#birds#Poultry#Livestock#Rarebreeds One of the turkey breeds I have choosen its a UK heirloom breed on the rare breeds watch list.I used to have a hen turkey called Chrissy at my last place but when we were forced out of the house she went to a friend (for breeding not eating ) https://www.rbst.org.uk/pied-crollwitzer
They are good egg layers and quite small for turkeys so they need less space.Chrissy was very tame she would fly across the garden and perch on my shoulder
@Helengraham every spring I want a turkey, but I don’t want to eat it! And I have plenty of chickens, so every spring I talk myself out of a poult. Chrissy is lovely!
@donkeyherder They are wonderful birds ,really lovely the most affectionate birds I have ever raised and very gentle .Chrissy was really funny ,though being perched on by a huge bird is fairly challenging :) Crollwitzers are fairly small as turkeys go 5kg /12 lbs for femalesthough males are much bigger.My friend says their eggs are brilliant .I have really missed having turkeys .The other breed I have ordered Bourbon reds get massive but are friendly too
@Helengraham@donkeyherder Aww, turkeys. 😍
Friends have some rescued from meat industry. Everybody loves them cause they are so gentle and funny birds.
Maybe I get two or three, too. But I’m not sure yet.
@araucana@donkeyherder I am getting two trios I like having a couple of females for each lad ,one of breeds the bourbon reds, are huge birds but a red list breed and these which are one of the smallest breeds ,both are good for eggs ,though bourbon reds are meat birds ,they are a really rare breed here so the main reason people keep them is for breeding,though I might have problems if all their offspring are males.I dont think male turkeys are good at being without ladies
@Helengraham@araucana the bad thing about talking with you, Helen, is I immediately go browsing for poultry. The feed store doesn’t have turkeys listed on the chick sheet this year but I’ll ask when i go there this afternoon. And then I had a peek at my local craigslist, and someone is selling hatching quail eggs, which means I’ve found something even less suitable than turkeys 😂
We almost had quail once when I was a kid. SO close. We had a broody bantam and my dad got a bucket of hatching quail eggs from somewhere, and the broody was happy to sit on them. She was so happy that she didn’t even notice when the rat snake slid under her and ate every single delicious egg. We were the ones who noticed the snake tail sticking out of the nest box as it napped in her warmth 🤣
@donkeyherder@araucana lol ,you def wouldnt regret getting turkeys .Quails here would be a problem they couldnt free range,theres a huge fine if any escape and even in a fenced run almost every creature in the highlands (including my chickens) would probably like to eat them ,but they are beautiful little birds .Its a shame about the broodys eggs but at least she was safe, :( How about guinea fowl :) cheap to feed eat ticks and are very funny or a tiny chicken like sebrights
@Helengraham@donkeyherder@araucana OTOH quail make excellent garden birds, especially if you put their run inside a fruit cage. Tasty eggs all summer long.
@HighlandLawyer@donkeyherder@araucana thats very pretty :) I did think about them for in a open sided poly tunnel (the sides would be mesh) but the scary fines if any escaped worried me ,I got the japanese bantams instead .They are very tempting though my friend has some that lay blue eggs
@Helengraham@donkeyherder@araucana Quail are ideal for having in limited space, or for children to learn how to keep poultry (which is why we have Abiquail & Quailene). Since they lay without a male, you can decide if or when you want them to breed.
Putting the run inside a big fruit cage means escape is not a problem (you can get inside & close it before opening the run), & it isolates them from wild birds (so avoiding bird flu etc).
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