Wild turkeys are lean because they have quite a range they tend to travel to find food, water, mates, etc. I had an Eastern wild tom that was plump and big, I was told around 30 pounds but I never weighed him. He ate well and didnt move around as much as they have to do in the wild for food. When in captivity the better they eat the less lean they are.
It's not my poult, officer. I have no idea where it came from or how it got into my yard.
Could your wild tom still fly into trees at that size?
He never tried. I clipped his wing as a young jake to keep him in the backyard and he roosted in a shelter we fixed up for him. Best I can remember I kept his wing clipped when he molted. He took advantage of a downed fence when a tree fell on it and got outta dodge. We were eventually going to eat him but I never saw him again after that. He didnt stick around like a domestic turkey would. And we had Pyrenees that kept varmints off the property for the most part. But he went to the mountains. He may have been easy pray for a predator if he didn't get up in a tree to roost at night.
If the poult is bronze, it is not from your Slate hen.
@R2elk Not sure if you discussed this anywhere, but you said that you have a wild turkey hen who adopted into your flock, right? What do you do with the eggs/poults every year? Are you allowed to keep them or sell them?
