Chicken poop

[TITANSFAN2104]

BTW… waterfowl are carrying and spreading the diseases that are directly affecting turkeys and commercial poultry farms.
Commercial poultry are virtually disease free. The immune system of a wild Turkey is far superior and more resistant than a 42 day old broiler and anything they could pass along in their litter.

Also… most litter is stacked and goes thru several intense heats before being spread that kills most any bacteria and pathogens that might be in the litter.

Yep most dont know it has to be composted for a pretty good while before they do anything with it and all the dead ones are supposed to be buried if any large number. My Brother in law had 16 barns up in burkesville KY from 1998 up until he recently sold them in the last 5 years or so. He used to spread it on all our places and i kill the heck out of turkeys and have for years!!

 

[Creek bottoms]

We'll get differing opinions on the subject. I've never seen a study tying turkey declines to chicken houses. There are those who believe that to be true, however. I did read on the NWTF website that bird flu did not affect wild turkeys. I certainly hate to see it affect chicken and turkey houses. Frankly, it wouldn't bother me if bird flu thinned out the raptor population.

One thing we can all agree on, predators have to be eliminated.

 

[GreeneGriz]

We'll get differing opinions on the subject. I've never seen a study tying turkey declines to chicken houses. There are those who believe that to be true, however. I did read on the NWTF website that bird flu did not affect wild turkeys. I certainly hate to see it affect chicken and turkey houses. Frankly, it wouldn't bother me if bird flu thinned out the raptor population.

One thing we can all agree on, predators have to be eliminated.

It does affect wild turkeys. There have been wild turkeys found dead that were positive right in our own state. Avian influenza aka "Bird Flu" have decimated entire farms of commercial turkey. The only bird known to not be affected by bird flu is Pigeons. And as rapidly as it is mutating, it is just a matter of time before they probably are affected.

 

[megalomaniac]

We'll get differing opinions on the subject. I've never seen a study tying turkey declines to chicken houses. There are those who believe that to be true, however. I did read on the NWTF website that bird flu did not affect wild turkeys. I certainly hate to see it affect chicken and turkey houses. Frankly, it wouldn't bother me if bird flu thinned out the raptor population.

One thing we can all agree on, predators have to be eliminated.

Avian influenza ABSOLUTELY will kill the snot out of turkeys. Remember when butterballs got up to over $3 per pound before Thanksgiving? That was because of avian influenza.

 

[Creek bottoms]

Avian influenza ABSOLUTELY will kill the snot out of turkeys. Remember when butterballs got up to over $3 per pound before Thanksgiving? That was because of avian influenza.

That was tame birds. Hopefully, the wild ones are much more resistant.

 

[BamaHudson]

Have to side with GreeneGriz here. In South AL chicken sheit is just about all they fertilize with and that's been one of the turkey hunting hotbeds as far back as anyone can remember.

Already been mentioned but the predators have become a massive massive problem. Never seen so many coyotes in my life. Fella started trapping for coons on some property he leased me for turkey season and got over 80 coons in a year on 250 acres.

We all got to make it a point to intentionally kill some predators. Great way to kill time between seasons

 

[GreeneGriz]

That was tame birds. Hopefully, the wild ones are much more resistant.

They're not.
It's been found in several states now. Including some positive for low path AI in Tennessee.

Bird Flu Discovered in Wild Turkeys for First Time Ever

Wildlife managers across the country are wondering what’s next after a deadly strain of bird flu was discovered in wild turkey flocks for the first time ever. “Highly pathogenic avian influenza” (HPAI), caused by a virus known as H5N1, has been sweeping the continent since it first hit Canadian...

www.themeateater.com

 

[Creek bottoms]

I read several similar articles on it earlier. It seems like it's being downplayed, for whatever reason, among wild turkeys.

 

[Rockhound]

Did you know that only 4-5 years ago that the state of Tennessee started regulating the chicken manure so that they couldn't spread it straight from the barn to the field? Because whether it was "supposed" to go through a heat cycle before hand or not, it was being spread immediately after the barn was pushed out.

 

[GreeneGriz]

Did you know that only 4-5 years ago that the state of Tennessee started regulating the chicken manure so that they couldn't spread it straight from the barn to the field? Because whether it was "supposed" to go through a heat cycle before hand or not, it was being spread immediately after the barn was pushed out.

I've grown chickens and worked in the industry all my life and never heard of that law and I'm a dues paying member of the Tennessee Poultry Association and attended every single meeting and law making session and round table discussion that happened.
You're probably referring to CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) permits that the USDA required anyone feeding animals of any kind in a concentrated area to keep record of who and how much manure they sold if it left their property.
All litter , goes thru a heat whether it is removed from the houses or not. It heats naturally. The more it is moved and piled the more heats it goes thru.
Most growers windrow their litter and let it go thru heats between growouts because it basically pasteurizes the litter and kills any pathogens that might be in the litter.
BTW, the Trump administration ended the unlawful and unconstitutional and unjust CAFO permit regulations that the Obama administration enacted. It cost farmers thousands of dollars each year just to file the paperwork.

 

[AlabamaSwamper]

Nowhere I hunt in both states are near any waterfowl.

But within 5 years of chicken litter being spread from all the new chicken houses in pastures the population was almost gone.

We had just as many predators when we had lots of turkeys. Better find someone else to preach that one to. Actually probably had more predators 20 years ago.

But the state is handcuffed in saying anything. I get it. Politics as usual.

 

[Creek bottoms]

Spreading chicken litter in fields has nothing to do with turkey declines. They've seen declines in areas where zero commercial turkey farms even exist.
The decline in turkey numbers has everything to do with an explosion in predator numbers and weather during nesting and the spread of avian influenza by migrating waterfowl.
I live in an area where chicken litter is a hot commodity. I sell over $40,000 of it a year and the areas I hunt use it on their fields, and have for 20+ years.
Turkey numbers are as high or higher than they've ever been. My familys farm in middle Tennessee uses Commercial fertilize and ZERO chicken litter and the turkey numbers were so low there from 2018-2021 that we didn't even hunt them on our farm during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

$40k a year for selling chicken sh!t. I said follow the $$. Hard to get an unbiased opinion from GreeneGriz! He's posting a fine new rifle too! He's towing the company line, but I ain't buying!

 

[GreeneGriz]

$40k a year for selling chicken sh!t. I said follow the $$. Hard to get an unbiased opinion from GreeneGriz! He's posting a fine new rifle too! He's towing the company line, but I ain't buying!

That's still a drop in the bucket to what it costs to spread commercial fertilizer that has so many Nefertiti side effects to animals and humans…
But yeah… ignore the facts and "follow the money". Lol

 

[GreeneGriz]

$40k a year for selling chicken sh!t. I said follow the $$. Hard to get an unbiased opinion from GreeneGriz! He's posting a fine new rifle too! He's towing the company line, but I ain't buying!

You have a problem with how I spend my money? Lol sounds more like jealousy. I guarandamntee I work harder by 9am most days than you do all week. My utility bills a month are more than most people pay in a couple years.
But if you want to believe pasteurized chicken litter fertilizing fields …. Like it's been down for decades upon decades….. is killing turkeys…. Well.. you can't fix stupid.

 

[TheLBLman]

One thing we can all agree on, predators have to be eliminated.

IMO, the most significant increase in turkey predation of the past decade has come from raptors.
I don't know of any legal way to eliminate or reduce their numbers.

Not only are the raptor numbers continuing to increase, but they seem to be evolving to more specifically hunt turkey, and get more efficient at doing it. The Cooper's hawk is particularly preying on young poults, the red-tails are getting the larger poults, the owls are getting all ages, and the bald eagle is more specifically targeting strutting Toms (or any turkeys caught out in a field).

I also think the turkey population declines may have some other yet over-looked or unrecognized factors, just like the now near extinct bobwhite quail. Whatever is going on, it's not just about habitat, nesting success, and predation. I've seen too many very large acreage areas (many square miles) develop improved habitat for both quail and turkeys, yet their populations fail to thrive.

I also don't think the declines I've seen in Stewart Co have anything to do with chicken houses or chicken litter. Maybe in some areas, more chickens equates to more robust raptor populations?

 

[GreeneGriz]

$40k a year for selling chicken sh!t. I said follow the $$. Hard to get an unbiased opinion from GreeneGriz! He's posting a fine new rifle too! He's towing the company line, but I ain't buying!

$20 a ton. I don't spread it. They come and get it because it's a fraction of the price of commercial fertlizer.

 

[GreeneGriz]

IMO, the most significant increase in turkey predation of the past decade has come from raptors.
I don't know of any legal way to eliminate or reduce their numbers.

Not only are the raptor number continuing to increase, but they seem to be evolving to more specifically hunt turkey, and get more efficient at doing it. The Cooper's hawk is particularly preying on young poults, the red-tails are getting the larger poults, the owls are getting all ages, and the bald eagle is more specifically targeting strutting Toms (or any turkeys caught out in a field).

I also think the turkey population declines may have some other yet over-looked or unrecognized factors, just like the now near extinct bobwhite quail. Whatever is going on, it's not just about habitat, nesting success, and predation. I've seen too many very large acreage areas (many square miles) develop improved habitat for both quail and turkeys, yet their populations fail to thrive.

I also don't think the declines I've seen in Stewart Co have anything to do with chicken houses or chicken litter. Maybe in some areas, more chickens equates to more robust raptor populations?

Eagles and osprey have been hard on poults around here. I've seen eagles eating on fawns multiple times the last couple of springs.

 

[GreeneGriz]

IMO, the most significant increase in turkey predation of the past decade has come from raptors.
I don't know of any legal way to eliminate or reduce their numbers.

Not only are the raptor numbers continuing to increase, but they seem to be evolving to more specifically hunt turkey, and get more efficient at doing it. The Cooper's hawk is particularly preying on young poults, the red-tails are getting the larger poults, the owls are getting all ages, and the bald eagle is more specifically targeting strutting Toms (or any turkeys caught out in a field).

I also think the turkey population declines may have some other yet over-looked or unrecognized factors, just like the now near extinct bobwhite quail. Whatever is going on, it's not just about habitat, nesting success, and predation. I've seen too many very large acreage areas (many square miles) develop improved habitat for both quail and turkeys, yet their populations fail to thrive.

I also don't think the declines I've seen in Stewart Co have anything to do with chicken houses or chicken litter. Maybe in some areas, more chickens equates to more robust raptor populations?

When we started trapping hard for
Coyotes on our farms in middle Tennessee, the turkey population exploded. We've trapped/killed over 20 this winter on one farm. 12 were females.

 

[Creek bottoms]

You have a problem with how I spend my money? Lol sounds more like jealousy. I guarandamntee I work harder by 9am most days than you do all week. My utility bills a month are more than most people pay in a couple years.
But if you want to believe pasteurized chicken litter fertilizing fields …. Like it's been down for decades upon decades….. is killing turkeys…. Well.. you can't fix stupid.

Sounds like I touched a nerve. Not jealous, I have a number of custom guns.

It's apparent how you make a living and you're biased. I don't blame you. It doesn't mean you're right regarding wild turkeys.

 

[Creek bottoms]

As for raptors, well.........