Help With New Turkey Hen ~ Please View As Soon As Possible, Thank You

[Louieandthecrew]

Hello my friends of backyardchickens.com,
Some of you may remember me. I haven't been on here in a really long time but I always come here for my bird help! Trying to keep it short and sweet, I'll cut to the chase. Yesterday outside of our chicken coop we found that a turkey was running back and forth along the coop fence. We decided to open the gate for it and it ran inside and has been there as hard as we tried to get it out. We finally settled on keeping the bird and, if possible, I'd love to know more about it! All I know so far (or think, anyway) is that it's a wild turkey, not sure which breed, and it's a hen. That is, by the looks of it. Any other info would be AMAZING and very helpful. Here's a good picture of her:

We've decided on the name Kevin (though we think she's a girl) because of the great movie "Up" that we recently watched! Thanks for your time. Comments are greatly appreciated!

In addition: She is in the coop/run WITH our chickens right now and that's where she would be staying. Is this a problem?

 

[jasonm11]

If it is wild you do not want to keep it. It will be very flighty, may be illegal to keep (check with local fish and game dept) and it may cause a big issue if the rest of the flock came to stay. You don't want to get in the habit of interfering with nature. God equips them to live out in the woods, but once you start feeding them and changing their natural fear of people you wil make it harder for them to make it if they move to another area. Buy a few heritage birds in the spring and you will have a pet you can really fall in love with and one that will stay around for years. (they can live 10-15yrs or more)

 

[Louieandthecrew]

Thank you very much! This is all really good info. I'll talk to a couple of people needed about this and see what they have to say. So far she's been very "shy" I migr say, and the chickens really seem to be getting along with her very well. I'll tell you what we decide to do. In the mean time, any more needed info?

 

[ColbyNTX]

She looks like a wild hen with that dark body and the thin, long legs. Turkeys need a higher protien diet than chickens. I keep all of mine after they are 12 weeks on a 20% layer. They also like vegies and scraps.

 

[ivan3]

Can't tell, for sure, from photo as to variety. However, the behavior is very unusual for any `Wild' turkey. I'd check around with folks living within a mile, or so, to see if any of theirs are missing.

 

[Louieandthecrew]

Quote:
We don't know anyone that lives nearby that owns turkeys but I could still ask around.

We'll be calling the Wildlife "Warden" sometime to figure what we need to do with this hen.