We finally got the turkey hut done and transfered the turkeys to it.
We have 5 Broad Breasted Turkeys who are about 3 months old now. The Turkey hut is a trampolene which was given to me and we removed the netting around the top and put wire around the bottom frame. It makes a perfect pen for them. We did put a tarp over the top, because it is not water proof. We used the netting that keeps kids from falling off as shade cloth on the west side. It can be moved daily for the turkeys to get fresh grass.
We think we have 3 toms and 2 hens, but still are not sure what is what with them. This is an expermental turkey project to see how it goes.
This little fella to the right is Earl. He is a yearling Jersey Bull calf. He was not in the best of conditions and was given to us. Not sure what to do with him, we brought him home for some good feed and see where his temperment was. Earl was a bottle baby calf raised for a pet to a little girl. He is very tame, but has grown up enough to be large enough to cause problems. His horns are a problem to and can cause damage to a person without meaning to.
The pictures show the sharp horns which may seem small, but are very sharp and can hurt one easily. The story we had about Earl was he butted the girl in play and knocked her down. Thank goodness she was not hurt, but the incident scared them. This calf should have been dehorned as a young calf and castrated when he was a month old, especally if he was to be kept as a pet.
I took him the Marion Clinic to Dr Doug Halbrook and he dehorned Earl. We plan on castrating him once he recovers from the dehorning and puts on a bit more weight.
Earl is not real happy in the photo, but he is safe now and we do not need to worry about him hurting us by rubbing his head on us and catching a horn on us.
We will keep fly spray on him and watch the wounds closely for any infection or problems. He is eatting well and is a bit sore. We had wormed him a couple of days ago and gave him a cattle 7 in one vaccine with tetnus. Now it is just a matter of time for him to heal up and get to know he is in a good home.We think he is a mini Jersey becasue he is so small and once he is made into a steer, we will offer him for sale to a petting zoo or some type of simular home. He is very friendly and leads and loves to be scatched. His cute factor is pretty strong and there is no way I could butcher the little guy. We will find him a nice pet home.
