Turken Chickens - Any Experience With?

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The Turken, Churkey or Naked Neck Chicken (no relation to Turkeys!)

OK - So I get that this is not everyone's image of what a chicken 'should' look like, but I've been doing a lot of research on this breed and think that it might be an excellent fit for Phoenix.  They have about half the feathers of a regular chicken and no feathers on most of the head, neck and vent area.  This would allow them to efficiently shed heat and be cooler in the summer than a fully feathered bird. The surprise is that they also do well in cold climates and would handle our winters with no problems.

They are 'good' layers, won't keep up with a RIR or anything but the reports are between 2 - 4 large light brown eggs per bird per week, that is quite acceptable to me as I'm not a production egg house.  I'm thinking that the trade off between the 'prettiness' and super high egg production for summer comfort would be worth it for my backyard flock's happiness and health.  They are reported to be very hardy, disease resistant and quite (whatever "quite" means for a chicken!)

The BYC Forum describes them to be super sweet, docile and good at handling being 'cooped up'.  They are heavier birds, so unlike Leghorns, they shouldn't go flying over fences.  Their lightly feathered heavy bodies make them a good meat bird choice - as they are easier to pluck.  With all the benefits for our super hot summers, I'm just wondering if the only reason these chickens aren't more popular is their looks... are there any of you out there with personal experience with these birds?  I'd appreciate your thoughts...

 

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  • I have one Naked Neck as pictured above.  She is at the top of the "pecking order."  She is not aggressive but she is not docile either.  I can hold her but she is not happy about it when I do.  I've had her over a year and a half.  She hardly lays eggs anymore but it could just be the weather and her age.  She is the first to seek out a nice sunny spot and warm her little body.  I have not had any problems with her related to cold or heat.  Her eggs are rather larger than my RIR, when the Naked Neck does lay them.  They are low volume layers so if you are not interested in being a "production egg house" then they are perfect.  I hear they are good eating when it is time to butcher them, if you are interested in butchering them.  She grazes in the yard and barely takes to flight ever. 

    The best thing about her is that because her neck is void of feathers her neck movements are seemingly more pronounced and she can be quite entertaining to watch. 

     

    • Did you get her as a chick, or was she an older bird when you adopted her?  If she is only a year and a half old, that seems very young to have essentially stopped laying altogether!

    • She was about 5-6 months old when I got her...she is closer or past 2 years old.

       

    • Interesting, so how many eggs would you estimate that she lays in a week (maybe right now in the middle of winter is a bad time to be determining this)?  From your description it seems at the low end of the spectrum of maybe two?  At her peak of laying was it different and did it vary during the summer that you can recall?

    • At this point in the weather she is only laying about 1 egg/week.  I agree with you that this is a bad time to be determining this.  At her peak she laid about 3/week.  In the summer it was about 2/week for a period of 2 weeks.  She is not a reliable layer.  She is a bit more vocal than the rest of the ladies.  

      In her coop she is paired up with a RIR who lays almost every day. 

      Keep in mind this is only one example. 

       

    • It sounds like your NN is too busy ruling the roost to bother with laying eggs!  I'll be curious if anyone who has multiples of NN or even a whole flock of them has had a different experience.  I was snooping around the BYCF and it seems that generally the breed does 2 - 4 eggs per week so your experiences are about right.  Maybe she's moulting now and that's contributing to the current production drop... I'll keep your experiences in mind.  Thanks for your input!

    • She already molted.  Her new feathers are very soft to the touch.  Yes, she probably is too busy ruling the roost...

      Good luck.

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