Hey there everyone! I haven’t posted in a while, because we moved out to 8 acres instead of just 1. So the hobby farm can grow! Yay!
But anyway, with Thanksgiving approaching, I thought I’d do a post about Turkeys, specifically about Turkey breeds.
Turkey History!
There are two species of Turkey. The ones that really caught on to domestication were (ironically) the Wild Turkey. The other is the Ocellated which is mostly a fancy bird for aviculture nerds like me.
Behold, the ocellated turkey!
We’ll just be talking about the Wild Turkey and the Domestic Turkey today. (Sorry Ocellated! We love you! Kind of. Mixed feeling about the bumpy face.)
Turkey were first exported to Europe in 1519, but they had already been domesticated for probably around 2,000 years, and they basically were to native america what chickens were to the Eurasians.
Asian Jungle Fowl!
They remained pretty similar to their wild counterparts until the twentieth century. That’s when Turkeys changed a lot.
Turkeys Changing
The first thing that really changed turkeys was the emergence of breeds:
Never mind the Ocellated. He really shouldn’t be on here, since he’s a different species.
Looking at the picture you can see distinctions in color and body shape.
The next thing was the factory breed, which tends to be the broad breasted white turkey, being standardized into the Buterball breed and put in dystopian complexes like this:
Besides having a horrible environment to live in, or lack of an environment, really, these turkeys have been bred to basically be meat machines and be in pain and be barely able to live properly.
Take a look at the size difference.
Turkeys were never meant to be that huge.
Besides carrying way too much weight, they tend to struggle with several other health problems.
Friends if we’re not careful, they could ruin our domestic turkey!
What Are We Gonna Do?
Luckily, I’m not the first one to recognize the huge problem in Turkey breeding.
Heritage breeds are the breeds of turkeys that are directly descended from the wild turkeys. That means no genetic modification (some degree of genetic selection is allowed), no Artificial Insemination needed (Yes, that’s right. Factory turkeys are usually in such bad shape they can’t even mate), and real turkey lifespans, and normal turkey growth rates.
There are twelve heritage breeds that give you plenty of color and body type variation to be satisfactory.
Blue Slate
Midget White
Narragansett
Bourbon Red
Royal Palm
Holland White
Chocolate (They do not taste like chocolate FYI)
Black Spanish
Standard Bronze
Beltsville Small White
You can also jump on the conservation bandwagon, get a permit and get some Wild Turkeys, and help bring back the wild population!
If your gonna have turkeys, please try and support the breeders that let the Turkeys enjoy life.
And if your gonna eat meat, please at least try to support the meat farmers who give their turkeys a decent life!
I know they cost more, and are smaller, but you don’t need that much Turkey! 200 million pounds of Turkey are wasted every year on Thanksgiving anyway.
So even if it’s less convenient for degenerates, if you get a turkey this Thanksgiving, please support a humane heritage breeder!
In this picture is Buckbeak, Candy, Wendy, John, Andrew, Dava, Peter, Aquilla, Lois, Scrooge, Syrup, Amber, Honey, Rain, Numero, Opie, Conglomeration of Unnamed Ducklings, Waddles. Sunset, Flash, Bigbird, Elmo, Gabe, Celest, Cherub, Arel, and Fives, but there are many others.
They get… expensive. Especially with feed prices on the rise, it’s good to have a feel of how we can make back some of our money we invest in our farm pets, and sometimes even make a profit!
Okay, not that much
This blog is written for Hobby Farmers by a Hobby Farmer so I don’t think any of us expect a full time job out of this. But a little money from it would be great!
1. Breeding
Who doesn’t like baby animals?
This is one of the most straight forward ways to make money. Animals are usually not too hard to sell.
You don’t have to start a website to sell animals, you can use Craigslist, Facebook (depending on the rules of your groups), and Hoobly.
Would anyone buy this?
Prices vary from place to place for all sorts of animals, but it doesn’t take too long to get a feel for your market.
2. Food Farming
Since this blog is mostly animals, I focus on the animal products.
You can make a lot of money off eggs and milk (and meat, but that takes a colder heart than mine).
You can also save money by just getting those things. Think how much money I save on food since I never have to buy eggs or milk!
3. Other
You can be creative with your farms.
You can be weird and start a Mobile Petting Zoo. Or just a normal zoo! There’s any number of opportunities.
One common question of button quail breeders is whether they can and whether they should live outside. They seem so small and delicate they almost seem like they would need a heat lamp!
Well they definitely can live outside. The temperatures should not go below freezing, and they shouldn’t walk on snow.
These are pretty much the main guidelines. Many people heat their outside coop and they do just fine. Of course, like any animal, they need some degree of shade, cover, and hiding places.
It is also not that bad to keep them inside. They don’t smell (that much) if you keep them clean enough, and they don’t need too much room.
All that said, let’s look at some reasons why you would want to do either.
OUTSIDE
1. Most people have more room outside
My bird set up!
Having a decent sized cage is important, and it is much easier to keep much larger groups of quail if you keep them outside where there is more room. It is hard to keep ten breeding pairs inside your house.
2. Most people don’t want to be cleaning constantly
For my inside button quail, I have to clean the walls and vacuum pretty much everyday to live up to my standards of cleanliness. I don’t really mind doing this, but I can certainly imagine why one would.
3. Fresh Air and Sun are Actually Good For Your Quail
Your quail will tend to be more mentally healthy outside. They will tend to lay more eggs outside and be happier.
4. It is easier to maintain vegetation outside
It is good for quail to have access to plants. It is not necessary, but it’s good for them. It easier to keep plants in actual dirt outside, because you probably don’t want dirt inside.
INSIDE
1. Warmth
It isn’t an extra electric bill to heat my inside quail. If I were to keep them outside in the winter, I would have to pay for extra heat, most of which would just escape into the broader world.
This is why I keep all my quail inside in the winter, and outside in the other three seasons.
2. It is more fun to sleep when button quail are snoring
The growling is cute too.
How would one sleep without the noise of button quail ‘snores’ in the background?
Yes, when button quail sleep they make small whistling noises that I call ‘button quail snores.’
It is sad not to have those constant little chirping noises in the background of your life.
3. They are fun and therapeutic to watch
It is just much easier to observe your quail’s lives, which is fun as all get out.
4. It is easier to keep an eye on them
If you have your quail in your bedroom, like me, you notice pretty quickly when somethings off because every time you pass them, you notice them.
Thus, it easier to catch when things are wrong.
5. Predators tend to be more common outside
Although the only button quail predator attack I’ve ever had was by a black racer snake who somehow got into our house, it is generally considered to be more of a problem outside.
But in fairness, some of the worst predators are house cats so…
6. They tend to be tamer inside
When quail are constantly exposed to humans and their activity, they get less scared of humans. They tend to then become nicer.
Whether it’s because you’re vegetarian or you’re a health enthusiast or want to grow good food for your animals or all of the above, hemp might just be the crop for you.
In most states you need a license to grow in any quantity, but it may be worth it!
Well, Hemp isnot Marijuana. They are considered the same species but genetically different cultivars, which are scientifically distinguishable. Hemp is a marijuana plant with a THC level below 0.3%.
I mean, they even look different.
It is in fact a very healthy plant and not a damaging drug.
Hemp is a powerful ‘bioaccumulator’, which means that it can pull up toxins from our soils.
Hemp can remove the toxic pesticides, herbicides, chemicals, and heavy metals from our ground, making them good plant to have in your garden to enhance your other plants’ health.
Hemp can be grown for high-CBD content, providing you with nearly all the medicinal benefits of Marijuana, without much THC (what makes folk high).
The hemp seeds are completely packed with all nine essential amino acids and a heck ton of vitamins. In fact, this means that a vegetarian could eat this instead of meat!
They have omega 3 and 6, making them a source of fats which are essential.
Have you ever had fish oil pills? A hemp seed does as good a job as a vitamin if not better, without the back draw of hurting a fish.
CBD has profound positive health effects on all mammals.
Yeah! I said all mammals! That includes your pet sheep or rabbits etc.
Hemp foods are not just for humans! Hemp provides just as many benefits for animals as it does for us.
Farmers report that animals fed on Hemp are healthier. In the old days, it was considered to be among the most essential feed crops.
But not only is hemp seed a complete protein and vitamin rich substance, Hemp potentially can save the world.
Read more on that in Hemp Can Save the World by Louis Roland Sauer, a business consultant, who writes on Hemp’s uses everywhere! He goes on to say how it can make ‘hempcrete’, rope, plastics, and more!
Sometimes, eggs need incubated. Sometimes we just don’t have the equipment, energy, or motive to incubate them… Sometimes we don’t want to brood them.
Well, luckily… nature has some birds that will incubate eggs that aren’t theirs or raise chicks of different species.
Lets go over some of these foster moms.
Bantams
Cochins and silkies are the main of the bantams prone to brooding. They can successfully incubate quail, pheasants, and even guineas.
Watch out with the first two as disease can spread between the chickens and birds, so make sure she’s healthy.
Pigeons
Good incubators for quail, but bad rearers, as they nest in air and quail may fall off, but a nesting box with high walls, can be good enough, until the chicks are fluffy and can be moved to a brooder.
Chickens
Australorp mother with Americana chicks.
Broody hens, like Australorps, Sussex, and Brahma hens, make good foster mothers to ducklings, guinea keets, turkeys poults, and even geese, but for the waterfowl, don’t give them water to swim in, because the hen won’t be able to water proof the chicks.
Geese
Make good fosters for ducks without any work needed.
Ducks
Make good fosters for geese without extra work needed.
I have done a series on the different types of pheasants, quail, rabbits,ducks, and alternative waterfowl, but today we are going to look at the six species of Guinea Fowl, and a little bit about each.
HELMETED GUINEA FOWL
This is what we are all used to. The helmeted guinea fowl is the classic homestead Guinea fowl, used for meat and eggs. Because they are so common, and have been so since Ancient Egypt, many mutations have arrived and been cultivated.
The colors of the helmeted Guinea Fowl deserve a post of their own later down the road!
If you are interested in Guinea Fowl for utility (meat and eggs) this is definitely the kind you want!
Usually you can get chicks for just 5 dollars!
VULTURINE GUINEAFOWL
These birds, with their eerie resemblance to my father, are some of the more common exotic Guinea Fowl out there. They tend to be 2,000 dollars a pair!
They are rather pretty, if you can get past the comical head.
Because they are from hot areas, when temperatures reach freezing (32 F, 0 C) their enclosure must be heated.
They require a more specialized diet than the helmeted.
CRESTED GUINEAFOWL
These are one of the two Guinea Fowl species with feathery crests!
Like the Vulturine, these are slightly more cold sensitive than your normal Guinea. They are hard to find and usually go for at least $1000 a pair.
Plumed Guineafowl
The Polish of the Guinea Fowl, these guys are renowned for their crest!
As far as I know, they do not exist in captivity.
WHITE- BREASTEDGUINEA FOWL
These rare birds are non-existent in captivity, and barely even look like Guinea Fowl!
BLACK GUINEAFOWL
Lastly, there are these guys. Closely related to the White-Breasted, these too remain away from aviculture, only to be seen briefly in an occasional glimpse by a lucky fellow in Africa.
Well, I hope you enjoyed taking a look at the six types of Guinea Fowl! Have a great week!
This week, I’d like to show you a couple of the different partridges available for gamebird enthusiasts!
Chukar
Good for utility (i.e. eggs and meat). Very aggressive. Not good aviary birds. Usually you can get them for less than $10. Come in silver and white varieties.
Hungarian Partridge
Used for utility and ornamental purposes, the Hungarian partridge usually prices at $50 a pair.
Barbary Partridge
Ornamental. Usually $50 a pair.
Red-legged Partridge
I’ve seen these for $63 a pair.
Roul-roul
My personal favorite, the roulroul is a cold sensitive species, with impressive crests and colors. They are good aviary birds, and are very small. They are difficult to raise, which leads to them being extraordinarily expensive: between $200 and $1000 a pair!
Madagascar Partridge
Relatively new to U.S. aviculture, the Madagascar partridge is little known and very rare. Adult pairs sell for over $500
Philby Partridge
Usually ornamental, these pretty birds are rarely seen for sale.
Sometimes, the bird keeper gets tired of pheasants , quail, and chickens. Even the Great Argus doesn’t have the thrill it used to.
But don’t worry. There’s always more. Let’s take a look at some of those alternative poultry birds.
Erckel’s Francolin
The Erckel’s is the most popular of francolins! They are cheap and easy to care for! A pair can be purchased for under $200!
Francolins really aren’t too complicated. Their care is pretty much the same as other gamebirds. Clean enclosure, food, and water!
Black Francolin
Similar in look to a Koklass pheasant, the black francolin is one of the only gender dimorphic francolins. These guys need some space. They are skittish and easy to frighten.
However, they aren’t very hard to keep and can be kept on a gamebird diet just like a pheasant.
They are not too expensive either, only about $150.
Hyderbadie Francolin
These francolins have a really cool name and are very hardy! They are usually $300 a pair. The more cover and space you give them, the more comfortable they are, as is true for most birds. You may want to consider a higher quality feed for these than for other gamebirds.
Yellow Throated Francolin
Yellow Throats can be purchased for less than $200 each. They are flighty, so they cannot be be closely confined.
Canada Spruce Grouse
Grouse are another fun group of alternate birds. They tend to be a little more complicated to care for than francolins.
Although gamebird food is a good basic diet, they need to be substituted with leaves from blueberry plants and cut up cranberries help control bacteria. Cilantro, dandelions, and clover also make great treats. They also need extra protein like mealworms.
Usually they cost about $800 a pair.
Greater Prairie Chicken
A sky rocketing $820 a pair, the prairie chicken is a large grouse with a fascinating look. They are very uncommon, and are usually raised for releasing into the wild, since they are endangered.
Blue Grouse
Usually about S1,100 a pair, these grouse tend to rocket in to the air so you need a high aviary to prevent broken necks and so forth.
They prefer cool temperatures, and should receive a mixed diet of natural plants supplemented with game bird food. Feed in a manner that encourages foraging for their meals.
Franklin Spruce Grouse
$ 1, 100 a pair, purchasing a spruce grouse is no laughing matter! They naturally live in coniferous areas, so an aviary should be so planted. This particular bird normally eats spruce and pine needles, but its diet can get more varied during the winter months. Males can be housed with multiple females.
Black Grouse
The Black Grouse primarily eats the roots of shrubs and sometimes berries from plants. Chicks also eat insects. Game bird feed is appropriate in captivity. Usually $1,250 a pair.
Ruffed Grouse
About $1,400 a pair, the ruffed grouse is a common aviary favorite, as well as a favored hunted prize. In captivity, both chicks and adults require a game bird feed of 24% protein or more as well as plants and insects to stabilize their diet.
Scottish Red Grouse
A very pretty Scottish bird, with sixteen different calls.
Western Capecallies Grouse
This is the largest, perhaps most magnificent grouse in the world. The genders vary greatly. They price at almost $6,000 a pair!
Well, I hope you found these guys interesting! Maybe some of the more serious breeders will decide they want to help these more threatened birds sustain a stable population!
Last week I did a post discussing whether or not you should pair breed. I basically concluded that it depended on various factors. Today, I will give you 5 things to remember in order to make your colony successful and safe.
Perhaps colony breeding has got such a bad name as a result of breeders failing to do these things.
The number one rule, is to make sure you don’t put an overly aggressive male with other males. This has gone badly for a lot of people.
1. Make Sure They Have Enough Room.
This is the single most important problem that causes aggression in colony breeding. Button quail are too often too cramped. They need at least a half square foot each. The bigger, the less aggressive your quail will be.
Anyone gets grumpier when they are crammed up together!
2. Make Sure They Have Hiding Places
Hiding places for button quail don’t have to be places other quail will never be able to find them. Rather, I’m referring to places where they can get away from the constant hustle and bustle of the main group.
Just make sure the cage isn’t just a flat terrain. This is only inviting quail to gang up on each other. If they have places to go, this will help them get out of sight and out of mind of bullies.
Also, constant use of hiding places is an important indicator that your quail should not be colony breeding.
3. Make Sure There Are No Overly Aggressive Quail
Although I have not really ran into overly aggressive quail, there are certainly several stories out there. You should observe the temperament of each quail before just leaving them in a colony unobserved.
Signs of overly aggressive quail are when quail get overly excited with the prospect of breeding. They will push other quail off the females and will pull feathers from females.
And it’s not just males who get overly aggressive. Girls living at the top of the pecking order often will be mean to other girls.
If you have one such quail a good solution is one-sex colonies.
This removes stimulation that causes aggressiveness. If you have an extra enclosure, this could be a good idea.
4. Adding Extra Females Can Reduce Aggression
Skywalker, the cutest quail in the world
If you have extra females, you can reduce over mating and aggression by adding two or three extras. It is hard to guarantee fertile eggs from them, but it will help keep all your quail safe.
5. Keep an Eye On Things
Finally, this is my last suggestion to keep your colony happy and safe. Keep an eye on things. Watch for aggressive, unhappy, sick, or injured button quail.
A large controversy is waging over whether it is better to raise King Quail in colonies or in pairs.
Originally, I colony bred out of ignorance, but as nothing bad happened, when I began to encounter the dogmatic position of pair breeding most breeders take, I was naturally skeptical.
The truth is, there are several advantages to both, and it is hard to call either out as right or wrong.
Pair Breeding
1. Button Quail are naturally monogamous
One argument for pair-breeding button quail is that it is more natural, because it is what they do in the wild.
However, the truth of the matter is that we don’t really know what they do in the wild. Most of our information on how button quail breed comes from captivity.
We know the males do help one specific female breed, however, they can still do that even in a colony, if the ratio is 1:1.
2. Quail sometimes beat each other up
Feather picking is one common form of aggression. Here picture is actually just a molt BTW.
It is rare, but not unheard of that button quail beat each other up. This rarely if never happens with pairs, but in colonies males may get aggressive towards each other, or even a female they randomly don’t like.
However, this behavior is rare, and I don’t really experience it, so the best way to stop it is to get rid of the overly aggressive one, who probably shouldn’t live with lots of girls anyway.
3. It is easier to tell the genetics, and control your outcomes
In a colony, each quail chooses their own mate. In the pairs, it is up to the owner.
This is really the reason I pair breed. I can manipulate which quail mate and what colors will come out. I can figure out what new color mixes look like, and it is a whole lot of fun.
However, a lot of people don’t really care, and that’s fine.
4. With a lot of pairs, it’s a lot easier to get unrelated pairs
Because button quail aren’t really very faithful to their mate, all the colony babies will be somewhat related. With pair breeding you can guarantee to buyers that your pairs are unrelated.
5. With too many button quail, you may stress out your quail
It is slightly more stressful to be living with a bunch of other people, and the same goes for quail. However, this largely depends on the quail’s own personality and timidity.
6. Epidemics spread quicker in colonies
If there are more quail in one place, then it is only logical that if a epidemic breaks out, more individuals will suffer.
However, button quail diseases are rather rare, and I don’t really know of any diseases that commonly affect these birds.
Colony Breeding
1. Less care needed
There is actually a limit to how many cages you can fit in your bedroom.
If you want to breed a bunch of button quail, it can be a pain to take care of a dozen different cages. If you only have a couple colonies, this makes everything easier.
2. Higher Fertility
Even though I have just started with pair breeding, I know from others as well as the limited hatches so far with pairs that colony fertility tends to be higher.
I mean, it just makes sense. More eggs mean more eggs fertilized.
3. It’s less boring and lonely
Quail are like people. For some of them it gets boring to literally only know a single other person. One mate may not be enough to keep extravert quail from getting lonely.
4. Genetics can play more
You are more likely to get all kinds of different babies if you colony breed. There will be countless mixes from all the different pairing occurring.
5. They tend to get less attached to one specific quail
Although strong pair attachment may seem ideal, it often results in the pair dying at the same time due to depression. In a colony, they tend to not get too attached to one quail, and this reduces depression rates.
KNOW YOUR QUAIL
This aviary quail lives in a spacious aviary, in a colony.
The best way to chose, is to know your quail. If they are timid, shy and are hiding from the other quail in the colony, it is probably not the right set up. If they are constantly shoving other males off the female in attempt to mate, that’s not the right set up.
But if your quail enjoy gathering food together, if the get bored in pairs, or they act lonely, colony breeding may be a better choice.
Next week, I plan to do a post on several things to make sure you do if you chose to colony breed.
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Where The Chickens Roost 