What kinds of treats do turkeys like?

[shinysatins]

My turkey poults were raised by their mom without a lot of human interaction for the first month, I think. I'm trying to get them to warm up to me by feeding treats, but so far they haven't been much interested in what I've offered. They have little interest in mealworms, for some reason. The only thing so far that I've found that they get really excited about are live craneflies, and it's hard to catch many of those.

What kinds of treats do your turkeys like?

Shiny

 

[emptynesterMom]

Hello Shiny,

My birds like a variety of treats: watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, tomatoes, any fruit a little too ripe, left over breakfast oatmeal, and a few sunflowerseeds. I don't give them potatoes, onions, or garlic, I've read that that is not good for them. I usually toss it in the compost pile and they love to go dumpster diving. lol. The younger birds learn from the older ones, when I show up they usually get something tastey.

 

[queenturkeygirl]

POPCORN, PIZZA, TOMATOES, LETTUCE, CHEESE (don't feed them too much of this though they get sick),
CLOVERS... it all depends on the birds really, i had one turkey who loved spiders and crickets but the other
loved pizza and tomatoes

 

[TamTurkey]

Live Crickets! Have fun watching them!

 

[Celie]

My DH brings them and all the birds LIVE CRICKETS and I have not gotten a single FIG this year, because the turkeys always beat me to them. I planted 2 fig trees last year and they are only 3 to 4 feet tall. It is hilarious to watch them jump up to snatch the ones at the top!

 

[loudraven]

I have reds, blacks, and wild they love mealworms. But it took a chicken to show them how to eat them. After reading the mealworm post on how to raise your own I'd try to teach them to eat them. To easy and low cost to buy at pet store.

 

[KrisH]

I like to take out a slice of bread. It's big enough for them to see from a distance,

so they come running

easy to split into multiple portions as small tidbits

, or when trying to make friends with a shy one strips you can hold so they can pull off a piece.

Easy for them to spot in grass, or dirt

or toss a good sized piece and stand back and watch a good game of TURKEY FLAG FOOTBALL

RobertH

 

[TamTurkey]

Hmmm I have to be very careful what I feed my BBW as they are for competition not pets. But unlike the chickens they have such fun personalities that I feel compelled to give them treats. Crickets they love (and good protein) the Kefir then just gobble up (good for probiotic/ digestion) the peanuts and BOSS they could care less bout won't eat them period! Haven't tried bread because of it's nutritional value. Green apples they like but I am limiting that due to the sweetness.

 

[Rustywreck]

It would probably be a much shorter to list the things they don't like. If was smaller than a car my turkeys would try to eat it. Once found a two in lag screw in the crop of one of them (had to hurt going down).
Mine seemed to be particularly fond of foam insulation. They will also eat peanuts whole - shell and all in one gulp.
Turkeys are so much fun to have around that I can't wait until spring.

 

[ivan3]

Since they were raised by mama I'd probably try the aforementioned crickets or put some meal worms in front of the hen when the poults are watching. Any old moth will do, so long as it is fluttering. Ours have all made up their minds within a month-and-a-half of hatching about what is acceptable/unacceptable. Ours will turn up their beaks at wheat bread (even after being cut up and turned into croutons in the oven), but we don't expect to find any Ritz crackers left in the roll if we forget and leave them on the deck. a whole peach causes the hens to crane their necks and whine, but canned peaches are the bomb. Favorites: large moving insects, grapes, watermelon, corn (they don't get much of that) and BOSS. When foraging the absolute favorite, after bugs, are the seed heads of the various grasses in the clearings, which they strip with a frightening efficiency. We finally had to fence the blackberry & raspberry vines this summer as they'll clean them out (also will set up nests under the prickliest canes and have to be moved).