USMB Coffee Shop IV

[JustAnotherNut]

ok I gotta share...…...last month one of my pullets went broody on some eggs and the other day they started hatching. Here is a pic of 2 of the 3 chicks she has now. (I've tried to get another pic of all 3, but she's not cooperating )

View attachment 228608

We have to wait now until Spring to hatch eggs. Winter has arrived and it's just too cold, even if the hens did get broody. I am looking forward to turkey poults, though. All three of my turkey hens were broody this past summer, now I have the tom, poults should follow.
Nice chicks!

Thankfully our winters aren't too bad this early in the season. We've had a few frozen nights in the upper 20's though.. The hen & chicks are in the 'nursery', which is a small pre-fab coop with run that is right near the house, plus plenty of hay for bedding that all helps to keep them warm, with mama's help of course. The main coop is a converted garden shed where the rest of the chickens are. I use deep litter method in the winter where they can all poop & scratch to make good compost. Then in the early spring I clean it all out & dump in the garden to rest & finish. Then I turn it all under about a week or two before I plant. Plus I let them out to forage in the garden during the better days of winter.

I did turkeys this year for the first time from the feed store. I had bought 1 Bronze, 1 White and 1 Black, but lost the Bronze at 2 weeks and the other 2 turned out to be Jakes. When they started fighting it was time for the freezer. We'll see next week if they were worth the trouble.

What breed are your turkeys? I've always been interested in Narrgansetts, if & when I'm ready to get serious about turkeys.

 

[Foxfyre]

Good night darlinks. I really do love you guys.

And we continue pray and/or send good vibes and/or positive thoughts and/or keep vigil for:

Harper
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
Rod, GW's partner,
Kat's sister,
Dana, Foxfyre's friend recovering from heart transplant
Strength and stamina for gallantwarrior in his relocation project,
Wellness for Foxfyre's sister and Hombre's sister
Saveliberty's mom for successful surgery and quick healing
TheLiq and family who need prayers and positive vibes now
Gracie & Mr. G now homeless again
Drifter's friend's mother now homeless
Mrs. Ringel and Ringel back in difficult transition, for guidance, and for healing
Montrovant in difficult transition
Nosmo's mom back in the hospital
Drifter for smooth sailing in her new job.
JustAnotherNut for strength and wisdom dealing with challenges.
Beautress's friend EJ undergoing chemo.
All those we love and care about who aren't on the list.

And we keep the porch light on so those who have been away can find their way back and we rejoice when they do!!!

 

[gallantwarrior]

Finally starting to feel better, I can actually eat something and not upset my stomach, my blood pressure has normalized, the joint aches and headache are gone. Next time a doc wants to prescribe Wellbutrin it'll be not no, HELL NO!!!!!

Once we find out what treatment options for the wife are recommended and available we may have to relocate again, most likely back to Albuquerque. Not that Roswell doesn't have the services and facilities here it's just that Albuquerque has more and better services. The problem will be two fold, finding a place to live and moving. For the latter we're talking about getting rid of everything we really don't need which is around 2/3ds of what we own.
To get any meaningful help we will most likely have to wipe out our 401Ks first, expensive. We'd lose about a third in penalties then there's the ten percent the government will take for early withdrawal.

Do not wipe out your 401K's if at all possible. It is a short term fix, but you may regret it in the long run. Any state or federal assistance can't/won't make you drain those in order to be eligible for any possible help, I don't think. They didn't require it here in Washington and it might be different where you are, but I don't think it is. Is there a local resource directory? A list of places to call for assistance with different types of needs. Housing, utilities, food/clothing banks, etc. Possibly at the Dr's office??? Does the Dr's office have a patient care coordinator? (not sure about that title, but someone that can help you guys applying for different types of help or benefits available?)

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming your wife's short term disability is thru her work??? Does her work also have any other types of benefits she could tap into? She might need to talk with a supervisor or manager or resource or personnel manager??
I do understand the financial stresses.....been there & done that...a few times.

Many charities and some states take all assets into consideration when determining eligibility for assistance. We want to avoid draining what little is left in the IRAs so we'll explore all options first but it might become inevitable.
As it is now we have not met her deductible and already owe $800 for the CT Scan, hate to see what the surgical/hospital portion will be.........
Yes the disability if through her job and she's explored other possible benefits they might have. Today I will be making many phone calls and will most likely visit the local Social Services office for more information and help. A lot of help is contingent on a full diagnosis which we do not have right this minute, that's what the docs are working on now.

Some people have done a legal separation or divorce just because of those reasons. It's sad that people have to resort to that or lose their entire savings. I wish we had a better system somehow.

Sad, but unfortunately true. I've known cases that required the patient to deed their property to the hospital/hospice before receiving treatment.

That's just it.....according to the show I watched, they said that providers can't deny treatment if patients refuse to sign...by law. They may try to strong arm people into doing so, but they can only push it so far. Isn't refusing to treat the sick or injured because of lack of funds a violation of the Hippocratic oath every one of them are subject to???

You know how it is nowadays, oath-schmoath! It's unfortunate that they do prey on older people and people who are often desperate. You can bet your bottom dollar that they fail to inform their intended victims of the option to refuse. I think I would have liked it better when doctors made house calls and were willing to barter for their services. But of course, big pharma and the government weren't involved in those days and the doctor-patient transaction was a personal issue.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Good luck. Things get easier the more you do them, so keep up the good work.

Hi and what? Do you really plan to leave Alaska? And what would be the next place to live, choosing by you?

Hello! I think you referenced my comment. No, I don't plan on leaving Alaska. I like it here too much. But, if I were to choose another place to live, I'd probably move to Northern Nevada to be closer to my brothers, or more likely, I'd move to the Lake Roberts/Silver City area in mid-New Mexico. There are some really nice places in California but the people and the taxes are not to my liking.
How about you? You're in Moscow, aren't you? Where would you move to, if you were to move?

 

[gallantwarrior]

ok I gotta share...…...last month one of my pullets went broody on some eggs and the other day they started hatching. Here is a pic of 2 of the 3 chicks she has now. (I've tried to get another pic of all 3, but she's not cooperating )

View attachment 228608

We have to wait now until Spring to hatch eggs. Winter has arrived and it's just too cold, even if the hens did get broody. I am looking forward to turkey poults, though. All three of my turkey hens were broody this past summer, now I have the tom, poults should follow.
Nice chicks!

Thankfully our winters aren't too bad this early in the season. We've had a few frozen nights in the upper 20's though.. The hen & chicks are in the 'nursery', which is a small pre-fab coop with run that is right near the house, plus plenty of hay for bedding that all helps to keep them warm, with mama's help of course. The main coop is a converted garden shed where the rest of the chickens are. I use deep litter method in the winter where they can all poop & scratch to make good compost. Then in the early spring I clean it all out & dump in the garden to rest & finish. Then I turn it all under about a week or two before I plant. Plus I let them out to forage in the garden during the better days of winter.

I did turkeys this year for the first time from the feed store. I had bought 1 Bronze, 1 White and 1 Black, but lost the Bronze at 2 weeks and the other 2 turned out to be Jakes. When they started fighting it was time for the freezer. We'll see next week if they were worth the trouble.

What breed are your turkeys? I've always been interested in Narrgansetts, if & when I'm ready to get serious about turkeys.

I have two Narragansett hens and a breeding pair of Spanish Blacks, both are heritage breeds. They are smaller than the regular domestic breeds like white and bronze turkeys, although they run a bit smaller. I get a kick out of the tom. He's very aggressive and territorial. My partner and I usually use walking sticks and they make pretty good turkey deterrent tools. I can also pick him up and get him to calm down that way. All three of the turkey hens sat on good-sized clutches of eggs but nothing hatched. The two Narragansetts laid their eggs before I got the tom and the black hen laid her clutch after it started getting cooler. I'm excited to see what spring brings. I'm hoping for a whole bunch of poults, they're so cute!

 

[gallantwarrior]

Clear and cold here. It's always so much colder when there is no overcast, but the flip side is, overcast brings precipitation.
I'm expecting a friend to visit this weekend. I look forward with mixed blessings. He's a great guy but he's also unfortunately one of the "love me-love my dog" types. And his dog is an unruly and poorly mannered train wreck. He doesn't like to tie her up, but she won't recover or mind unless he's right there. He's worried she'll kill chickens and I'm concerned that my grumpy old lady cat will attach herself to the dog's face if pushed. This dog also chews...everything. Ah, well, we'll see how things go. I can certainly sympathize with Montro, though.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

ok I gotta share...…...last month one of my pullets went broody on some eggs and the other day they started hatching. Here is a pic of 2 of the 3 chicks she has now. (I've tried to get another pic of all 3, but she's not cooperating )

View attachment 228608

We have to wait now until Spring to hatch eggs. Winter has arrived and it's just too cold, even if the hens did get broody. I am looking forward to turkey poults, though. All three of my turkey hens were broody this past summer, now I have the tom, poults should follow.
Nice chicks!

Thankfully our winters aren't too bad this early in the season. We've had a few frozen nights in the upper 20's though.. The hen & chicks are in the 'nursery', which is a small pre-fab coop with run that is right near the house, plus plenty of hay for bedding that all helps to keep them warm, with mama's help of course. The main coop is a converted garden shed where the rest of the chickens are. I use deep litter method in the winter where they can all poop & scratch to make good compost. Then in the early spring I clean it all out & dump in the garden to rest & finish. Then I turn it all under about a week or two before I plant. Plus I let them out to forage in the garden during the better days of winter.

I did turkeys this year for the first time from the feed store. I had bought 1 Bronze, 1 White and 1 Black, but lost the Bronze at 2 weeks and the other 2 turned out to be Jakes. When they started fighting it was time for the freezer. We'll see next week if they were worth the trouble.

What breed are your turkeys? I've always been interested in Narrgansetts, if & when I'm ready to get serious about turkeys.

I have two Narragansett hens and a breeding pair of Spanish Blacks, both are heritage breeds. They are smaller than the regular domestic breeds like white and bronze turkeys, although they run a bit smaller. I get a kick out of the tom. He's very aggressive and territorial. My partner and I usually use walking sticks and they make pretty good turkey deterrent tools. I can also pick him up and get him to calm down that way. All three of the turkey hens sat on good-sized clutches of eggs but nothing hatched. The two Narragansetts laid their eggs before I got the tom and the black hen laid her clutch after it started getting cooler. I'm excited to see what spring brings. I'm hoping for a whole bunch of poults, they're so cute!

Since I live in a neighborhood and only have around 1/4 acre yard to work with, I do what I can with what I have. I've been raising chickens for about 10 years now and like most keepers of the flock, turkeys are next on the list. Since I've not done it before and wanted to see the differences in raising them vs chickens, I wasn't about to take on a heritage breed if I failed at it or it being too difficult. I decided to 'practice' with the hybrids just to get my feet wet. The jury is still out if I want to get into raising them from year to year or not.

In some ways, they were more of a pain in my backside and in other ways, they were easier than chickens. If I had my druthers.....with a proper barn and few acres.....then I'd jump right in. But considering some of the challenges I face here, well it's not so easy.

From my research, I like the Narragansetts because they are a bit smaller, yet still provide a decent meal, tend to be more calm & less flighty than others, good layers and great for broodiness and Mamas....perfect all around homestead bird IMO...….well all that, plus their purty to look at.

I've had issues with aggression as well and usually use the shovel or rake turned, just to give them a push back. I had one rooster that would wait until I had walked past, then try to flog me from behind. I let it go a couple of times just because I could understand him trying to protect his girls that were in my way. But after he tried to attack the dogs who were minding their own business and me too when there was no reason for it....well that was it & he was outta there. I won't stand for unnecessary aggression

 

[gallantwarrior]

ok I gotta share...…...last month one of my pullets went broody on some eggs and the other day they started hatching. Here is a pic of 2 of the 3 chicks she has now. (I've tried to get another pic of all 3, but she's not cooperating )

View attachment 228608

We have to wait now until Spring to hatch eggs. Winter has arrived and it's just too cold, even if the hens did get broody. I am looking forward to turkey poults, though. All three of my turkey hens were broody this past summer, now I have the tom, poults should follow.
Nice chicks!

Thankfully our winters aren't too bad this early in the season. We've had a few frozen nights in the upper 20's though.. The hen & chicks are in the 'nursery', which is a small pre-fab coop with run that is right near the house, plus plenty of hay for bedding that all helps to keep them warm, with mama's help of course. The main coop is a converted garden shed where the rest of the chickens are. I use deep litter method in the winter where they can all poop & scratch to make good compost. Then in the early spring I clean it all out & dump in the garden to rest & finish. Then I turn it all under about a week or two before I plant. Plus I let them out to forage in the garden during the better days of winter.

I did turkeys this year for the first time from the feed store. I had bought 1 Bronze, 1 White and 1 Black, but lost the Bronze at 2 weeks and the other 2 turned out to be Jakes. When they started fighting it was time for the freezer. We'll see next week if they were worth the trouble.

What breed are your turkeys? I've always been interested in Narrgansetts, if & when I'm ready to get serious about turkeys.

I have two Narragansett hens and a breeding pair of Spanish Blacks, both are heritage breeds. They are smaller than the regular domestic breeds like white and bronze turkeys, although they run a bit smaller. I get a kick out of the tom. He's very aggressive and territorial. My partner and I usually use walking sticks and they make pretty good turkey deterrent tools. I can also pick him up and get him to calm down that way. All three of the turkey hens sat on good-sized clutches of eggs but nothing hatched. The two Narragansetts laid their eggs before I got the tom and the black hen laid her clutch after it started getting cooler. I'm excited to see what spring brings. I'm hoping for a whole bunch of poults, they're so cute!

Since I live in a neighborhood and only have around 1/4 acre yard to work with, I do what I can with what I have. I've been raising chickens for about 10 years now and like most keepers of the flock, turkeys are next on the list. Since I've not done it before and wanted to see the differences in raising them vs chickens, I wasn't about to take on a heritage breed if I failed at it or it being too difficult. I decided to 'practice' with the hybrids just to get my feet wet. The jury is still out if I want to get into raising them from year to year or not.

In some ways, they were more of a pain in my backside and in other ways, they were easier than chickens. If I had my druthers.....with a proper barn and few acres.....then I'd jump right in. But considering some of the challenges I face here, well it's not so easy.

From my research, I like the Narragansetts because they are a bit smaller, yet still provide a decent meal, tend to be more calm & less flighty than others, good layers and great for broodiness and Mamas....perfect all around homestead bird IMO...….well all that, plus their purty to look at.

I've had issues with aggression as well and usually use the shovel or rake turned, just to give them a push back. I had one rooster that would wait until I had walked past, then try to flog me from behind. I let it go a couple of times just because I could understand him trying to protect his girls that were in my way. But after he tried to attack the dogs who were minding their own business and me too when there was no reason for it....well that was it & he was outta there. I won't stand for unnecessary aggression

This tom only chases after people and some goats. He ignores the cats, dogs, and other farmyard fowl. He does a pretty good job fending off hawks and ravens, though. He usually alerts the other birds, who then run for cover.

 

[Ringel05]

Okay, the Pulmonary Doc (yesterday) and the Urologist (today) both think it's all the same leiomyosarcoma. They're looking at having an Interventional Radiologist preform a biopsy next Wednesday. The Urologist thinks it's highly likely she will lose the involved kidney and the spleen followed with immunotherapy/chemo but we'll see what the oncologist has to say. Thinking the biopsy consult at UNM at the end of the month might be a moot point at this time, again we'll see.

 

[Foxfyre]

ok I gotta share...…...last month one of my pullets went broody on some eggs and the other day they started hatching. Here is a pic of 2 of the 3 chicks she has now. (I've tried to get another pic of all 3, but she's not cooperating )

View attachment 228608

We have to wait now until Spring to hatch eggs. Winter has arrived and it's just too cold, even if the hens did get broody. I am looking forward to turkey poults, though. All three of my turkey hens were broody this past summer, now I have the tom, poults should follow.
Nice chicks!

Thankfully our winters aren't too bad this early in the season. We've had a few frozen nights in the upper 20's though.. The hen & chicks are in the 'nursery', which is a small pre-fab coop with run that is right near the house, plus plenty of hay for bedding that all helps to keep them warm, with mama's help of course. The main coop is a converted garden shed where the rest of the chickens are. I use deep litter method in the winter where they can all poop & scratch to make good compost. Then in the early spring I clean it all out & dump in the garden to rest & finish. Then I turn it all under about a week or two before I plant. Plus I let them out to forage in the garden during the better days of winter.

I did turkeys this year for the first time from the feed store. I had bought 1 Bronze, 1 White and 1 Black, but lost the Bronze at 2 weeks and the other 2 turned out to be Jakes. When they started fighting it was time for the freezer. We'll see next week if they were worth the trouble.

What breed are your turkeys? I've always been interested in Narrgansetts, if & when I'm ready to get serious about turkeys.

I have two Narragansett hens and a breeding pair of Spanish Blacks, both are heritage breeds. They are smaller than the regular domestic breeds like white and bronze turkeys, although they run a bit smaller. I get a kick out of the tom. He's very aggressive and territorial. My partner and I usually use walking sticks and they make pretty good turkey deterrent tools. I can also pick him up and get him to calm down that way. All three of the turkey hens sat on good-sized clutches of eggs but nothing hatched. The two Narragansetts laid their eggs before I got the tom and the black hen laid her clutch after it started getting cooler. I'm excited to see what spring brings. I'm hoping for a whole bunch of poults, they're so cute!

Since I live in a neighborhood and only have around 1/4 acre yard to work with, I do what I can with what I have. I've been raising chickens for about 10 years now and like most keepers of the flock, turkeys are next on the list. Since I've not done it before and wanted to see the differences in raising them vs chickens, I wasn't about to take on a heritage breed if I failed at it or it being too difficult. I decided to 'practice' with the hybrids just to get my feet wet. The jury is still out if I want to get into raising them from year to year or not.

In some ways, they were more of a pain in my backside and in other ways, they were easier than chickens. If I had my druthers.....with a proper barn and few acres.....then I'd jump right in. But considering some of the challenges I face here, well it's not so easy.

From my research, I like the Narragansetts because they are a bit smaller, yet still provide a decent meal, tend to be more calm & less flighty than others, good layers and great for broodiness and Mamas....perfect all around homestead bird IMO...….well all that, plus their purty to look at.

I've had issues with aggression as well and usually use the shovel or rake turned, just to give them a push back. I had one rooster that would wait until I had walked past, then try to flog me from behind. I let it go a couple of times just because I could understand him trying to protect his girls that were in my way. But after he tried to attack the dogs who were minding their own business and me too when there was no reason for it....well that was it & he was outta there. I won't stand for unnecessary aggression

This tom only chases after people and some goats. He ignores the cats, dogs, and other farmyard fowl. He does a pretty good job fending off hawks and ravens, though. He usually alerts the other birds, who then run for cover.

From what I have observed, a dedicated turkey is a darn good watch dog. Here awhile back we were awarded a contract with State Farm Insurance to measure, photograph, and assess condition of all the structures on properties they insured on farms and ranches throughout New Mexico. It took us most of a month to accomplish the task but as Hombre and I traveled across the state, we would call ahead to the property owners to get permission to go on their land. And we always asked if there were dogs of concern.

The property owners would assure us they would have any serious guard dogs confined but several advised we might have to watch out for the turkeys and a billy goat or two. One owner said he would confine his 'watch' turkey. Hombre did that farm and said once that turkey--safely caged--spotted him, that was one enraged turkey. Hombre was very grateful that it was confined.

I only had problems with one HUGE Tom who approached in a way that made me uncomfortable. I had my Rolatape--we were measuring buildings--and pushed it against his chest gently so as not to hurt him to keep him off me, but he was not deterred. He kept circling with that Rolatape against his chest and around and around we went until the farm wife saw us and came out to rescue me.

The only other critters I had to be really careful about were the ostriches at the ostrich farm. I figure one of those, if he got aggressive, could do some serious damage to a person.

 

[peach174]

I can attest to that on what Foxfyre says about tom turkeys being good watch dogs.

My pet tom I had when I was 3 yrs. old was the best watch dog I ever had.

 

[Ringel05]

I can attest to that on what Foxfyre says about tom turkeys being good watch dogs.

My pet tom I had when I was 3 yrs. old was the best watch dog I ever had.

Geese are awesome "watchdogs" and they eat snakes......... But apparently so do turkeys.

 

[Foxfyre]

Okay, the Pulmonary Doc (yesterday) and the Urologist (today) both think it's all the same leiomyosarcoma. They're looking at having an Interventional Radiologist preform a biopsy next Wednesday. The Urologist thinks it's highly likely she will lose the involved kidney and the spleen followed with immunotherapy/chemo but we'll see what the oncologist has to say. Thinking the biopsy consult at UNM at the end of the month might be a moot point at this time, again we'll see.

My great niece had a cancer on her kidney and they only had to take part of her kidney, not all of it. She is now 5 years cancer free. So maybe that will be the outcome here, but millions of people do great with one kidney. And most people don't miss their spleen any more than they miss their gallbladder when it is removed. The chemo is the greatest concern. At this stage of my life, I would refuse it. But as young as Mrs. R is, I would think about it pretty seriously.

 

[Ringel05]

Okay, the Pulmonary Doc (yesterday) and the Urologist (today) both think it's all the same leiomyosarcoma. They're looking at having an Interventional Radiologist preform a biopsy next Wednesday. The Urologist thinks it's highly likely she will lose the involved kidney and the spleen followed with immunotherapy/chemo but we'll see what the oncologist has to say. Thinking the biopsy consult at UNM at the end of the month might be a moot point at this time, again we'll see.

My great niece had a cancer on her kidney and they only had to take part of her kidney, not all of it. She is now 5 years cancer free. So maybe that will be the outcome here, but millions of people do great with one kidney. And most people don't miss their spleen any more than they miss their gallbladder when it is removed. The chemo is the greatest concern. At this stage of my life, I would refuse it. But as young as Mrs. R is, I would think about it pretty seriously.

The mass on the left kidney is the size of the kidney itself so we'll see. The urologist thinks it has to come out but he's not an oncologist and medical science has made huge leaps in treatment in the last 5 to six years alone. The oncologist may want to try and shrink it first, we'll see but at least things are moving along.

 

[Ringel05]

BTW when we were in the exam room at the urologist's office I wondered if it doubled as a cryo chamber........

 

[Foxfyre]

BTW when we were in the exam room at the urologist's office I wondered if it doubled as a cryo chamber........

That's why I multi-layer pretty much everywhere I go, especially this time of year.

 

[Aurora Woman]

I'm still kind of puzzled by how this forum's software works. So just want to say thanks for all the comments here and on other threads to my own comments. I haven't posted for a few days and saw there were 18 responses to my last posts and for not answering I'm sorry. Sometimes it's just too much. ***sob*** Heheheh.

Start of America's big fat holiday season coming up. Hope you guys all have a good one. Will try to be better at posting new things and responding to your comments.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Okay, the Pulmonary Doc (yesterday) and the Urologist (today) both think it's all the same leiomyosarcoma. They're looking at having an Interventional Radiologist preform a biopsy next Wednesday. The Urologist thinks it's highly likely she will lose the involved kidney and the spleen followed with immunotherapy/chemo but we'll see what the oncologist has to say. Thinking the biopsy consult at UNM at the end of the month might be a moot point at this time, again we'll see.

That sounds pretty drastic, Ringel. No sound prognosis yet, though? I'm still rooting for Mrs R.

 

[gallantwarrior]

We have to wait now until Spring to hatch eggs. Winter has arrived and it's just too cold, even if the hens did get broody. I am looking forward to turkey poults, though. All three of my turkey hens were broody this past summer, now I have the tom, poults should follow.
Nice chicks!

Thankfully our winters aren't too bad this early in the season. We've had a few frozen nights in the upper 20's though.. The hen & chicks are in the 'nursery', which is a small pre-fab coop with run that is right near the house, plus plenty of hay for bedding that all helps to keep them warm, with mama's help of course. The main coop is a converted garden shed where the rest of the chickens are. I use deep litter method in the winter where they can all poop & scratch to make good compost. Then in the early spring I clean it all out & dump in the garden to rest & finish. Then I turn it all under about a week or two before I plant. Plus I let them out to forage in the garden during the better days of winter.

I did turkeys this year for the first time from the feed store. I had bought 1 Bronze, 1 White and 1 Black, but lost the Bronze at 2 weeks and the other 2 turned out to be Jakes. When they started fighting it was time for the freezer. We'll see next week if they were worth the trouble.

What breed are your turkeys? I've always been interested in Narrgansetts, if & when I'm ready to get serious about turkeys.

I have two Narragansett hens and a breeding pair of Spanish Blacks, both are heritage breeds. They are smaller than the regular domestic breeds like white and bronze turkeys, although they run a bit smaller. I get a kick out of the tom. He's very aggressive and territorial. My partner and I usually use walking sticks and they make pretty good turkey deterrent tools. I can also pick him up and get him to calm down that way. All three of the turkey hens sat on good-sized clutches of eggs but nothing hatched. The two Narragansetts laid their eggs before I got the tom and the black hen laid her clutch after it started getting cooler. I'm excited to see what spring brings. I'm hoping for a whole bunch of poults, they're so cute!

Since I live in a neighborhood and only have around 1/4 acre yard to work with, I do what I can with what I have. I've been raising chickens for about 10 years now and like most keepers of the flock, turkeys are next on the list. Since I've not done it before and wanted to see the differences in raising them vs chickens, I wasn't about to take on a heritage breed if I failed at it or it being too difficult. I decided to 'practice' with the hybrids just to get my feet wet. The jury is still out if I want to get into raising them from year to year or not.

In some ways, they were more of a pain in my backside and in other ways, they were easier than chickens. If I had my druthers.....with a proper barn and few acres.....then I'd jump right in. But considering some of the challenges I face here, well it's not so easy.

From my research, I like the Narragansetts because they are a bit smaller, yet still provide a decent meal, tend to be more calm & less flighty than others, good layers and great for broodiness and Mamas....perfect all around homestead bird IMO...….well all that, plus their purty to look at.

I've had issues with aggression as well and usually use the shovel or rake turned, just to give them a push back. I had one rooster that would wait until I had walked past, then try to flog me from behind. I let it go a couple of times just because I could understand him trying to protect his girls that were in my way. But after he tried to attack the dogs who were minding their own business and me too when there was no reason for it....well that was it & he was outta there. I won't stand for unnecessary aggression

This tom only chases after people and some goats. He ignores the cats, dogs, and other farmyard fowl. He does a pretty good job fending off hawks and ravens, though. He usually alerts the other birds, who then run for cover.

From what I have observed, a dedicated turkey is a darn good watch dog. Here awhile back we were awarded a contract with State Farm Insurance to measure, photograph, and assess condition of all the structures on properties they insured on farms and ranches throughout New Mexico. It took us most of a month to accomplish the task but as Hombre and I traveled across the state, we would call ahead to the property owners to get permission to go on their land. And we always asked if there were dogs of concern.

The property owners would assure us they would have any serious guard dogs confined but several advised we might have to watch out for the turkeys and a billy goat or two. One owner said he would confine his 'watch' turkey. Hombre did that farm and said once that turkey--safely caged--spotted him, that was one enraged turkey. Hombre was very grateful that it was confined.

I only had problems with one HUGE Tom who approached in a way that made me uncomfortable. I had my Rolatape--we were measuring buildings--and pushed it against his chest gently so as not to hurt him to keep him off me, but he was not deterred. He kept circling with that Rolatape against his chest and around and around we went until the farm wife saw us and came out to rescue me.

The only other critters I had to be really careful about were the ostriches at the ostrich farm. I figure one of those, if he got aggressive, could do some serious damage to a person.

I've heard that geese are also pretty mean. I've known a few that you wouldn't want to cross. A tom turkey is lots bigger than most geese. Peacocks and guinea hens are noisy as hell, but I've never known them to be overly aggressive. I can imagine that ostriches would be quite imposing if they became aggressive, damned big birds.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I can attest to that on what Foxfyre says about tom turkeys being good watch dogs.

My pet tom I had when I was 3 yrs. old was the best watch dog I ever had.

But was he protective of you? This tom of mine seems to hate people, all people. It amazes me that he tolerates both cats and dogs.