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1. Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 21:51:33 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:
   This is the first year that we didn't get a bunch of turkey poults. I incubated a bunch of turkey eggs and only one hatched. She sat on eggs twice and all we have to show for it is a single chick[en].
   • white_male (white_male@poa.st)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 22:06:31 JST white_male

     in reply to
     @thatguyoverthere Went too easy on her.
   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 22:06:31 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to

     • white_male
     @white_male I think she may be reaching the end of her child rearing days. I've had her now for 6+ years. We actually got 2 chicks from this last brooding session (pathetic), but one of them stuck with an actual chicken for a mother. Most years she's had a nanny to give her a hand so really not much different other than she wasn't sitting on her own eggs and it's a really low turn out. We had a duck sitting on eggs at the same time, and she only hatched 4 (and lost 2). Earlier in the year she was rolling around the yard with 13 ducklings in tow.
   • givenup (givenup@poa.st)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 22:43:52 JST givenup

     in reply to

     • white_male
     @thatguyoverthere @white_male i have only read any of this information, so i dunno, but i heard ducks aren't so good of sitters, and old hens get broody still and wanna sit eggs
     Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: likes this.
   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 22:43:52 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to

     • white_male
     • givenup
     @givenup @white_male yeah usually we have a lower turnout with the ducks, but this little mallard did a really good job in the spring/early summer. She failed miserably the first time because she got greedy, but the second time she had a lot of ducklings and did a really good job taking care of most of them. 2 were killed somehow, but other than that she kept them all with her and did a really good job raising them. Because she would come up to me, her kids learned to trust me too which was nice. We ended up selling them eventually.
     
     As far as her continuing to brood, we've already agreed that she will live here until she dies of natural causes. She was our first turkey hen, and she has always been a bit special to me. She's also done an amazing job over the years raising some delicious turkeys for several family holidays which is all anyone can ever ask for from a turkey. We are looking to get a royal palm hen sometime soon because that's what our tom is, and if we had a pure heritage breed we might be able to make a little extra change on the poults that we don't need for our own freezer.
   • white_male (white_male@poa.st)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 22:43:55 JST white_male

     in reply to
     @thatguyoverthere Oh, she hit wall. ;]
     Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: likes this.
   • givenup (givenup@poa.st)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 22:52:26 JST givenup

     in reply to

     • white_male
     @thatguyoverthere @white_male i plan to keep spent hens, but i will slaughter excess roosters when i start breeding chickens, cuz spent hens will sitll sit eggs and take care of young evne if they can't lay, they also eat pests and make fertilizer, so i think it's all a fair trade.
     Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: likes this.
   • Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think: (thatguyoverthere@shitposter.club)'s status on Saturday, 26-Aug-2023 22:52:26 JST Disinformation Purveyor :verified_think:

     in reply to

     • white_male
     • givenup
     @givenup @white_male yeah you can't keep too many roosters around or they will abuse the ladies and each other. I can't keep all of my older hens because I have limits on how many birds I can actually have at one time, but I have a few that have been given a free pass. I also tend to lose a few to predators every year. Over the years we've had feral cats, raccoons, possums, hawks, and owls attack the chicken yard. Each time I get a little better and building up my defenses, but it's never perfect. Having a dog with them has been the best decision by far, but one year we had her inside and lost 4 adult ducks to an owl.