A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[duluthralphie]

For those of you saying your turkeys are not stupid, I would like to suggest you get some of my lines....

I was coming to the house from the barn, and I saw a young turkey take off running with something in it's mouth. It was large and looked like an old cigar.

Having no smokers here I wonder where it got that. The Race was on and on and on....

On about lap 19 they got close to me, and I saw the object of everyone's desire....It was a piece of dried dog turd......

Tell me again how smart your turkeys are so I can belittle mine some....

 

[rjohns39]

@LucyElle Have we gotten you good answers?

 

[R2elk]

I would stand it up against a door frame, Make it stand tall and push its head against the frame.....then take a jack knife and put a hash in the frame with the date and the turkeys name!

I prefer to use a stump and an axe.

 

[rjohns39]

Ralph, You're killing me... And not only do I love it, I need it...

 

[rjohns39]

I prefer to use a stump and an axe.

R2 what are your thoughts on @LucyElle bird?

 

[R2elk]

Thanks for the feedback! We have long considered getting a few chicken hens. Is it remotely possible to consider going the chicken route this way we have fresh eggs WHILE giving our Turkey friend some companionship? I read that chickens and turkeys can be together but I don't necessarily know the rules surrounding mixing the two... age/gender wise? If this turkey turns out to be a male, will there be aggression with any other pen mate (turkey or chicken)?

You really need to get it another turkey for a companion.

It might be too soon to tell but all the signs point to it being a hen. She has small caruncles,, a small snood, a "mohawk", slender legs and the indication that she is getting some mature feathers on her breast which have a light colored lower edge. These are all indications of a hen.

A lone tom turkey housed with chickens can be very harmful to the chickens once he matures and wants something to breed with.

 

[rjohns39]

Well folks, I think I've identified my predator and better yet, where it lives. Turns out we have a BIG FAT coon and a dozen or so babies hanging out in my next door neighbor's drain pipe and she and her kits (don't know the name of a baby coon) tried to attack our neighbor's dog yesterday in broad daylight about 10:00 AM. And they were coming down the road from my place. Now to devise a plan that won't alienate my neighbor...

 

[R2elk]

@duluthralphie I am still waiting on your genetics question. What did your turkeys produce that you don't think should be possible?

 

[LucyElle]

@LucyElle Have we gotten you good answers?

Hi, yes you all have been helpful. As I sit her staring at him, we are about 45 minutes from dusk and it is doing a lot of running around, calling. We have been involved with him all day in between reading online and trying to learn as much as possible and keeping my three dogs out of the back yard. Trying to decide if we can even make a pen and where exactly to do it. We bought plenty of chicken wire and made a temp pen, nice and big and with a wire roof but come dusk last night he freaked out. Clearly it wasn't tall enough for him. I really feel unprepared to care for this turkey right now. If I knew it was a girl, I would feel better. Having a tom scares me... but I know so little about turkeys that I am not even sure why or what is scaring me. My dogs, my neighbors... not to mention THE neighbor in question. I am so frustrated that he would bring creatures into this world that he wasnt prepared to care for and leave them defenseless to roam the neighborhood with little survival skills. I dont know what to do! I have young kids, we just bought a camper and have many trips booked. They are short few day trips, but won't having turkeys tether me to the house? I ultimately wanted chickens but barring this situation, I intended to wait. Eeek. My heart breaks for this creature and I'm totally stressing over this.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi, yes you all have been helpful. As I sit her staring at him, we are about 45 minutes from dusk and it is doing a lot of running around, calling. We have been involved with him all day in between reading online and trying to learn as much as possible and keeping my three dogs out of the back yard. Trying to decide if we can even make a pen and where exactly to do it. We bought plenty of chicken wire and made a temp pen, nice and big and with a wire roof but come dusk last night he freaked out. Clearly it wasn't tall enough for him. I really feel unprepared to care for this turkey right now. If I knew it was a girl, I would feel better. Having a tom scares me... but I know so little about turkeys that I am not even sure why or what is scaring me. My dogs, my neighbors... not to mention THE neighbor in question. I am so frustrated that he would bring creatures into this world that he wasnt prepared to care for and leave them defenseless to roam the neighborhood with little survival skills. I dont know what to do! I have young kids, we just bought a camper and have many trips booked. They are short few day trips, but won't having turkeys tether me to the house? I ultimately wanted chickens but barring this situation, I intended to wait. Eeek. My heart breaks for this creature and I'm totally stressing over this.

First bit of advice is to breath... You have options with your new poult... You can take it with you and setup a temp pen at your camp site. Or you can get a baby sitter. @memphis can tell you about that. You've done heroic thing. Just be sure it has water, shelter and food. and the rest will come naturally. First time it sits in your lap and coos, you'll melt like ice. I know you were not ready for the adventure to start yet--but you've graciously allowed it to start early. Relax and enjoy your new big feathered dog.