Black Turkey

Black Turkeys Are Great Birds, For Pets And Egg Production

We got 12 of these buggers from Cackle in 2012 as poults, and I raised 2 to adulthood. They are now pets as much as my dog! My hen is an EXCELLENT egg layer! In the early spring, she will lay an egg every day, then as the summer comes on, she lays every other day. Right now (its almost October) she's giving me an egg every day and a half to two days. Their eggs are delicious, too! I haven't had anything weird in my eggs (like, you know how chickens are weird about laying eggs when they first start? Some are small, some have weird shells, double yolks, ect), when she started laying she was a pro! *That whole statement about the eggs might apply to any turkey, though, I'm not sure.

My tom is VERY calm and always treats my hen like the princess she is! He's calm around me, hubby, dogs, cats, he just wants all of our attention! He spent all of his summer molting and I have a whole BOX of these beautiful turkey feathers. If you like feathers for painting, I recommend these. The solid black makes paint really stand out. And if you use feathers for crafts, the sheen is a wonderful touch to any project! The tips of his feathers have a rainbow effect going on (like the back of a CD in the sunlight), especially his covert feathers. His wing feathers have a shiney green barring thing going on, really striking!

I am keeping them to breed, and they do it very well. I incubated 15 of their eggs this May and 7 hatched (this was my first year) and their babies are doing great. They are very VERY friendly and curious when they're under a month old (will roost on you and everything!) then they get a little flighty (maybe unruly is the right word? They don't want anything to do with you!) and then after 3 months or so they come back around and won't give you ANY space. Mine don't roost on me anymore at this point (although my hen will up on things I'm working on... much like a cat).

They seem to grow a bit slower than the other turkeys I have (standard bronze) and are picky about certain foods. One day, they'll really like something, then the next day, they hate it. But they are wonderful at finding their own food in the grass (my adults don't eat a whole lot of feed in the middle of summer).

These turks are incredible in the winter. They hunker down on a high roost and only come down first thing in the morning for some feed and water. Then they go back up. They just went "dormant". Nobody got frostbite or even cold. I should also mention that I keep my turks in an old horse barn... its a bit drafty and there's no heat, but they're out of the elements.

I think my tom (year and a half old) weighs about 25-30 lbs. My hen is pretty big, too, I think she'd be right around 20 lbs (she's not too stocky, she is tall and everything). I forget what the butchered weight of a 6 month old is... but we did butcher a bunch last November. They were delicious!!

I have two black jennies, Drogon and Balerion the Black Dread. At least one is laying, and she started much younger than I had expected. Eggs are super tasty (it's a turkey thing). They're both the largest heritage turkey hens I've ever seen. Wonderful dispositions--neither mean nor doormats, they're more than able to fend for themselves without being bullies to smaller birds. Very curious but not jerks about it. Love treats and people, and they follow me around like dogs wihtout being pushy about attention. They have wonderful survival instincts and range well. Neither has ever been sick. Feathers are lovely and great for crafts or just to look at. Many turkeys hens I've had can get really loud, but these girls make very little noise.