Guineas, chickens, and turkeys oh my!

[MrsE88]

I got my email on Wednesday saying my chicks, keets, and poults hatched and shipped! I was so excited when the post office called this morning saying they arrived ?
The first box I opened had the guinea keets.

I ordered 5 of each, they sent six of each!
Top left is the royal purple, top right is lavender, bottom left is white.

Group shot in the brooder
Next up is the turkeys. I ordered 2 royal plum and 2 black Spanish. They sent 3 royal plum, but no Spanish turkeys.

These next ones just kill me? Turkens! (Naked neck chickens) They look like they are wearing fuzzy hats?

And lastly my chicks! I’m not 100% sure who is who yet. I have silver laced Wyandotte’s and Easter eggers. They didn’t have two of the other chickens I ordered. But that’s ok, I think I have plenty of birds now??
For now everyone is settling in. I’m dying to hold them, but I’ll wait a couple days like the instructions say to?

 

[MrsE88]

fishhead0103666 You wanted to be tagged right?

 

[fishhead0103666]

Indeed I did.

 

[jjohnwm]

Wow...they look like they will be delicious!

Just kidding, sorta. Is the idea to keep these as pets, or are you raising them for fall butchering, or as egg-producers, or...? I was lucky enough to have chicks a few years running when I lived in Ontario, but they were completely free range and we had very few survive until fall due to predators. In my current home, we have even more coyotes than in Ontario, plus the dog we now own is a rescue animal who had an unpleasant earlier life and now will not tolerate other animals.

I've read and been told that Guineas are a terrific control measure for ticks. Do you have any of those nasty little buggers, and is that the reason for the Guineas in the mix? How about other pets? Have you had birds like this before? They are very cool and wonderful to have around the yard. When you get home after a hard day at work, there is absolutely nobody more excited to see you than your chickens!

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Lol I can only imagine how noisy that room must be with all them lil chicks peeping away. Good luck naming em all.

 

[MrsE88]

Wow...they look like they will be delicious!

Just kidding, sorta. Is the idea to keep these as pets, or are you raising them for fall butchering, or as egg-producers, or...? I was lucky enough to have chicks a few years running when I lived in Ontario, but they were completely free range and we had very few survive until fall due to predators. In my current home, we have even more coyotes than in Ontario, plus the dog we now own is a rescue animal who had an unpleasant earlier life and now will not tolerate other animals.

I've read and been told that Guineas are a terrific control measure for ticks. Do you have any of those nasty little buggers, and is that the reason for the Guineas in the mix? How about other pets? Have you had birds like this before? They are very cool and wonderful to have around the yard. When you get home after a hard day at work, there is absolutely nobody more excited to see you than your chickens!

Haha? Well, the idea was to butcher extra roos and most of the turkeys. But now it seems I may not have many(if any) roosters. And the turkeys they sent maybe kept as breeding stock if I’m lucky enough to get a pair. The “extra” one will be butchered come spring.
I wanted to hatch chicks to sell and sell eggs. I’ll have to see how things go. If I get overwhelmed I’ll go on a butcher spree, if I can figure out how to do it..... ? YouTube.

Sorry to hear about your chickens.? We too have an abundance of predators around here.

Ticks were the main reason we got guineas. Our dog supposedly got Lyme disease from a tick after we adopted him. So they were the sensible solution. They have done a fantastic job at bug/tick control.
We have 13 adult guineas right now and 10 chickens. Turkeys are new to me.
I do love how excited my chickens get to see me? They are so friendly compared to guineas. I hope my turkeys will be friendly too.

 

[MrsE88]

Lol I can only imagine how noisy that room must be with all them lil chicks peeping away. Good luck naming em all.

Haha? I don’t even have names for all my current poultry. Lol
They are actually really quiet when they have all their needs met.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Haha? I don’t even have names for all my current poultry. Lol
They are actually really quiet when they have all their needs met.

Lol ik when we had our they would constantly talk. Lol it wasn't too bad tho only having 6 of em but they sure do get loud, especially when the kids decide to try to pick one up without permission. Also if one of the cats would walk by em the chicks would just go mental thinking that it's going to eat em.

 

[Dalfrey86]

Haha? Well, the idea was to butcher extra roos and most of the turkeys. But now it seems I may not have many(if any) roosters. And the turkeys they sent maybe kept as breeding stock if I’m lucky enough to get a pair. The “extra” one will be butchered come spring.
I wanted to hatch chicks to sell and sell eggs. I’ll have to see how things go. If I get overwhelmed I’ll go on a butcher spree, if I can figure out how to do it..... ? YouTube.

Sorry to hear about your chickens.? We too have an abundance of predators around here.

Ticks were the main reason we got guineas. Our dog supposedly got Lyme disease from a tick after we adopted him. So they were the sensible solution. They have done a fantastic job at bug/tick control.
We have 13 adult guineas right now and 10 chickens. Turkeys are new to me.
I do love how excited my chickens get to see me? They are so friendly compared to guineas. I hope my turkeys will be friendly too.

Hate to be overly aggressive but a sword or an axe and a tree stump have worked well for me. Just make sure the kids understand the bird is going to run around headless for a hot minute. Quite the site, I'll spare you the fine details.

If you are really up for the task the tried and true wringing the neck works but feeling the crack in your hand takes some getting used to.

 

[esoxlucius]

Hate to be overly aggressive but a sword or an axe and a tree stump have worked well for me. Just make sure the kids understand the bird is going to run around headless for a hot minute. Quite the site, I'll spare you the fine details.

If you are really up for the task the tried and true wringing the neck works but feeling the crack in your hand takes some getting used to.

You're a right barrel full of laughs aren't you! I've just logged in whilst eating my breckfast and all of a sudden my bowl of hot porridge doused in manuka honey isn't so appealing any more! Lol.