THE LENGTH OF TIME IT WILL TAKE TURKEY TO BEGING LAYING EGGS

Turkeys are one of the wonderful  backyard poultry pet. Although not prolific layers, hens produce spotted gourmet-quality eggs and the iridescent feathers of the males can be used in feather crafts. The length of time it will take your turkey to begin laying eggs or be large enough to serve up for dinner will depend on its breed.

Turkeys for meat.
Some domesticated turkeys have been breed for rapid growth to be ready for the table after 14 weeks. The male turkeys weigh in at more than 40 pounds at this age and females are in the 35-pound range. Broad-breasted bronze and white turkeys are the two most widely available meat breeds. They are not good egg layers and can grow too large to support their weight with their legs.

Local Breeds
Heritage turkey breeds such as the Narrangansett or royal palm mature much more slowly than the broad-breasted breeds. At 28 weeks, the turkeys are ready for the table with males weighing in at a little more than 20 pounds and females about 8 pounds lighter. These turkeys become sexually mature at 5 to 6 months of age and females will lay an egg every other day in the spring and early summer beginning at 6 or 7 months old.
  The local turkey eggs can be fertile naturally by mating while the foreign Turkey can only get fertile artificially.

Labels: Turkey maturity time

BACKYARD CHICKEN FARM FOR EGGS PRODUCTION

If you don't have the space to erect a coop for a few laying hens, your eggs will have to continue coming from the grocery store. But it's worth giving up a bit of backyard space and a little of your time in exchange for your eggs supply .

             Size of the House
Determining the size of hen house you need is kind of like a "chicken and the egg" quandary. You need to know how many laying hens you'll be housing in order to build the coop, but you have to have a coop before you can bring home your hens. The amount of space available for a hen house might dictate how many hens you'll end up with. Build your hen house first then figure out how many laying hens you can have. Since 2 1/2 to 3 square feet is the amount of floor space each of your hens will need, divide the square footage of your coop by 3. The resulting number is the maximum number of laying hens you should have.

The Laying Parlor
A house for your laying hens is more than a dry, secure place to keep them. Your chickens' coop should be divided into separate areas just like your house is. The laying parlor is an important feature for your hen house since you'll be keeping hens expressly for the purpose of laying eggs. This area should take up about 1/3 of the total house. Provide at least one nest for every four hens you have and elevate the nests 4 to 24 inches above the ground. This can be done either by building a platform to place the nests upon or by nailing them to the wall. You don't have to place a dividing wall in the coop, but you can lay a 2 by 4 on the ground at the threshold of the parlor to designate the laying parlor from the rest of the hen house.

Roosting And Living Areas
The biggest part of your hens' house will be like a great room. Your hens will have 2/3 of their living space for roosting, eating and exercise. It doesn't matter how you arrange the roosting and living areas of the coop, but one way is to place rails 18 to 24 inches above the ground on the opposite end of the coop from the laying parlor. Use 2 inch dowels or pieces of wood that are 2 inches by 2 inches. Depending on how many laying hens you have, you may need more than one rail, as each chicken should be allowed 6 inches of space to roost upon. If you require more than one roost, space them 14 inches apart from each other. A food hopper and water fountain can be placed anywhere else within the living space.

Dirt, Wood Or Concrete Floor?
Hen houses don't require a specific type of flooring, provided that the coop protects your chickens from predators and any type of weather. It can even have a dirt floor if the house itself sits on concrete footings or other secure system that would prevent a raccoon or other marauder from getting in to steal eggs and harm your hens. Your chickens enjoy taking a dust bath occasionally, so if you asked them they would definitely vote for dirt flooring. If you opt for a wood or concrete floor, count on laying in a supply of sawdust or wood shavings to use as litter. No matter what type of flooring you use, you'll have to sweep up droppings and keep the floor of your hen house clean.

TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF COCCIDIOSIS DISEASE IN CHICKEN

Coccidiosis is one of the most deadliest disease in poultry Chicken.    The coccidia organism causes the disease call coccidiosis. Coccidia is a microscopic protozoan parasite that lives in chicken's intestines. Coccidia is prevalent in chickens. Coccidiosis can affect chickens' weight gain and overall health, and it can kill them if left untreated.

There are eight species of coccidia that can infect chickens. Eight species include Eimeria tenella, E. burnetti, E. maxima, E. necatrix, E. praecox, E. acervulina, E. mivati and E. mitis. While other species can get coccidia, including humans, coccidia that infect chickens cannot infect other species, and vice versa. So if you own turkeys, coccidia from your turkeys cannot infect chickens, nor can chicken coccidia infect you or your dog. Depending on what kind of coccidia your chicken is infested with will determine where in the intestine the infestation occurs. The infestation may occur in the duodenal loop, the intestine or the caecum.

SYMPTOMS AND SIGN OF COCCIDIOSIS

Coccidia symptoms include bloody diarrhea, watery diarrhea, ruffled feathers, huddling, weight loss, depression, paleness, lack of appetite and poor weight gain -- but chickens may show no symptoms whatsoever. Most birds are affected between the ages of 3 and 5 weeks old. While it can affect any chicken at any age, most chickens are immune to coccidia by the time they're 14 weeks old. Your veterinarian can diagnose coccidiosis by looking for oocysts or protozoan eggs in a bird's fecal sample under a microscope.

         TREATMENT

You can treat coccidia outbreaks either with medication prescribed by your veterinarian or with anticoccidial medications available at feed stores and from poultry suppliers. Follow the medication's directions for treating chickens.

               PREVENTION

Many chick foods come pre-medicated to prevent coccidiosis outbreaks. When fed to chicks, it helps build the young chicks' immunity to the parasite by allowing some oocysts to make it through. You can prevent coccidiosis by eliminating wet litter and use an ammonia-type pine cleaner to disinfect the areas. Keeping the brooder (House) clean will keep your Chicken away from coccidia, also keep it under control.

REMEDY FOR FOWL POX IN POULTRY FARMING

The disease call fowl pox is a viral disease that comes under the heading of avian pox. Other strains of avian pox include pigeon pox and canary pox. Fowl pox affects domesticated birds like chickens and turkeys. The virus is slow moving, taking up to five weeks to run its course. It is contracted through direct and indirect contact with scratches and sores on the skin, or through the mucous membrane in the mouth and eyes.

How to Detect It fowl pox

The pox usually shows up as warty bumps on the exposed skin of the chicken: wattle, comb, and sometimes the feet. This is the most common strain called dry pox. Dry pox is rarely deadly. The lesions eventually dry up and scab over, then disappear. The other type of fowl pox is wet pox. It shows up as yellowish bumps or lesions in the mouth, nasal passages and sometimes eyes. These present more possibility of death because they can sometimes get large enough to pose a threat to the bird's ability to breathe. If both types of pox are present in the same chicken, the mortality rate is higher.

What You Can Do to treat fowl pox ?

While there is no treatment or cure for fowl pox, there are some things you can do to lower the risks to your flock. Prevention is the best medicine, of course. Vaccines are inexpensive and fairly easy to administer. Remove a couple of feathers from the wing web area and press the vaccine into the skin with a specially made "stabber." Check a few days later for a scabbed over bump. This means the vaccine took. Since parasites like mosquitoes, lice and mites help spread the virus, keep standing water to a minimum and check your flock often for signs of infestation. If some of your chickens already show signs of the pox, vaccinate all that have no signs immediately to stop the spread. For birds suffering from the virus, you may want to swab the sores with iodine. According to Peter Brown at the First State Veterinary Supply site, this has been shown to help shorten the duration of the symptoms. You can also add antibiotics and vitamins to the water to keep the birds in general good health while they fight the virus.
You can also get fowl pox drug from near by veterinary store or where poultry drug are available.

DID BROILER LAY EGG ? EGG LAYING FREQUENCY IN BROILERS HEN.

  Broiler chickens is hybrid breed and grow rapidly, reaching full growth by the time they are 8 to 12 weeks old. The chickens are a hybrid breed known as a Cornish cross, which grown with larger than normal breasts and legs. If you don't watch their weight, chickens may grow too heavy to stand on their legs and have difficulty reproducing. Egg production decreases with obesity, but even at optimal weights, broilers lay eggs far less frequently than other breeds.

LAYING IN BROILERS
Broiler chicken breeds raised for their eggs lay about 250 eggs per year. They begin laying at 5 to 6 months old when the days lengthen in the springtime and stop when days grow short in winter. Broiler chickens lay fewer eggs than other breeds, usually about 140 per year. The heavy hens are awkward and often break eggs when getting up off the nest.

Maximizing Production
If you want to produce the next generation of chicks, you'll need to keep your broilers on a strict diet to prevent obesity, which makes it difficult for the rooster to fertilize the hen's eggs. If eggs for your table is what you're after, consider slower-growing heavy breeds such as Orpingtons, Wyandottes or Rhode Island Reds. Although they'll take a few weeks more to raise to full size, you'll benefit with an increase in egg production of more than 100 per bird over the course of just one laying year.

10 WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ON CHICKEN FEED

The current state of mass food production has make us to realizes things like milk, eggs, and grains cost much less than they actually do or should.

For example: Even though we have our own milk cow, our milk technically costs me more than it would to simply buy a gallon at the grocery store.

The good news is saving money isn’t the primary reason we’ve chosen to own a cow. For us, it’s really about the quality of the product; our milk is fresh, beyond organic, and wonderfully raw. Not to mention owning a cow just plain makes me happy, so it’s a quality of life thing for us as well

Chickens and eggs fall into the same category. While it depends on feed prices in your area, I’m still going to venture to say if you are looking for “frugal” eggs, you’ll probably be better off to buy eggs from the store. But, that’s not the reason most of us keep chickens, right? We love the bright yellow yolks, the satisfaction of watching the hens peck around the yard, and all that comes with chicken-ownership.

THESE ARE 10 WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ON CHICKEN FEED
1.Mix your own feed. I say this with a wee bit of hesitation, since depending on your situation, it may actually be MORE expensive to mix your own feed… However, I do suggest finding a recipe you like (all my homemade chicken feed recipes are in my Natural Homestead book), and then shopping around with local feed stores to see how much it would cost for them to mix it for you. Also, don’t forget to check with the local farmers in your area. Sometimes they’ll have older grains sitting around that aren’t fit for human use, but would be fabulous for your flock.

2. Buy feed in bulk. I buy everything in bulk, including my chicken feed. Often feed stores will give you a cut if you purchase a pallet of feed, rather than just a bag or two. Another trick is to split a large order with a friend. My one caveat is this: chicken feed which has been ground/processed/cracked, rapidly looses nutrition as it sits. It’s probably not a good idea to purchase a year’s supply at a time, unless you are using a recipe that calls for whole grains–they are much more shelf-stable.

3. Ferment your chicken feed. Fermenting your chicken feed greatly increases nutrition, and decreases the amount they eat. The same sprouting.

4.  Free range as much as possible. I realize this isn’t possible for everyone, but if you can, allow your chickens to roam around your yard. Not only will this greatly supplement their diet, it can also help to control bug populations, and keeps them from becoming bored. Plus, there is something so soothing about watching chickens scratch around your front porch.

5. Bring the yard to the flock, if the flock can’t roam the yard. When my hens must stay confined to their pen in the summer months (usually because they are destroying my almost-ripe tomatoes), I like to pick large handfuls of weeds or grass and toss them over the chicken-run fence. The girls definitely enjoy rummaging around in the green matter. I also like to take a bucket to the garden with me when I weed, and I collect all the weeds in the bucket and transport them to the flock as well. (Although I don’t have near as many weeds as I used to, thanks to my deep-mulching adventures!)

6. Ask for leftover vegetable and fruit scraps at the grocery store. Not all stores will allow this, but ask if you can have the wilted lettuce, squishy tomatoes, and bruised apples. Some folks also collect stale bread items from bakeries, but I personally avoid this. Many of the bread items sold in stores like donuts, breads, rolls, or muffins are made with heavily processed ingredients and additives. They might be okay for the occasional treat, but they aren’t something I’d recommend feeding on a regular basis– just as humans shouldn’t eat them as the bulk of their diet.

7.  Grow duckweed. I haven’t tried growing my own duckweed yet, but I’m totally intrigued! Duckweed is a high protein plant that can be fed to a variety of animals, including chickens. If you’re a duckweed grower, please leave a comment and share your wisdom!

8. Raise soldier grubs. As tough as I like to think I am, I must confess I’m still not quite ready to tackle the whole concept of raising grubs/larvae for my birds. Do I think it’s incredibly smart? YES. Do I think it’s a fabulous way to create low-cost, high-protein feed? YES. Do I want to get up-close-and personal with maggots? Eh, not quite yet. If you’re braver than me, my chicken-keeping idol, Harvey Ussery, has a chapter in his book (affiliate link) devoted entirely to cultivating soldier grubs.

9. Offer leftover milk and whey. If you own dairy goats, cows, or sheep, you are familiar with the feeling of drowning in milk. When you’re floating in milk and have made all the homemade yogurt and mozzarella cheese you can handle, consider sharing your excess with your chickens. Leftover milk and whey are full of protein and most flocks will enjoy the treat. For an extra boost of probiotic nutrition, clabber your raw milk by allowing it to sit out at room temperature for several days until it begins to thicken. (Don’t attempt this with pasteurized milk– you will not have the same results.

10. Save kitchen scraps for your flock. I keep a small bucket on my kitchen counter at all times and continually toss in bits of leftover bread, celery ends, carrot peelings, watermelon rinds, and more. It’s a feeding frenzy when I show up at the coop. My chickens have even been known to chase me down in the yard when they see me carrying any sort of white bucket. It’s insanely satisfying to watch your birds turn kitchen waste into orange-yolked eggs.

GUATEMALA TO ANNOUNCES RELOCATION OF ITS EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM

Guatemala has decided to follow USA decision its announcing plans to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv.

Following a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, the President of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, announced his decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem.

“We talked about the excellent relations we have had as nations since Guatemala supported the creation of the State of Israel,” the president said in a Facebook post, stressing that one of the most relevant issues “was the return of the Guatemalan Embassy to Jerusalem.”

“I inform you that I have given instructions to the Chancellor to initiate the respective coordination” to move the embassy, Morales said in his brief post, without stating whether or not the country recognizes Jerusalem as the state capital.

The Central American country was one of just nine states to support the US decision during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) vote this week. On Thursday, the UNGA overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution condemning Donald Trump’s declaration to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and called on member states not to move their diplomatic missions to the Holy City. The non-binding UNGA resolution was backed by 128 states, while 35 countries abstained. Guatemala, Honduras, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Togo, the US and Israel voted in favor of the US decision. The UNGA vote followed the US veto of a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution Monday. All other UNSC members voted in favor of a motion to rescind President Donald Trump’s decision.