new baby Turkeys

[Rainier]

I came home from work to find our recently vacated brooder was no longer vacant. We had four baby turkeys. One we found dead the next morning (13 hours after we bought them) but the other three were fine. We went back to our local feed store (where we brought them) and were told they normally do not replace them but they were trying to sale them off so they replaced the one we lost.

They are the funniest little things. When I'm sitting at the computer and call them two of them always run up to the door (we are using an old FN cage for now) and look over the top of the cardboard we have up to keep them from sticking their heads out, and look around. There latest achievement is they now run and flap their little wings back and forth across the brooder! They are a lot more messy than the chickens!

I also found out that they like documentaries, who knew

Every night about 30 minutes after we all go to bed and the house is quiet the two that come running when we talk to them start that insanely loud chirping. In desperate need of sleep I tried an experiment. Last night they listened to a documentary on Einstein! All was quiet until about 10 minutes after it stopped playing. Tonight I'll try a longer video .. maybe some homesteading documentary.

Of course the post is useless without pictures so here is one till I can take more!

 

[memphis]

Aww!! So cute! What breed are they?

 

[Rainier]

No idea lol

We got them from the local feed store ... the receipt says "white"

 

[ivan3]

Commercial Broad Breasted Whites. If you don't plan on eating them start throttling back on their food and increase their activity at three months.

 

[RandR]

Is the stuffed animal for them to cuddle with? I noticed turkeys imprinted on us waaay more than the chickens. Until 4-5 months they loudly called for us from their coop/run. This year I'm having a broody hen hatch them hoping they'll be a lot quieter.

 

[Rainier]

Yes it is a cuddle buddy ... we used a similar one for the chicks but used a beanie baby.

Commercial Broad Breasted Whites. If you don't plan on eating them start throttling back on their food and increase their activity at three months.

We thought about keeping them and seeing if we could get babies from them and then cull from that for the table but what I was finding is that they normally don't live long.

So if we take them off of the game bird feed and increase their activity we could possibly keep them and hatch out babies?

We only have 1/2 an acre so while they have room to roam it's not a lot.

 

[skerber123]

So sweet! Mine also cry like crazy at night! Ugh, I finally put a stuffed bear in there and they actually curl up in its arms...

 

[tiffmw10]

So sweet! Mine also cry like crazy at night! Ugh, I finally put a stuffed bear in there and they actually curl up in its arms...

What a cute idea! The chicks don't peck it apart?

 

[Rainier]

At first mine pecked at the eyes of the giraffe but now they don't. They just cuddle up and sleep with it. They also hop on it and climb on it when they are feeling adventurist.

 

[ivan3]

Yes it is a cuddle buddy ... we used a similar one for the chicks but used a beanie baby.

Commercial Broad Breasted Whites. If you don't plan on eating them start throttling back on their food and increase their activity at three months.

We thought about keeping them and seeing if we could get babies from them and then cull from that for the table but what I was finding is that they normally don't live long.

So if we take them off of the game bird feed and increase their activity we could possibly keep them and hatch out babies?

We only have 1/2 an acre so while they have room to roam it's not a lot.

Start introducing them to foods like melons/tomatoes and other low cal. items at a couple of months but don't cut the regular starter until 90 days and then drop back to Maintenance - but only let them have the feed bowl for an hour in the morning and evening. Let them hunt for grass and bugs. The hens can be bred to heritage toms, but some questionable traits might be passed on. Most of the time the long term problems that would appear if these varieties lived past their grow-out/slaughter schedule are of no concern (they're on the table before cardiac/skeletal difficulties reveal themselves).

Some members have apparently kept the Commercial toms alive for 5 yrs, one member said she had a BBB hen for eleven yrs - these are beyond best case lifespans, sad to say. Our brief experience was that they were way too `friendly' and prone to structural `collapse'.

Best of luck. With a bit of effort they'll be plodding around to keep up with you (turkeys just have to know what is going on). for some time.