You said you kept them in your tractor, right? All 16 of them? I know their appetites go far beyond the grass. I have a tractor that is 4x8 that currently holds 2 Blue Andalusians until it gets too cold. How many do you think would be comfy enough in a tractor my size?
Also, do you feed them starter and then grower finisher? I really have no clue.
Sorry to take so long to back to you'all. My tractor is 8X10 and I can easily put 40-50 in there if I need to. In an 8X4 I would try maybe 10-15 first. Raise them and see what you think. You may be able to get that amount from or through your local farm store. I would like to raise some this fall; however, I don't have the freezer space. Maybe if I eat a few more rabbits..... to late, three of my 5 does have kindled.
So far I have 23 kits out of 24 born. Number 4 doe is making a nest and pulling hair as I type. One of my does only had 5, which is a big drop from her usual 10-12. I gave her two from another doe who had nine. They are growing very fast.
AAARRRGGGHHH! Stupid turkeys! I am beginning to think that heritage turkey raising is not for me. I bought four Bourbon Red poults back in May from a hatchery ($8 a piece) and got them up to two months and then they just died. Each of different causes, but still dead.
Then in late July I found a lady who grew Bourbons who had some that were at least four months old that she wanted $5 a piece for. I thought I had hit the jack pot and bought 8. There were 3 Jakes and 5 hens. They were excellent quality. One, a hen, got its head stuck in the fence and died. One, another hen, just lay down and died. Two, more hens of course, got attacked and their heads ate off today while I was at work. I had been letting them roam the yard during the day. We live in the middle of town with a large fence around the yard and predators have never been an issue. I wonder if I shouldn't sell the rest and try to make some money back out of them.
Turkeys, in general, are quite hard to raise. We lost about 5 this year and NONE of our eggs hatched. Yet last year we had a great outcome, seems to come in streaks.
Do you have a pen you can put them in? We have a variety of wild and some heritage and all are in pens. $5 for four months old is a great price, up here.
I vote you keep them, see if the hen hatches any out come next year, eat the extra toms
Probably will, I'm too stubborn (or dumb) to just give up. When my father found out I was trying to raise turkeys, he said "the only thing dumber than a turkey is the fool who tries to raise them."