Turkeys in Wayne Co

[volsrock]

There's places in the middle of no where and no chicken houses that are declining with turkeys. There's also places with 20 times the amount of chicken houses as Wayne county Tennessee that still have thriving turkeys.

If anything, bird flu would probably be transmitted by the wild birds to the domestic birds, not the other way around. Most of those farms have weekly monitoring systems in place to check for disease, not just bird flu either.

Blackhead would be the only concern I'd have with spreading litter into the fields. But if it goes through a heat cycle, blackhead is killed. Also most of not all of the chicken houses in Wayne county are on concrete floors. Blackhead is transmitted through the soil by earthworms, and earthworms cannot go through concrete. Some of the older farms in South Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi with dirt floors or more likely to get or spread blackhead.

If you want to blame ag for turkey decline, blame farmers that cut down every fence row and hedge row for minimal gains in crop production. Overgrown fields are now being converted to row crops. CRP is starting to lose ground and take a back seat. Im-proper timber management, clear cutting too much at one time on a given tract of land instead of checker-boarding. Controlled burns aren't done like they used to be.

I still believe it's many things compiled together that has caused the decline, with chicken houses being extremely low on that list.

It's habit loss, habitat management, rise of hogs and armidillos, unlucky consecutive years of wet April and May, and likely over harvest of mature gobblers too early in the breeding season.


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name me one county in tennesse with 20 times more chicken houses than Wayne Co please!!! otherwise ur argument is so invalid!!!!! And i want numbers to back it up since ur so sure of urself!!! otherwise???? where do u think the manure is spread. on the ground and i know for a fact its not going thru a heat. straight out of barn to GROUND!!!

 

[TheLBLman]

There's places in the middle of no where and no chicken houses that are declining with turkeys. There's also places with 20 times the amount of chicken houses as Wayne county Tennessee
that still have thriving turkeys.

name me one county in tennesse with 20 times more chicken houses than Wayne Co please!!! otherwise ur argument is so invalid!!!!!

Just noting that woodsman04 said "places" not counties.
I'd be surprised if any county had 20 times more chicken houses than another county.

But there are certainly vast areas without any chicken houses, without any chicken manure being spread,
that have experienced steep declines in turkey populations.

And there are also many places with lots of chicken houses around, and lots of turkeys around them.

Not saying the chicken houses and chicken manure aren't negatives for turkeys,
but something to do with chickens does not appear to be a major factor effecting turkey populations in most counties.
Maybe it is in Wayne County.

 

[woodsman04]

There's places in the middle of no where and no chicken houses that are declining with turkeys. There's also places with 20 times the amount of chicken houses as Wayne county Tennessee that still have thriving turkeys.

If anything, bird flu would probably be transmitted by the wild birds to the domestic birds, not the other way around. Most of those farms have weekly monitoring systems in place to check for disease, not just bird flu either.

Blackhead would be the only concern I'd have with spreading litter into the fields. But if it goes through a heat cycle, blackhead is killed. Also most of not all of the chicken houses in Wayne county are on concrete floors. Blackhead is transmitted through the soil by earthworms, and earthworms cannot go through concrete. Some of the older farms in South Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi with dirt floors or more likely to get or spread blackhead.

If you want to blame ag for turkey decline, blame farmers that cut down every fence row and hedge row for minimal gains in crop production. Overgrown fields are now being converted to row crops. CRP is starting to lose ground and take a back seat. Im-proper timber management, clear cutting too much at one time on a given tract of land instead of checker-boarding. Controlled burns aren't done like they used to be.

I still believe it's many things compiled together that has caused the decline, with chicken houses being extremely low on that list.

It's habit loss, habitat management, rise of hogs and armidillos, unlucky consecutive years of wet April and May, and likely over harvest of mature gobblers too early in the breeding season.


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name me one county in tennesse with 20 times more chicken houses than Wayne Co please!!! otherwise ur argument is so invalid!!!!! And i want numbers to back it up since ur so sure of urself!!! otherwise???? where do u think the manure is spread. on the ground and i know for a fact its not going thru a heat. straight out of barn to GROUND!!!

No reason in me wasting my time of trying to talk to you about it. You obviously are 100% convinced chicken houses have everything to do with it. And no science, facts, research, common sense, or circumstantial evidence will change your mind.


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[megalomaniac]

I think it's important to remember there have been two types of declines in different parts of TN. The first decline started in the mid 2000's and was very gradual. It corresponded with dramatic drop in poult recruitment. More adult birds were being predated or harvested than there were upcoming poults to replace the lost adults. The net result was a slow but steady decline. This decline affected many parts of the state. This same decline has begun to affect populations in other parts of the southeastern US in the past 5 years (Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri have all noted declines in populations).

The second decline was abrupt and occurred 5 or 6 years ago (I cannot recall exactly) in a localized area of extreme southern middle TN. This decline was so abrupt, I would almost expect it to be due to a virus (eg avian flu or a viral variant that was novel to turkeys but chickens had resistance). Histomoniasis from chicken litter would not spread as rapidly over such a large area and act so quickly. Now could this theoretical virus have originated from chickens in chicken houses? Certainly possible, but unlikely that it would have been spread through chicken manure, as most widespread lethal viruses are respiratory in nature and spread through aerosolization, not gastrointestinal.

 

[Rockhound]

I think it's important to remember there have been two types of declines in different parts of TN. The first decline started in the mid 2000's and was very gradual. It corresponded with dramatic drop in poult recruitment. More adult birds were being predated or harvested than there were upcoming poults to replace the lost adults. The net result was a slow but steady decline. This decline affected many parts of the state. This same decline has begun to affect populations in other parts of the southeastern US in the past 5 years (Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri have all noted declines in populations).

The second decline was abrupt and occurred 5 or 6 years ago (I cannot recall exactly) in a localized area of extreme southern middle TN. This decline was so abrupt, I would almost expect it to be due to a virus (eg avian flu or a viral variant that was novel to turkeys but chickens had resistance). Histomoniasis from chicken litter would not spread as rapidly over such a large area and act so quickly. Now could this theoretical virus have originated from chickens in chicken houses? Certainly possible, but unlikely that it would have been spread through chicken manure, as most widespread lethal viruses are respiratory in nature and spread through aerosolization, not gastrointestinal.

The abrupt decline happened around 2007 in extreme southern Lawrence county.

 

[MickThompson]

This thread could be titled "Turkeys in Tennessee"
as what has happened in Wayne County has also happened in other counties and parts of other counties.
If it hasn't happened yet where you hunt in your county, just wait, it will.

Ding ding ding........we have a winner!

Or titled "Turkeys in the Southeast"

 

[volsrock]

There's places in the middle of no where and no chicken houses that are declining with turkeys. There's also places with 20 times the amount of chicken houses as Wayne county Tennessee that still have thriving turkeys.

If anything, bird flu would probably be transmitted by the wild birds to the domestic birds, not the other way around. Most of those farms have weekly monitoring systems in place to check for disease, not just bird flu either.

Blackhead would be the only concern I'd have with spreading litter into the fields. But if it goes through a heat cycle, blackhead is killed. Also most of not all of the chicken houses in Wayne county are on concrete floors. Blackhead is transmitted through the soil by earthworms, and earthworms cannot go through concrete. Some of the older farms in South Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi with dirt floors or more likely to get or spread blackhead.

If you want to blame ag for turkey decline, blame farmers that cut down every fence row and hedge row for minimal gains in crop production. Overgrown fields are now being converted to row crops. CRP is starting to lose ground and take a back seat. Im-proper timber management, clear cutting too much at one time on a given tract of land instead of checker-boarding. Controlled burns aren't done like they used to be.

I still believe it's many things compiled together that has caused the decline, with chicken houses being extremely low on that list.

It's habit loss, habitat management, rise of hogs and armidillos, unlucky consecutive years of wet April and May, and likely over harvest of mature gobblers too early in the breeding season.


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name me one county in tennesse with 20 times more chicken houses than Wayne Co please!!! otherwise ur argument is so invalid!!!!! And i want numbers to back it up since ur so sure of urself!!! otherwise???? where do u think the manure is spread. on the ground and i know for a fact its not going thru a heat. straight out of barn to GROUND!!!

No reason in me wasting my time of trying to talk to you about it. You obviously are 100% convinced chicken houses have everything to do with it. And no science, facts, research, common sense, or circumstantial evidence will change your mind.




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You did not tell the location where their are 20 times more chicken houses than wayne co????? Again the manure is not going thru a heat!!! Unless its july when its spread straight from the house to the field!!!! I live here,see it all the time!!! All You are spouting is BS!!! Where is your "science,facts,research,COMMEN SENSE!! My circumstanial evidence is going from seeing over 100 turkeys flying off the roost to seeing 80 plus chicken houses in southern wayne co!!!! And 0 turkeys!!! i rest my case!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[woodsman04]

I think it's important to remember there have been two types of declines in different parts of TN. The first decline started in the mid 2000's and was very gradual. It corresponded with dramatic drop in poult recruitment. More adult birds were being predated or harvested than there were upcoming poults to replace the lost adults. The net result was a slow but steady decline. This decline affected many parts of the state. This same decline has begun to affect populations in other parts of the southeastern US in the past 5 years (Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri have all noted declines in populations).

The second decline was abrupt and occurred 5 or 6 years ago (I cannot recall exactly) in a localized area of extreme southern middle TN. This decline was so abrupt, I would almost expect it to be due to a virus (eg avian flu or a viral variant that was novel to turkeys but chickens had resistance). Histomoniasis from chicken litter would not spread as rapidly over such a large area and act so quickly. Now could this theoretical virus have originated from chickens in chicken houses? Certainly possible, but unlikely that it would have been spread through chicken manure, as most widespread lethal viruses are respiratory in nature and spread through aerosolization, not gastrointestinal.

The abrupt decline happened around 2007 in extreme southern Lawrence county.

From 2005-2007 was the birds to no birds where I roam in Lawrence, Giles, and Wayne's counties.

I think it has actually came up some in the last two or three years.


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[woodsman04]

There's places in the middle of no where and no chicken houses that are declining with turkeys. There's also places with 20 times the amount of chicken houses as Wayne county Tennessee that still have thriving turkeys.

If anything, bird flu would probably be transmitted by the wild birds to the domestic birds, not the other way around. Most of those farms have weekly monitoring systems in place to check for disease, not just bird flu either.

Blackhead would be the only concern I'd have with spreading litter into the fields. But if it goes through a heat cycle, blackhead is killed. Also most of not all of the chicken houses in Wayne county are on concrete floors. Blackhead is transmitted through the soil by earthworms, and earthworms cannot go through concrete. Some of the older farms in South Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi with dirt floors or more likely to get or spread blackhead.

If you want to blame ag for turkey decline, blame farmers that cut down every fence row and hedge row for minimal gains in crop production. Overgrown fields are now being converted to row crops. CRP is starting to lose ground and take a back seat. Im-proper timber management, clear cutting too much at one time on a given tract of land instead of checker-boarding. Controlled burns aren't done like they used to be.

I still believe it's many things compiled together that has caused the decline, with chicken houses being extremely low on that list.

It's habit loss, habitat management, rise of hogs and armidillos, unlucky consecutive years of wet April and May, and likely over harvest of mature gobblers too early in the breeding season.


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name me one county in tennesse with 20 times more chicken houses than Wayne Co please!!! otherwise ur argument is so invalid!!!!! And i want numbers to back it up since ur so sure of urself!!! otherwise???? where do u think the manure is spread. on the ground and i know for a fact its not going thru a heat. straight out of barn to GROUND!!!

No reason in me wasting my time of trying to talk to you about it. You obviously are 100% convinced chicken houses have everything to do with it. And no science, facts, research, common sense, or circumstantial evidence will change your mind.




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You did not tell the location where their are 20 times more chicken houses than wayne co????? Again the manure is not going thru a heat!!! Unless its july when its spread straight from the house to the field!!!! I live here,see it all the time!!! All You are spouting is BS!!! Where is your "science,facts,research,COMMEN SENSE!! My circumstanial evidence is going from seeing over 100 turkeys flying off the roost to seeing 80 plus chicken houses in southern wayne co!!!! And 0 turkeys!!! i rest my case!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rest it brotha, as I said no need in trying to change your opinion otherwise.


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[woodsman04]

Shelbyville and wartrace in Bedford have way more chicken houses than Wayne. Lewisburg in Marshall county has more than Wayne. North and east of Lynchburg in Moore.
The Tyson Shelbyville complex is huge, and there are multiple 10-12 mega house farms every where in that area. Wayne county will have several two house farms, a few four house farms, and a few single house farms.

As far as I know, that area in those counties of Tennessee has not seen the same decline you and I have seen in Wayne, Lawrence, and Giles.


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[Displaced_Vol]

[/quote]You did not tell the location where their are 20 times more chicken houses than wayne co????? Again the manure is not going thru a heat!!! Unless its july when its spread straight from the house to the field!!!! I live here,see it all the time!!! All You are spouting is BS!!! Where is your "science,facts,research,COMMEN SENSE!! My circumstanial evidence is going from seeing over 100 turkeys flying off the roost to seeing 80 plus chicken houses in southern wayne co!!!! And 0 turkeys!!! i rest my case!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/quote]

This is awesome.

For the record I'm buying what woodsman04 & LBLman are selling.

 

[volsrock]

Shelbyville and wartrace in Bedford have way more chicken houses than Wayne. Lewisburg in Marshall county has more than Wayne. North and east of Lynchburg in Moore.
The Tyson Shelbyville complex is huge, and there are multiple 10-12 mega house farms every where in that area. Wayne county will have several two house farms, a few four house farms, and a few single house farms.

As far as I know, that area in those counties of Tennessee has not seen the same decline you and I have seen in Wayne, Lawrence, and Giles.


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lets see. wayne co has approximately 80 chick houses. You said 20 times more!!!Does Bedford,Marshall or Moore county have 1600 chick houses !!! are they spreading manure directly on the ground!!! lets compare apples to apples please!!

 

[woodsman04]

Shelbyville and wartrace in Bedford have way more chicken houses than Wayne. Lewisburg in Marshall county has more than Wayne. North and east of Lynchburg in Moore.
The Tyson Shelbyville complex is huge, and there are multiple 10-12 mega house farms every where in that area. Wayne county will have several two house farms, a few four house farms, and a few single house farms.

As far as I know, that area in those counties of Tennessee has not seen the same decline you and I have seen in Wayne, Lawrence, and Giles.


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lets see. wayne co has approximately 80 chick houses. You said 20 times more!!!Does Bedford,Marshall or Moore county have 1600 chick houses !!! are they spreading manure directly on the ground!!! lets compare apples to apples please!!

They probably do have that many. Plus the company's in Wayne county either clean their house out once every 56-60 weeks raising 8,000-10,000 birds, some farms clean their litter out every 34-36 weeks raising 8,000-10,000 birds, and about a third of them clean it out every 20-22 weeks raising 8,000-10,000 pullets which are young birds that are usually in restricted feedings that don't produce much litter in the first place. These are probably two maybe some one house farms.

On the other hand up in Bedford county, one farmer can raise 100,000-150,000 broilers between 6-10 chicken houses, selling the chickens after 8 weeks, wind rowing the litter for a couple or three cycles before getting fresh shavings about five-seven times a year.

One, only one, of the chicken houses on those farms produce probably 40 tons of litter each year where the ones in Wayne county produce 16-20 tons of litter a year. Multiply the big 6-10 mega complex chicken houses and also the amount of litter produced then yes, you have more than 20 times of chicken.

 

[woodsman04]

It may be chickens killing the turkeys. I don't know for sure. If TWRA and UT did a good study and deemed it was the chicken would I be surprised? Somewhat, but I wouldn't be baffled or in complete denial either.

There's just too many other places in the southeast that have more chickens and have had more chickens for longer than us. Also, they have had and continue to have more turkeys than us. Just leads me to believe it ain't the chicken houses.


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[Tennrock]

No way Wayne has 80 houses. Where did you get that number?
I would say there would be 50 max. that's if you count the double houses as 2.

They are so big you have no problem counting them all on google earth.

Shelbyville and wartrace in Bedford have way more chicken houses than Wayne. Lewisburg in Marshall county has more than Wayne. North and east of Lynchburg in Moore.
The Tyson Shelbyville complex is huge, and there are multiple 10-12 mega house farms every where in that area. Wayne county will have several two house farms, a few four house farms, and a few single house farms.

As far as I know, that area in those counties of Tennessee has not seen the same decline you and I have seen in Wayne, Lawrence, and Giles.


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lets see. wayne co has approximately 80 chick houses. You said 20 times more!!!Does Bedford,Marshall or Moore county have 1600 chick houses !!! are they spreading manure directly on the ground!!! lets compare apples to apples please!!

 

[volsrock]

No way Wayne has 80 houses. Where did you get that number?
I would say there would be 50 max. that's if you count the double houses as 2.

They are so big you have no problem counting them all on google earth.

Shelbyville and wartrace in Bedford have way more chicken houses than Wayne. Lewisburg in Marshall county has more than Wayne. North and east of Lynchburg in Moore.
The Tyson Shelbyville complex is huge, and there are multiple 10-12 mega house farms every where in that area. Wayne county will have several two house farms, a few four house farms, and a few single house farms.

As far as I know, that area in those counties of Tennessee has not seen the same decline you and I have seen in Wayne, Lawrence, and Giles.




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lets see. wayne co has approximately 80 chick houses. You said 20 times more!!!Does Bedford,Marshall or Moore county have 1600 chick houses !!! are they spreading manure directly on the ground!!! lets compare apples to apples please!!

Count them them!!! You guys are the smart ones. Just tell me where the turkeys in sourh wayne county went!!

 

[Tennrock]

I wish I had the answer for you. I was just disputing the number you threw out there supporting your reason.

I am North of 64 but I saw the decline too. There are only 2 houses North of 64 in Wayne.

On the brighter side, I have been seeing more turkey this year than I have seen in the last 5 years.

No way Wayne has 80 houses. Where did you get that number?
I would say there would be 50 max. that's if you count the double houses as 2.

They are so big you have no problem counting them all on google earth.

lets see. wayne co has approximately 80 chick houses. You said 20 times more!!!Does Bedford,Marshall or Moore county have 1600 chick houses !!! are they spreading manure directly on the ground!!! lets compare apples to apples please!!

[/quote]

Count them them!!! You guys are the smart ones. Just tell me where the turkeys in sourh wayne county went!![/quote]

 

[volsrock]

Correct. two houses north of 64. they are on mink branch!!!! lots of turkeys north of 64 still. !!!! 98 % of chicken houses are south of 64 hwy!!! wish i could tell u when i have seen or had a turkey on cam south of 64 hwy!!!! btw. those numbers came directly out of a avagian chicken house employee!!! the main man that decides if u qualify for a house or not!!!

 

[volsrock]

nobody wants to play with this!!!!! if anyone can give me a better explanation. im all ears!!! in south wayne co. i really dont care what's happening in knoxville or memphis. hate to put it that way but it is what is!!!

 

[muddyboots]

Hardin county numbers are way down. No chicken farms here.