Deciding on Pet Turkeys

[the simple life]

I ordered some poults from a farm yesterday that has their own line of BB Whites, I am only getting them to have for the holidays and to stock my freezer.
Now I am trying to decide on a good pet type turkey.
I am looking at different heritage breeds but am not sure.
I had thought of the Bourbon Reds because if you end up with too many toms you can always put them in the freezer and I heard they taste better than alot of birds but I have seen a few comments where they are loud or fly over fences alot.
Also, I am assuming they have dark pin feathers which could be an issue on the holiday table.
I like the look of the Sweetgrass or Calicos but I do not know anything about them other than they don't breed true which is fine with me because I am not looking to keep more than a trio.
My biggest concern in choosing a breed is temperment and keeping them close to home, as in out of my neighbors' yard.
My fencing is the kind with the pointed pickets, is that something that will deter them from going over?
I had heard that they like to jump onto the fence before going over but I have also heard some will fly right over a 6 foot fence?
What say ye?

 

[houndit]

Quote:
Bourbon reds are not supposed to have dark pin feathers. That is part of why they are often preferred. Most of the heritage turkeys are fairly calm. I have White Hollands, bronze, Royal Palm/ Wild, and some that are mainly Bronze with some Narraganset mixed in. They have all been fairly friendly. Sometimes the Toms get a little aggressive as they get older. Most Toms I have are nice. That seems to go for most all turkeys. As for flying, all heritage turkeys can fly. A lot of them do not choose to fly. We had a old 20 pound tom who had never flown. One day a bunch of young turkeys decided to fly out of the yard. He lifted up after them and flew a ways. Some turkeys fly a lot and some fly none at all. It really depends on how much feed they have, how bad they want out, if they or wild or tame. Some friends of ours had a turkey. He stayed in a close to 4 foot high fence. He could have cleared it easily, but had no interest in flying out. The smaller turkeys like Royal Palms probably do fly a little more. They could fly over your fence if they wanted to. If you clipped there wing they could not. I have never clipped a turkeys wing, but I have clipped chicken, duck, and guinea wings frequently.

 

[the simple life]

Thanks so much for your input. That is good to know about the pin feathers on the Bourbons, that was the main reason I was hesitant to raise them for the table. I figure I can deal with them flying and everything else for the short amount of time they would be here if they are meant to go to the table but if I keep them for pets I want to make sure I am able to keep them safe.
Maybe they will stick around though, there is alot going on here in the way of other animals that may hold their interest and they will know where their food is.
As mentioned I could always clip their wings if it becomes a problem.