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  1. #1
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Am I overthinking this?

    We had problems with a couple of groups of our chickens. Two of them were very aggressive in a way I have never seen before. We removed the aggressors. The others have recovered and everyone is laying again. My husband wants to design a couple of small "runabouts" (small coops that I can easily move around) so that the birds can be outside and prepare the ground for gardening. At the moment, the two violent ones are in separate large dog crates in the basement so they don't try to kill anyone else and don't freeze to death since they aren't social at all. Frankly they're happier being more or less alone which I have never seen in a bird before. Very strange.

    In the meantime though, I realized that I really want midget white turkeys. I miss turkey eggs and have been looking at this breed for years. They are only available as straight runs which means that the birds aren't sexed and I could get anywhere from six toms to six hens or anything in between.

    This is a completely unnecessary exercise but for the fact that I want turkey eggs. They really are better than chicken eggs. I recently read a book about eggs and they say as much as well. In my opinion, turkey eggs are THE egg to eat. I'm concerned however that one of the reasons I want to do this is because we lost Argos and Fran and Nikki is not in a place for us to get another dog.

    I'm feeling pretty good about indulging myself and just getting the birds but sometimes I think I would do it because I'm just trying to keep myself busy.

    Is it normal to feel like you're not quite capable of making good decisions about taking care of those for whom you're responsible under these circumstances? I mean, I know I can take care of turkeys. It's not like there's a learning curve there and these aren't meat birds so shouldn't be prone to the same kinds of issues. My husband and I have been over the situations with our dogs over and over again and really can't think of anything we could have done significantly better. Not enough to save them at any rate. But I'm hesitating on this and I never hesitate. Like I don't have the right to have some fun by getting these birds. I just feel so smacked down.

    They aren't available until starting in April but I should reserve them soon. Any thoughts?

  2. #2
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    I think you should get the birds.

    You have the space. You have the housing...or will when hubby builds something special. You know what to do. You want the eggs.

    Trying to keep busy? I think you're already there, so....

    Besides, I love your turkey stories.

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Is it possible to have free run chickens? I wonder if the aggressive two would change if they had more freedom?
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  6. #4
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    Is it possible to have free run chickens? I wonder if the aggressive two would change if they had more freedom?
    They do need to be confined in one way or another if for no other reason than that we have a resident hawk that has great aim and even came after me once. Our housing is good. The coops can be moved regularly so they get new ground. I was really surprised about the aggression situation since there were four birds in a coop that could easily house twelve. That batch was just 50% nasty which is not great statistically. Definitely a breeding issue.

  7. #5
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SunDance View Post
    I think you should get the birds.

    You have the space. You have the housing...or will when hubby builds something special. You know what to do. You want the eggs.

    Trying to keep busy? I think you're already there, so....

    Besides, I love your turkey stories.
    My husband said to go for it too. Thanks.

 



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