did my turkey eat it ? and other turkey questions!!

[vtgirls]

I have five turkeys - 3 hens, 2 toms - 4 are narragansett, 1 tom is a bronze. They are all almost 4 months old. When I went out to fill the feeder it was on the ground in their run. The feeder is one of those 11 pound red and white plastic types. On the top it had a wing nut and hook that I would slip over another hook to hang it from. The wing nut and hook that were part of the feeder are GONE. I raked out all the hay and looked everywhere but can't find them. They were the hardware that came with the feeder (which is only about a month old). Could one of the turkeys have eaten it??? This happened a couple days back and everyone is acting healthy and eating and so on, but the wing nut and hook are NOWHERE to be found. What do you all think????

 

[Denninmi]

It's certainly possible. Animals do strange things. My chickens and ducks both ate pink Owens Corning foamboard insulation. I was sure they would die, but they didn't seem any worse for it. My sister's dog, a big black lab, was locked in its kennel and its collar went missing, a large leather collar with metal buckles. She couldn't figure out where it went, since the kennel was physically padlocked. Many months later, almost a year, the dog threw up the remnants of the collar.

The turkey, if it got a hold of the hardware, probably ate it on instinct, since instinct tells them to eat small rocks for their digestion. I guess as long as it acts healthy I wouldn't worry.

 

[ShadyHoller]

I've found all sorts of strange things in the gizzards of my meat birds, and this year (our first year for turkeys) was no different: in one bird, there were two rusty old nails (no longer sharp) and in the other bird, an old, worn piece of glass, about the size of a pea. Our soil doesn't have much naturally occurring stone that would make good grit, and we try to give them plenty of additional grit, but they are always improvising.

My limited experience is that your bird isn't in any trouble.

 

[valewife]

I occasionally find a shell casing from a 22 in the turkey poops deposited on the porch.
Guess they can't resist shiny metal objects.

 

[spook]

Never thought about checking the gizzards, lol! I was shocked when I saw a stone that was in a pile of poo. It was on the wooden ramp so we certainly knew where it came from.
So the nut from that feeder would not be unreasonable for them to use as a nice tasting shiny "treat"!

 

[vtgirls]

So perhaps I will find it later - one way or another! I plan to keep these birds through the spring but havent decided whether I should sell a pair or trio, or if all should head for the freezer. There is one hen who is clearly smarter than all the rest combined, shes starting to grow on us - trying to stay unattatched - no names ;-) They came from a local farm which has been in that family for many generations so are a good group for breeding as well. We hatched them out late in the summer- an odd time to start with turkeys here in VT.... I am planning to switch over to midget whites next year as they seem more managable so far as size for our small start up family farm. April puts them at 7 months old - seems like this would be a good time of year here (and age as well) for someone who might want to start up with turkeys. Any idea what they might go for?

 

[10ducks]

I lost that bolt off the top of one of my feeders, too! I'm not sure if a turkey ate it but I ran a rolling magnet over the whole barnyard and still didn't find it, so I'm not putting it past them. The manufacturer will send you a replacement, link below:

http://www.hotshotproducts.com/page/1/Product-Detail.jsp?groupId=620&prodId=59827

 

[vtgirls]

Thanks - I emailed them - thats the exact feeder!

 

[PattySh]

I am also in Vermont and just started with Turkeys this year. We have Narragansetts. I have 2 toms and 4 hens. I have that same feeder. I finally took it down after putting it back together MANY times including duct taping it! Now have a larger metal one. Found it handy to have a pole type magnet to retrieve such items. You just run it over the bedding. Has come in handy for lost screws, nails etc many times.

 

[vtgirls]

I see you also have goats, amongst others. How do you find them to be? We are considering them vs sheep but are undecided. How old are your turkeys? Do your toms spar at all? Ours sleep in what will be our laying coop next year - how are yours for the winter?