I helped hatch a wild turkey successfully!

[littlepip]

a few weeks ago, I got a call from my friend who lives nearby. She called in a panic, saying there was a turkey nest in her yard, and all the eggs had hatched but one. The mother turkey had left, thinking that her last egg had died. I drove over to her house to see the situation. I knew I shouldn't interfere with nature, but even after waiting an hour, the egg had not made progress. We thought the chick had died, but just to be sure, we brought the egg inside and candled it. there was a chick, but no movement. I ended up opening up a hole in the egg, and to my suprise, it was alive! The chick was cold after not being sat on for nearly 2 days, so we held the egg under a heat lamp, hoping that the chick would gain enough energy and warmth to hatch out. hours passed with no luck. We made the decision to assist hatch. we made the hole big enough to see inside, and we were surprised at what we found! no wonder the chick was stuck! We saw the chick inside the egg, with his head twisted between his legs! there was no blood, so we continued to assist. he eventually wriggled out, weak from his inability to hatch. he couldn't stand even after a whole night passed, and we were afraid he wouldn't make it. luckily, with a little help, and some electrolyte servings, he was able to stand! it's been 3 weeks since I helped this little guy hatch, and he's alive and well! We ended up taking him outside and leaving him there to see if his mother came, but she didn't sadly. we have a pet turkey now! thanks for listening to my story!

 

[cmom]

What a lovely story. Good luck and have fun...

 

[N F C]

What a lucky little poult! Enjoy your new pet

 

[007Sean]

Congratulations! glad this story had a happy ending!

 

[drumstick diva]

I've read that turkeys can be as sociable as a dog, good luck with him.

 

[littlepip]

He is quite the troublemaker!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I've read that turkeys can be as sociable as a dog, good luck with him.

Also note, turkeys can be as mean as a dog also - but at least you can have it for supper if it turns mean. I had a friend who was a UPS driver - he had one guy on his route that had a guard turkey at his house. He hated delivering there because that turkey was not afraid to attack.

Good luck with your little buddy, lol!

On side note- it may be illegal to keep it without a wildlife permit.

 

[littlepip]

It's legal where I live. We plan on keeping him outside rather than in a coop. this way, he could leave when he gets older.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I'm glad you looked into that.
When I was living in Wyoming, the Game and Fish department was trying to pass a rule about raising turkeys. There was a landowner that had small flock of the Narragansett turkey that he was raising on his property. The Game and Fish thought they looked too much like the wild turkey of the area and therefore they should not be allowed in the state - so their wardens wouldn't be confused about the landowner feeding his domestic turkey VS a flock of wild turkeys eating in the guys yard...
The wardens kept stopping at the guys house and trying to ticket him for feeding wildlife.

 

[MountainGaurdian]

We have six mated sets of wild Canadian geese that use our farm as their breeding ground each spring. With all of our large ponds it is quite popular with them and we get see anywhere from about 15 to 40 babies born here each year. The parents always leave soon after the babies are born though as we have some really big large mouth bass in our largest pond that eat small birds and it is dangerous for the chicks.

About 4 years ago the parents and babies left and apparently one chick wasn't paying close attention and got left behind. My son John was walking out by the clubhouse by the largest pond and this little baby goose runs right up to him and lets him pick it up. We tried to find it's family but they were already gone so we set up a light and raised her. She did not grow as well as the wild geese she is only about 3/4 their size, she started spending her nights on our pond in the fall and learned how to fly quickly. The kids would go out and run with her and she would start flying after them, funny as heck watching her sail at first following the kids and ram right into their backs due to the speed difference. Soon she started flying off to neighboring ponds and came back with a mate. She was still quite friendly to us but he wouldn't come to close.

She and her mate have left for the winter and returned each spring every year since, she has also managed to teach the wild geese that our house and yard is a "safe" space so now we get to see them right next to house all of the time, especially cool with the babies. Pretty dang cool when you get the chance to be a small part of nature and make a lasting difference. We look forward to Gerty's return each spring.