Help! Stray Turkey, should I keep him? Pics added *

[dianneS]

I have had a stray tame turkey. A domestic eastern, hanging around my house for a few days. Someone dumped him apparently, and my fear is they may have gotten rid of him because he's aggressive.

I don't have any turkeys, and no real experience with them. My chickens are contained, not free-ranging at the moment and I'm not sure if I should let them out with this bird around?

This big guy has been making his rounds to all of the neighbors houses, sleeping on porches and in trees. I don't think he knows he's a bird, I think he thinks he's human! He's very drawn to people and gets a little too close for my comfort. He literally chased me in the house the other day and began circling the house like a shark! I couldn't go outside without him running after me. He chased the neighbors truck down the road the other day. He jumped up on our window sill last night at dusk and was looking in at us! He ended up roosting on our summer kitchen roof, and that is where he remains this morning.

What should I do with him? How destructive are turkeys? Will he tear up my gardens or landscape any more than chickens? Do I have to be concerned that he'll jump on our cars or anything like that? If he's not aggressive, he's welcome to stay around, but I know nothing about turkeys!

 

[dianneS]

Also, he's got a pecked bald patch on his chest and broken tail feathers???

I'm trying to figure out why he might have been dumped? I'm sure he's got issues if he was unwanted.

I can only guess that it might be 1. aggression 2. some sort of bad habit like feather picking 3. he was being beaten up by other roosters 4. all of the above??

 

[chooks4life]

If he's chasing people he's aggressive. That's a big no-no under any circumstances. Some turkeys have a compulsion to attack humans from behind, whereas others don't have a preference. Either way a good turkey will never attack a human.

Turkeys don't rip up yards, they are mainly browsers/grazers and eat a primarily green diet naturally. People restrict them and raise them on pellets but they do better with grass as the staple majority of their feeds.

An aggressive turkey will only breed more of the same. I would recommend you call someone to get rid of him or wait for a neighbor to turn him into food. A rooster can pack a mighty wallop into a single kick, a turkey tom can do many times that. That's a massive amount of force those drumsticks are capable of delivering. I wouldn't take the chance, not with adults and especially not with children.

EDIT: people don't usually dump aggro turkeys, they eat them. They're often too valuable to dump considering the costs that went into them; it's probable he's an escapee.

A photo would help, but the most likely reason that his chest is bare is that he was fenced off from other toms; most toms segregated within sight of one another will pace the mesh walls all day every day, displaying and gobbling at one another, and in the process scraping all feathers off their chests as they scrape them against the mesh.

The broken tail feathers could be due to moulting, being caged in a very small cage, or if he's not actually a he, because she was sitting to mate. Many hens sit on their tails and break half of the feathers off when inviting males. If it's a female the bare chest could be due to broodiness. Sounds like a male though.

Best wishes.

 

[dianneS]

Its a he for sure. He's strutting and gobbling and fanning what tail feathers he has. The ones in the very center of his tail are broken.

Great information. I thought he could possibly be an escapee.

He's been hanging around the neighbors for a long time and hasn't been aggressive with them. They told me if he gets too close to just shoo him away and he'll back down. He does, but then I don't let him get too close in the first place. Only once did I step outside the back door and allowed him to come up to me (he won't get this close to my husband). I put my hand out and tried to touch him, he didn't like that and hopped up into the air, but didn't kick at me. It was still scary though!

I don't know if he really "chased" me in the house. (That's what it felt like to me!) Or if he just got too close for my comfort and I took off, and he was somewhat close behind, but not running. He did chase the neighbors truck down the road at a full run, after they had stopped and talked to me about the new "neighborhood" turkey. (We don't really live in a neighborhood, we have a farm and all of the neighbors are several acres apart, so this guy has been traveling a lot).

Good to know that someone may not have dumped him after all.

I made it to the barn and back this morning, and this guy kept a safe distance. I think if we try to be-friend him and let him get too familiar, he might become a problem. He's not strutting and showing off as much today. For the first three days he was around, that is all he did.

Yesterday, I locked myself in my fenced gardens and he just strutted around the perimeter the whole time, showing off. I think he wants a flock, he seeks out noise, people and activity. He loves the neighbors John Deere Gator and gets all excited when it starts up!

Several people have offered to take him or turn him in to dinner, so that is always an option. But if he promises not to be a problem, he can stick around.

He doesn't bother my dogs or cats, has no interest in my chicken coop. Would my chickens be okay if I allowed them out to free range?

I'll try to get a photo of his bare chest.

Will he jump on our cars or anything like that?

 

[dianneS]

Here are some pics. Actually that looks like he probably was rubbing his chest against a fence. There is no way he picked his own feathers up under his own neck.



This is him strutting around for me outside our sunroom window. He looked like I hurt his feelings when I closed the door on his face and stayed inside!


And this is the crazy nut on our window sill last night at dusk! I think he was looking for a place to roost for the night and wanted to stay near us, so he jumped up there! I told him to get down, and he did. Then he roosted on our summer kitchen roof (its a low roof) and stayed there all night.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Could he be for anyone around you?

 

[dianneS]

I only know of one person around here that has poultry. I'm not sure if anyone has checked with him about this bird or not. I can ask him, or he'll see the turkey on his travels back and forth on our road since this bird just walks out into the road and makes cars stop for him!

 

[dianneS]

Well the big guy is all settled in and cozy on my roof for the night. He was good all day too, kept his distance and wasn't at all aggressive. I'm starting to like him.

 

[TurkenItUp209]

That is a wild jake. He has recently been "kicked out" of his flock because he is of breeding age in the breeding season. That is not what chain link or kennel rub looks like on a tom, that is fighting with other jakes or toms and losing. Wild birds in the suburbs can easily lose their fear of people. I'd call your local Fish and Game warden before you decide he's "yours" or you keeping him.

Just a humble turkey hunters opinion, same guy who has Narragansett's and sees wild birds every day.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Here are some pics. Actually that looks like he probably was rubbing his chest against a fence. There is no way he picked his own feathers up under his own neck. He looks kinda interesting. Human-centered, but not combative. Curious, looking for companionship? I hope you'll give him a chance, a home? And he'll certainly give you some new and interesting experiences I'm sure. This is him strutting around for me outside our sunroom window. He looked like I hurt his feelings when I closed the door on his face and stayed inside! And this is the crazy nut on our window sill last night at dusk! I think he was looking for a place to roost for the night and wanted to stay near us, so he jumped up there! I told him to get down, and he did. Then he roosted on our summer kitchen roof (its a low roof) and stayed there all night.