wild turkeys.

dicky82

mallards, any new sightings of said turkeys or signs that they might be breeding in the wild?? or is it too early to tell? cheers

EPointer=Birdss

dicky82 wrote: »

mallards, any new sightings of said turkeys or signs that they might be breeding in the wild?? or is it too early to tell? cheers

I have a bronze one laying at the moment so If they are breeding it might be around now too.

Think Mallards will be generating alot of custom for some luckey ebayer!

jap gt

i read somewhere that wild turkeys wont lay until second year and cocks until third, dont know how true that is though

mallards

jap gt wrote: »

i read somewhere that wild turkeys wont lay until second year and cocks until third, dont know how true that is though

In the book I have it says the hen can breed the year after hatching but the Toms can't breed until the year after that. As for sightings, I was talking to a farmer who was talking to another farmer, who said that he seen what he thought were four buzzard together in the bottom corner of one of his fields but they looked bigger.

Here's hoping he got identity wrong. :rolleyes:

I picked up eight pheasants eggs last week so they should be laying soon.

Mallards

EPointer=Birdss

jap gt wrote: »

i read somewhere that wild turkeys wont lay until second year and cocks until third, dont know how true that is though

What kinda cocks you got up your way! The laying sort!! :eek::D

driller2

well lads were could you get some wild turkey hatching egg.i have being watching ebay but notting on it yet.what breed are the birds

jap gt

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

What kinda cocks you got up your way! The laying sort!! :eek::D

meant the cocks wouldnt breed until then

dicky82

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

What kinda cocks you got up your way! The laying sort!! :eek::D

ya got there before me. . .

as reguards the lucky ebayer, theres obviously a market here for them, a man with the facilities and the know how could have himself a nice little earner with the wild turkey eggs. . .

EPointer=Birdss

dicky82 wrote: »

ya got there before me. . .

as reguards the lucky ebayer, theres obviously a market here for them, a man with the facilities and the know how could have himself a nice little earner with the wild turkey eggs. . .

Hurry on Mallards or you'll have your eye wiped here

Def agree though. An idea for the game dealers to try...

mallards

Maybe in the future I will.

At the minute, it's handier to get half a dozen eggs sent over.

Mallards

EastTyrone

mallards wrote: »

Maybe in the future I will.

At the minute, it's handier to get half a dozen eggs sent over.

Mallards

how much were the eggs mallards and how hard wer they to raise?

mallards

About thirty bucks for half a dozen and they were no harder to raise than pheasants etc except you can't really keep them on ground that has chickens as they are very suceptable to a disease that some chickens carry and does no harm to them but it is lethal to turkeys. Can't remember the name of it off the top of my head.

Mallards

deerhunter1

jap gt wrote: »

i read somewhere that wild turkeys wont lay until second year and cocks until third, dont know how true that is though

I did not know cocks could lay:rolleyes:

jap gt

deerhunter1 wrote: »

I did not know cocks could lay:rolleyes:

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

What kinda cocks you got up your way! The laying sort!! :eek::D

jap gt wrote: »

meant the cocks wouldnt breed until then

been covered, i meant they couldnt breed

jap gt

eggs are starting to appear on ebay now, not sure if they will post here yet

EastTyrone

jap gt wrote: »

eggs are starting to appear on ebay now, not sure if they will post here yet

what breed of turkey are the wild ones?

mallards

They will be advertised as American turkeys but beware what your getting as a lot of the dark breeds are domestic broad breast types like the Norfolk. These are not worth a sh*te as the broad breasted birds cannot fly and have no street sense.

Mallards

terminator2

i see wild turkey eggs for sale on ebay

AppliedICT

I have bought the eggs a number of times and have specularily failed. I spoke to you Mallard before - I am in County Antrim. I think the best idea would be buy the birds. Here is an ad for them in England

Wild American Turkeys
2 groups: 3 hens (6 mths) + 1 unrelated stag (8 mths) ã‚â£100. 5 hens (8 mths) + 1 unrelated stag (6 mths) ã‚â£150. or all for ã‚â£220.
Price: £ 220

I think that is reasonable value.

Here in County Antrim we have lots of cover for them and the would soon breed here given a fair wind. Does anyone know if they are being bred here as going over to England makes the price prohibitive.

I am extremely keen to get these birds into Ireland. I feel that they would greatly enhance the countryside and provide great sport for us. If anyone wants to team up to buy birds let me know. I feel that is we got a lot of them and distribute them around the country in groups it would provide an insurance for us all. Every year we could exchange poults to ensure genetic divergence and if for any reason they died out we could repoopulate them among ourselves.

MacraPat

How are you guys planning on hunting them? In the states turkey hunting is usually undertaken in the autumn and spring from the confines of a hide with an elaborate collection of calls. A separate style of hunting altogether to Ireland's standard two dogs & two guns rough shooting parties.

Also on their breeding in the wild in Ireland. Will this really be a flyer?? (pardon the pun) When most of our native game bird species are dwindling due to habitat loss, lack of management and the changes in farming practices, how will the wild turkey do any different?

4gun

well lads I got 4 eastern wild turkeys last summer when they were 12 weeks old the cock are already covering the hens so I hoping that once they start laying in an other few weeks and that the hens will hatch naturally



it is very rare for released turkeys to sucessfully breed in the wild many such programs were tried in the U.S to reintroduce them back into their former habitat the only fully sucessful reintroduction was when captured wild birds were rereleased into such areas and it was also found that once wild birds were domesticated they stayed domesticated

Feidhlim Dignan

sorry to be a buzz kill and all, but is i legal to release a non native species into the wild?

MacraPat

Feidhlim Dignan wrote: »

sorry to be a buzz kill and all, but is i legal to release a non native species into the wild?

4gun

Feidhlim Dignan wrote: »

sorry to be a buzz kill and all, but is i legal to release a non native species into the wild?

turkeys have been in ireland for over a hundred years ..almost as lond as some of our deer species..at this stage they would almost be considered naturalised and by now we should have some "native"wild turkey but for some of the facts I mentioned in my ealier post the main reason why they cannot survive is because released domestic birds fail to imprint essential survival skills to their offspring

and for the record mine are kept as pets for want of a better term ..these guy are hardly worth plucking if you want turkeys for Christmas get a few whites or bronzes and fatten 'em up on rolled barley

AppliedICT

If you release them on your shoot and they escape what then?

Spunk84

when shooting them in the states we had to sneak under them roosting in the trees and wait for them to fly off the trees in the morning and let rip.

Also you would get them roaming around together in groups from 2 -60 birds at one time:D

pedroeibar1

Feidhlim Dignan wrote: »

sorry to be a buzz kill and all, but is i legal to release a non native species into the wild?

You are quite wrong. Turkeys are a native species. We have lots of them, they have well-known roosting places. One is in Kildare Street in Dublin 2. The native turkey is easily identified by its arrogant demeanour and some of the more independent specimens are noted for their headdress crest, sometimes approximating to a flat cap. However, due to recent events some species are now off the game list as they were routed on the last ‘open season’ day. Those in particular danger are two specific sub-species, the fainafalicus gallipavo and its Green-feathered cousin, verdicus gallipavo. The latter have been driven into hiding and are believed to have adapted to life underground.

Rs
P.

Double Barrel

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

You are quite wrong. Turkeys are a native species. We have lots of them, they have well-known roosting places. One is in Kildare Street in Dublin 2. The native turkey is easily identified by its arrogant demeanour and some of the more independent specimens are noted for their headdress crest, sometimes approximating to a flat cap. However, due to recent events some species are now off the game list as they were routed on the last ‘open season’ day. Those in particular danger are two specific sub-species, the fainafalicus gallipavo and its Green-feathered cousin, verdicus gallipavo. The latter have been driven into hiding and are believed to have adapted to life underground.

Rs
P.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:pac:

Double Barrel

Fainafalicus Gallipavo and its Green-feathered cousin, Verdicus Gallipavo are raucous birds, often heard crowing from the treetops in the early morning and far into the night on their favourite perches.
Not on the endangered list yet.

Hunter21

Commercial hen pheasants dont breed well in the wild in Ireland, are comercial hen turkeys the same? or do they have a better success rate at breeding in the wild?

mallards

The wild turkey and the pheasant are close cousins. From my experience they seem to do as well or as bad as released pheasants. I think if you get the vermin control right and have suitable habitat it is worthwhile releasing them, the same if it was a released pheasant. I don't think they would ever be as wild as the true wild birds of the U.S but if all went well it would be rather more like New Zealand where hunting of feral populations of wild turkeys is quite sucessful.


Mallards.

4gun

mallards wrote: »

The wild turkey and the pheasant are close cousins. From my experience they seem to do as well or as bad as released pheasants. I think if you get the vermin control right and have suitable habitat it is worthwhile releasing them, the same if it was a released pheasant. I don't think they would ever be as wild as the true wild birds of the U.S but if all went well it would be rather more like New Zealand where hunting of feral populations of wild turkeys is quite sucessful.


Mallards.

:eek: never knew they had feral turkeys in NZ...mine have taken to wandering all around the neighbourhood and even into the local school hope fully they will produce some chicks in a few months time

Grizzly 45

RE theTurkey disease.It is called if I remember right Blackleg fever[??] and also the other killer is Newcastle disease.
[Symptoms;
Turkeys start wearing flat caps,drinking Newcastle Brown ale,and going " Heyup Missus,trouble down th' Mill.Hoy up Grain feed here lad!Hadawa now!":D]
On a serious note,you have to keep turkeys away from ALL chickendom.That means everything.From feeders to ground to anything.Remember in AG college we were told to change footwear as well if you were going from dealing with the chickens to the turkeys.

By and large they should do well in Ireland,as apprently our terrain is better suited to them than to the pheasent,and they are supposedly a hardier bird.

TurkeyBob

Hi Chaps,

The disease you guys are talking about is "Blackhead".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackhead_disease

Doesn't seem to bother healthy chooks too much, but turkeys really seem to suffer from it. Might be something worth keeping in mind if planning to release turkeys in an area with a lot of other poultry stock.

I think releasing wild turkeys is a great idea though. I'm in the Malahide area, North of Dublin, place is swamped with pheasants...often caught hanging out beneath bird feeders. It would be great to see some fat turkeys strolling around with them!

FISMA

Lads,
In what counties are the turkeys in Ireland? I have yet to come across a Tom, Hen or Jake.

Only Irish turkey I have ever seen...

Spunk84

One question! When are you taking bookings to take out one of those big bad turkeys;) I have all my Turkey callers and camo from the states i want to use again LOL:cool:

AppliedICT

My first egg hatched today

dogsandguns

would turkeys sit tight if a dog were sett or point the bird

Grizzly 45

Bar retriving them,dogs are no use on the Turkeys.They are very wiley and alert birds,[bar in the mating season:)]and are long gone once a dog appears on the scene.Stalking or calling them into their courtship area is the main ways of hunting them.

FISMA

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Bar retriving them,dogs are no use on the Turkeys.They are very wiley and alert birds,[bar in the mating season:)]and are long gone once a dog appears on the scene.Stalking or calling them into their courtship area is the main ways of hunting them.

+1

Ever notice that turkey hunters have to wear camo and have to be good? If you ever wore blaze orange for turkeys you would probably hear them laughing at you from a 1000 yards.

They are well able to fly and will do so.

Spunk84

With turkey shooting you pretty much have to sit in the one spot from the crack of dawn. No dogs can be used cause they will spot them a mile away. They roost in the trees so getting to their roosting spot unnoticed is the key, they always send a scout turkey out of the trees to see if it's safe before they all come down. very smart birdies:D

Cammo wise, everything has to be cammo including the gun:D

EPointer=Birdss

I think Mallards is the only person placed to truely comment in this debate.
Only person I know hunting them in Ireland.

mallards

I hunted them over HPR's and although the dogs will point them, the turkeys don't hold well for point unless they are in quite dense cover. When I sent the dogs in the birds took readily to the air. As others have said, In the states they are hunted by either stalking or calling turkeys into you while wearing camo as they have very good eyesight. Some places use 'turkey dogs', where the dogs locate a flock of birds and they then run in and send the birds flying off in different directions. This makes it easier for the person to call single birds into them for a shot. In the UK I understand they make for a pretty good driven bird so they must flush well for the spaniels and labs you usually see on those shoots.
My ground is quite hilly so when they flushed they made very sporting shots but on flat bog or whatever, you won't get the best out of them.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHBmHnIhOME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBCpGQcKSBg


Mallards

fodda

http://www.independent.ie/farming/fowl-business-has-dept-on-high-alert-2667484.html

Are you all registered and legal in what you do?

Spunk84

fodda wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/farming/fowl-business-has-dept-on-high-alert-2667484.html

Are you all registered and legal in what you do?

Seriously :mad:

kildare.17hmr

Spunk84 wrote: »

Seriously :mad:

was just thinking the same thing myself:rolleyes:

cavan shooter

I was going to say that there are plenty of turkeys in Ireland without the need for releasing more, but on a more serious front are we not in the area of releasing a non native species.

Yep the argument in a way can be extended to the pheasant only thing is as an anglo norman he can be argued to be more Irish than the Irish

fodda

cavan shooter wrote: »

I was going to say that there are plenty of turkeys in Ireland without the need for releasing more, but on a more serious front are we not in the area of releasing a non native species.

Yep the argument in a way can be extended to the pheasant only thing is as an anglo norman he can be argued to be more Irish than the Irish

You may find your answer amongst the info on this page? Try under " What can you do?:"

http://invasives.biodiversityireland.ie/species-alerts/

cavan shooter

I see the wild boar is eradicated and they worry about muntjac, Turkey isnt mentioned..

fodda

cavan shooter wrote: »

I see the wild boar is eradicated and they worry about muntjac, Turkey isnt mentioned..

Read it again and you will see what is the "general" term.

cavan shooter

I get ya Fodda, I wasnt looking at the genrality actually looking at the lists to see what was on it.

There is up roar about the mink and the grey squirrel, the zebra mussle, muntajac etc the fact that its illegal to release any non native species is an argument hunters use to condemn the attack on the mink farm in Donegal.