out and the manure can be used in the garden or turned into “tea” for watering on
On the end of the coop opposite the doors is another set of outdoor roosts under a roof because sometimes the younger birds don’t want to go in at night. There is a nice breeze in the summer and in the winter it is blocked off with a dog pen section covered in boat shrink wrap (or tarp) to provide more space.
Mine will begin laying late march/early April and go through to October. The eggs are delicious and have a creamy texture to the yolk. Great for baking too as they are not huge.
For hatching with broodies I candle to make sure each nest has maximum 10 fertile eggs. They are fine with it because they are handled regularly and I just chat and soothe them. About a week before hatch is due I check the eggs again to make sure they will all hatch in the same 1 -2 day window. The others I put either under the next hen to hatch (they are usually a few days apart) or pop them in the hatcher. This means the hen has the stimulus to lead the poults out. I learned this the hard way when I had a girl who wanted to wait for all the eggs to hatch. Also I watch carefully to make sure they are teaching the poults to feed since the first year birds don’t necessarily get it right away. I now only let second year hens brood and the younger ones pick it up from them.
I also use broody chickens to hatch and I have a special girl (Sister) who has saved a chilled poult after it wandered off. She will accept anything at any age up to a week or so. She did look slightly horrified when her babies saw her later at about 10 weeks, recognised her and flew towards her!
If hatching inside don’t be tempted to let the hatch string out. They will usually all burst out at once within 24 hrs and stragglers won’t do well. If you do save them, mark them for the freezer later.
All youngsters are wing banded at about 3-4 weeks with a lightweight aluminium band which doesn’t bother them at all. Mine are all numbered #3 size.
https://www.ketchum.ca/products/poultry ... -leg-bands
There is really no meat market for them locally to me with our high unemployment rate so they mostly go to neighbours who already have orders in for next year LOL but they are delicious and make wonderful broth and soup too. I cull at 6 months ish and then keep a few over winter until a year. Even at that age they are delicious with good texture.
Oh I did have a special girl #2 who was hand raised and was my “lap turkey” a great Mum and she allowed me to handle the kids. She is now with WWW because she decided to be a nuisance to the young males and bully them! Now she has a place where she can be queen.
Before I tried the turkeys I spent a couple of years trying to research which would be my best breed. I am only on 5 acres zoned Rural. I had egg laying chickens who free range well. A friend suggested I contact Cirrus Hill and I was lucky enough to obtain an adult quad. It was a very steep learning curve and I’ve only had them 4 years. They are delightful and frustrating at the same time. So very sweetly “dumb” sometimes but very capable of learning. In another life I worked at the Game Conservancy in the UK mostly on post mortems (I’m a microbiologist) and hatching issues but I put in time observing behaviours of hares on another project and this was very useful with my birds. My boss there had worked at Slimbridge on the reintroduction of Nene to Hawaii (Dr. J.V. Beer)
I was rather nervous of getting a Tom turkey having heard horror stories and was expecting something like a large, violent rooster! My boy is a total sweetheart and very easy to handle. I can give him a pedicure very easily before breeding season and I also put saddles on the ladies. When I first got him they free ranged and he would spend his day displaying to me while I drank coffee on the patio. He sometimes gives me a little nudge to check whether I’m interested LOL!
We now have to house the turkeys in a paddock after “the incident”. In the autumn after breeding season turkeys in the wild head off from their breeding range to forage. We also had a lot of teenage boys in the mix and these Jakes were feeling their hormones. We live on a dead-end road but the corner lot. This means there is another road running along the property. They all decided it would be a great idea to go and display on the lawn kitty corner to us. I realised what was happening and went down to collect them. By now there were a couple of trucks watching them. The chap in the first truck rolled down the window at which point they rushed him and surrounded the truck assuming he had treats! No harm done but he could hardly drive for laughing. We then decided that they needed to be confined to paddocks because the stock fencing around the perimeter of the property was not a challenge as they fly so well.
We have 2 large paddocks and these can each be split into 2 more if needed. The main paddock has electric fence at 2 heights around it, 6” and 18” There is a picture of the main paddock. We fenced with sheep and goat fencing because that keeps juveniles in better and then we extended using boat wrap string. This is flat and doesn’t last long but is cheap and easy to replace. This paddock (see picture) is about 120ft x 80ft and has the main coop and 2 broody coops in it. They also have various roosts made out of cedar posts and “play” structures for the young birds to practice roosting. The white pines provide great amusement for them. My neighbour (a farmer, ha ha) was at great pains to point out the “white turkeys can’t fly and can’t breed” so I’d been ripped off. She may have turned to drink when she saw all the babies and the birds roosting in the trees. Our main predators here are coyotes so the fence is wired and great grey owls but we have had no issues. We do have to watch for skunks when there are broodies and youngsters around. There is a picture of one of my broody girls roosting on the play structure with a couple of youngsters under her wings. She also is pictured on Feathersite.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Turk ... ville.html
We have planted the paddocks up with a few end of season bargain fruit bushes and plant sunflowers in strips in the paddocks. Apples, watermelon and corn are a welcome treat.
We made the small broody coops pictured because they provide good protection for the girls and young birds. They are about 6x4 and my hens usually brood 2 per house. They generally cooperate on sitting and raising the kids. A dog pen is put around for the first week after hatch. We get them at TSC and they are very adaptable to different uses as are the coops e.g. cockerel grow out pens. We have sets of wheels so we can move them too.
The main coop has a double door at one end to allow them to fly out of the roosts and a triple door in the side. There are grids so the door can either be fully closed or sections opened to provide ventilation in the heat. There are also vents in the main coop for airflow. We have added a hoop house for the winter essential here, so they have some space in winter not that winter worries them much. We use shavings with a layer of hay on top in the main coop because the hay is easily moved out and the manure can be used in the garden or turned into “tea” for watering on
On the end of the coop opposite the doors is another set of outdoor roosts under a roof because sometimes the younger birds don’t want to go in at night. There is a nice breeze in the summer and in the winter it is blocked off with a dog pen section covered in boat shrink wrap (or tarp) to provide more space.
Mine will begin laying late march/early April and go through to October. The eggs are delicious and have a creamy texture to the yolk. Great for baking too as they are not huge.
For hatching with broodies I candle to make sure each nest has maximum 10 fertile eggs. They are fine with it because they are handled regularly and I just chat and soothe them. About a week before hatch is due I check the eggs again to make sure they will all hatch in the same 1 -2 day window. The others I put either under the next hen to hatch (they are usually a few days apart) or pop them in the hatcher. This means the hen has the stimulus to lead the poults out. I learned this the hard way when I had a girl who wanted to wait for all the eggs to hatch. Also I watch carefully to make sure they are teaching the poults to feed since the first year birds don’t necessarily get it right away. I now only let second year hens brood and the younger ones pick it up from them.
I also use broody chickens to hatch and I have a special girl (Sister) who has saved a chilled poult after it wandered off. She will accept anything at any age up to a week or so. She did look slightly horrified when her babies saw her later at about 10 weeks, recognised her and flew towards her!
If hatching inside don’t be tempted to let the hatch string out. They will usually all burst out at once within 24 hrs and stragglers won’t do well. If you do save them, mark them for the freezer later.
All youngsters are wing banded at about 3-4 weeks with a lightweight aluminium band which doesn’t bother them at all. Mine are all numbered #3 size.
https://www.ketchum.ca/products/poultry ... -leg-bands
There is really no meat market for them locally to me with our high unemployment rate so they mostly go to neighbours who already have orders in for next year LOL but they are delicious and make wonderful broth and soup too. I cull at 6 months ish and then keep a few over winter until a year. Even at that age they are delicious with good texture.
Oh I did have a special girl #2 who was hand raised and was my “lap turkey” a great Mum and she allowed me to handle the kids. She is now with WWW because she decided to be a nuisance to the young males and bully them! Now she has a place where she can be queen.
. Most informative read. Thank you for sharing, KB.