The Genius of Birds - Embryonic development

This is amazing to watch. Thanks to bayvistafarm on Poultry Swap Ontario for posting this.

Cookie Tin Water Heater

After 2 mornings of frozen water I decided to make a couple of cookie tin heaters. Headed over to the Dollar Store and bought 2x cookie tins, 2x 2 pin extension cords, and some 40w incandescent light bulbs. Then a stop at Home Hardware for a couple of light fixtures. I got round cookie tins because that was all they had. I'm on the lookout now for large square tins. I'm going to see how it works and maybe move up to a 60w bulb when it gets colder.



The fixtures have a round base, so I used my angle grinder to cut two sides. This was so I can put the lid on the tin.






Then I put the fixture in place and marked where the screws go. I used a pocket knife and screw driver to open the holes.






Next take the extension cord and cut the end off.



Strip the end of the wires and put a hole in the tin between the two holes you already made. Push the wires through the hole.



Attach the wires to the back of the fixture.



Put in position and tighten screws. I used 2 small nuts/bolts. Don't over tighten because you can bend the tin (especially if it's round) and the lid won't fit.



Christmas edition DIY cookie tin water heater.

Cookie tin - $2
Light Fixture - $1.69
Extension Cord - $3
Light bulb - .50c

Total: $7.19 plus tax

The turkeys wouldn't go near it for a good 10 minutes. They must find the Christmas design offensive :)

Meat Turkeys

The meat turkeys were processed on Sept 30th. 15 birds, smallest 16 lbs, largest 29.8 lbs. 313 lbs of turkey in the freezer. I had a local butcher come over with his mobile setup. It took him under 2 hours. I bagged and weighed them. Very pleased with my first try at turkeys. Might process them myself next year, just need to build a plucker :)

Turkeys talking to Canada Geese.

My meat turkeys have started gobbling everytime some Canada Geese fly over honking. 

Weezer the Rooster

Well I have two Chantecler roosters and one has to go. I decided to keep Weezer because the ladies like him and his brother is a little to violent with the hens.

He's called Weezer because after crowing he wheezes. I'll try and get a better video of him with clearer sound asap.

They love the rain!

The rest of the flock stay indoors, but these idiots love it. Look like drowned rats.

Turkey House part 10

Finally got some of the top vent covers up. I used some hardboard that's been sitting at the back of the garage for many years. I'm considering clear polycarbonate (Lexan) for the front top vent. It is really expensive, so I'm looking for a deal.

Closed

Open

Turkey House part 9

The front roof needed finishing and I was going to use shingles. My son offered me an alternative, some left over eavestrough protector. It's like a 3' wide roll of shingle with a peel and stick back. I had just enough to cover the roof.

First I put some drip edge along the bottom edge of the roof. This makes water run off and not double back and soak into the boards. Very cheap, $3.75 for a 10' length.

 After a few hours in the sun it was stuck down solid. It's rained for a week and there were no leaks.

Turkey House Part 8

All the hardware cloth was fitted and the 2 windows are in so it was time to introduce the Ridley's to their new home. 

The next 2 photo's were taken at 7am and it is so light in the coop, better than I had imagined.

Turkey House Part 7

I did a bit of a rush job the other night so I could get the Ridley's in their new home. It is so bright it would make a great layer coop. I forgot to take photo's of the painted floor, if you need to see one finished take a look at my chicken coop posts.

Door on and 1/4 inch hardware cloth on the front.

 

This was 7am and it's very bright in there.

Still got to paint the door, add a lock and handle, shingle the front roof, and make shutters for the top vents. Then clean up :)

Turkey House Part 6

Didn't get much done today due to thunder, lightening, rain and mosquitoes.

Turkey House Part 5

I got the metal siding on this morning and spent a little time on the front roof. As soon as the siding was on the whole structure was rigid. Tomorrow I finish off the front, put the windows in and waterproof the floor. Just not enough hours in the day :)

I guess a door would come in handy at some point.

Turkey House Part 4

Got a bit more done today. Got the roof on, although I was out 1/4 inch in one corner. Took the tin snips out and made it fit :) 

All I need to do is........... 

1. Finish framing and roof the front section
2. Fit the two windows
3. Fit the siding
4. Make a door
5. Waterproof the floor
6. Hardware Cloth the upper vents and front
7. Make shutters for the vents (not figured that one out yet)
8. Add roost bars

Turkey House Part 3

The most time consuming thing was making sure the deck blocks were level. Lots of swearing but once it was level-ish I calmed down. I changed the length  from 14 to 12 feet. Originally it was going to be a Woods style coop, but I wanted to save the roof off the shed so had to change style.

The roof on the old shed was low, the doorway had 5'2" of head room. So my new frame is 11" taller. The sections along the top will be covered in hardware cloth and have shutters for winter. This kind of ventilation together with the open front will be great for turkeys.

Turkey House Part 2a

Forgot to post the photos for Part 2.

Once I took the screws out the shed just flopped around. The metal isn't much thicker than a Pepsi can!

I kept the roof section in one piece so I can just sit it on top of my wooden frame and screw it in place.

Turkey House Part 2

I dismantled the shed and found out that the base had rotted away in some areas. Definitely not worth saving. 

So the plan is to build a new 14' long base , build a strong frame for the metal shed to be remounted too. I'll also be lifting the roof by an extra 12 inches for more head room and better ventilation. The open front addition will be approximately 4'6" long, but mounted to the side of the shed. The present front of the shed will become the side. 

It's going to be very different :)

EDIT:  Changed the length to 12'.

Turkey House Project

My new project is..... drum roll........ turning this shed into a turkey house for my 6 Ridley Bronze. Hopefully I can get started on it this weekend. 

Canadian Grade A Egg Weights

Jumbo at least 70 grams
Extra Large at least 63 grams
Large at least 56 grams
Medium at least 49 grams
Small at least 42 grams
Pee Wee Less than 42 grams

Our 4 Red Sex Links lay 4 Extra large to Jumbo size eggs every day. Occasionally way beyond Jumbo, and they taste so good.

Turkey Tractor

My prototype turkey tractor is 10'x12' and 6' high.  It's covered in 1"x1" hardware cloth and it has a skirt of approximately 12" to stop predators from digging under. I used 2x2's to keep the weight down, but still heavy enough that it won't flip in strong winds.

I have 16 Large White turkeys that are 1 month old. The tractor is 120 sq.ft. so there is 7.5 sq.ft. per bird which I think will be fine. Meat chickens only get 1.5 - 2 sq.ft. per bird. Although the turkeys move a lot more than the meat chickens do. The turkeys seem to eat a lot of greens too. Which is good because our field has lots of clover. Apparently it makes them taste better :)

They will be 18 weeks old Thanksgiving week (Canadian, Oct 13). I aim to process them at 16 weeks so they don't get too big. At 16 weeks the hens will be around 20 lbs and toms 30 lbs. Dressed weight will be 75% of live weight, hens around 15 lbs and toms 22.5 lbs. Not many people want large birds anymore. Last Thanksgiving I bought an 18 lb turkey from a guy that processed 50 birds. I contacted him to see if he had any left for Christmas and all he had was birds over 25 lb.