Ah, heck! Where's the lek?

[ivan3]

LEK: A gathering or congregating, as in sport; as many as fifty birds gathered together.



Just as the Prairie Chicken has its `Booming Grounds' so to do turkeys (wild and domestic) search out sites to meet up, so as to take the measure of one another's snoods and engage in neck-wrapping, knockdown dragouts to compete for the available hens. Unfortunately, this behavior rarely comports with `domestication'...

Our neighbors have turks. They are at a distance of ten acres to our east. Every so often, when the evening is quiet enough, our toms will gobble with their toms. However, their flock has recently decided to march down the road daily to our place and, `presto', spontaneous lek. What a pain. As our guys are only out of their run/pen when we're out most of the brouhaha is limited to trilling and fence charging. The following is is brief photographic essay of the activity. The Big Slate in the dog pen is recovering from having a chunk of caruncle torn off by an Osage Orange thorn (didn't want him getting picked at).

Here they come:

Visiting with our wounded Slate

Rubbing our tom's snoods in it

We thought they had taken off and let our guys out - little did we know (our Slate and Royal ganging up on the little Spanish). Soon seperated and repenned.

The neighbors have promised to lock their gate, but I'm reading up on `fast and loose' fish and propietary estoppel (might just claim them all).

 

[asher]

Oh wow!

But my aren't they beautiful?! All of them! *sigh*

 

[ivan3]

Yes, they are grand fellas! I'm more worried about their flock being rubbed out by cars or dogs on the way to and from than anything else. Also, just wanted to add, one has to time one's `grabbing' up fighting toms just so (have to wrap arms around folded wings) the last pic was taken waiting for my opportunity...

 

[cgjsmith]

Thats the funniest thing i've ever seen!! I can almost hear them snaping (you know west side story) Is that a hoop house I see in the back? do you leave it covered in plastic all year long? I think I might try that seperate run for the turkeys myself since my geese aren't being nice!!. Crstal

 

[vicki2x2]

Well, I seen a wild turkey Lek yesterday!! There were about 50, the toms were all puffed out, gobbling at each other. We stopped to watch for a while.

 

[12 Acres]

Ya know what? I really ENJOYED reading this and seeing those pictures! I think turkeys are (dare I say it?) beautiful! My favorite is the Royal Palm and your fellow looks so handsome. Thanks for sharing this, it made my morning!

I can't offer a suggestion for your quandary but I do hope it gets resolved soon.

 

[ivan3]

vicki2x2wrote:

Well, I seen a wild turkey Lek yesterday!! There were about 50, the toms were all puffed out, gobbling at each other. We stopped to watch for a while.

Have never seen that many, but we get pretty close some years. but they don't make a nuisance of themselves - though we've had Wild Eastern hens dive into the center of our toms (flirting?) from the Hickory trees.
Thanx for an excuse to post another pic!

cgjsmithwrote:

I can almost hear them snapping (you know west side story) Is that a hoop house I see in the back? do you leave it covered in plastic all year long? I think I might try that seperate run for the turkeys myself since my geese aren't being nice!!. Crstal

Crystal, another Bernstein fan, nice. The `containment' is an old chain link dog pen that I placed a couple of 2x4's across, a 2x6 running the length, covered by welded wire and tarps (had served primarily as turkey hen nesting site). Would have posted about your (hopefully just `goose-pronged') tom, but really don't have a clue (hope he does o.k.!).​

 

[Morgaine]

Those were great pictures, loved looking at them!

 

[MissPrissy]

Show me how your turkeys are housed pleased. I am searching for wishard bronze eggs. So far I have had no luck finding WB poults to raise for Thanksgiving this year.

 

[ivan3]

Missprissy, ah, ours our in a 7'x8' shed (on lockdown at night). Their run is surrounded by 6' 1"x2" welded wire fencing. This is primarily owing to their not being raised for anything/one eating them The requirements for a turkey pens (for `quick' turnaround, ahmen) is best elucidated in the ALBC turkey guide (plenty of low tech - perfectly excellent housing for meat birds):

http://www.albc-usa.org/downloads.html

runs and shed

Safe turkeys

And, yes, they return to their shed, on their own, every night (pretty much just have to close the door).

Good luck with the egg hunt! (one of my brothers lives in Oaxaca, Mexico and I'm trying to run down fertile Ocellated turkey eggs - very, tricky, that...)