I'm afraid of my turkeys.

[lengel]

Any minute now, they'll be bigger than I am. I put up an outdoor roost using a 2x3 and it bent so badly in the middle that I'm pretty sure it will break soon from their body weight - and only one uses it at a time. When they fly off of it, I run away because their wing spans are so great.

I'm not the only one who flees either. One of my dogs was looking for a place to do her business yesterday and ran up to the turkey enclosure. All three of them took flight and now my dog is traumatized for life. I think she thought she was being attacked by dinosaurs.

How big can they get? We're looking at another two months before butchering them and I'm pretty sure that they've topped 20 lbs a pop already!

 

[Blisschick]

They're probably not quite as heavy as you think, but yes, their feathers make them look fairly large and imposing. All my cats and at least three of my dogs avoid them, since the turkeys will let them know when they're a bit too close. My little dog especially thinks he'll be eaten alive! Don't worry about them hurting you though, unless you have a tom that's acting aggressive. They're curious and friendly and worse than a room full of 3 year olds when it comes to being nosey and into everything.

For a roost that will hold them, buy yourself three landscaping timbers. Sink two of them into the ground about 4 ft. apart and 2-4 ft. deep, and use the third as a cross bar. It will hold them nicely and you won't have to worry about it breaking.

 

[silkiechicken]

I had broad breasted bronze. Lazy lazy suckers... 40 lbs and they hit the table at 5 months old. Never knew that they had so much power till I took them to butcher... they just sat around most of the time and the silkies stood on their backs for a better view.

I miss them, they really are sweet once you get to know them. Curious animals for sure!

 

[Blisschick]

Ya, speaking of power...if you plan on butchering them yourself, try to secure the wings. My husband ended up with a knot on his head where he was smacked by a wing. He said he had no idea that a turkey could knock you out! He said they're not your average chicken!

 

[the1much]

Quote:
hahahahaaaa,,,oh my gosh

hahahaa
reminds me when i got my peafowl.i thought i was getting babies,, got 2 year olds.:| the guy i got them from brought them to me,, he stuck them in my chicken coop till i got their coop ready,,, that first day i had to "grab em" and move them

:| ,, "he" wasnt so bad,, a little strong, but didnt struggle much ( i had his head covered),her on the other hand

man,, i had black and blues for weeks

 

[smom1976]

I watched a special on turkeys on "dirtiest Jobs" oh my.. the toms were hillarious..

I had a room full of kids but I think that they said that they would get to 65 lbs..

that is big.. they were saying that they cant even naturally mate because they have bread their breasts soo big that they cant get to a female..

so they suck the semen out of them..

then take it to the ladies barn and inseminate them.. OH MY GOODNESS.. what a process.. EWW!!!

But first.. the ladies were soo much louder and talked all the time in the hens house.. brings a whole new meaning to talking in the hen house.. LOL

The toms ... oh how funny all at once they would all gobble.. and move their heads.. i couldnt stop laughing.. I did see a turkey with a problem with its eye... pecked maybe?? DK

 

[the1much]

ugggss,, i saw that last night,,,im never having more then 20 turkeys,, or worrying bout their "fertility",,hahaha

 

[silkiechicken]

As long as you aren't raising the broad breasted meat types, the turkey's will do all the work. The double breasted meaties though... well, if you can get them to live to maturity without other problems, you gotta take over nature's work.

I secured wings by putting the birds into a feed bag. Barely fit into the 50lb sack, and one flapped so hard it tore the bag!

 

[the1much]

grab by the feet and hang em in the air

 

[Blisschick]

I secured wings by putting the birds into a feed bag. Barely fit into the 50lb sack, and one flapped so hard it tore the bag!

DUH! That thought never even occured to me. The Dog Chow comes in those plastic tarp bags now, and that would work perfect. My husband thanks you in advance, since we'll be putting three down next month.

grab by the feet and hang em in the air

LOL That's what got him nearly cold-cocked last time! I had to hold the wings (once I was able to catch them) while he held onto the feet. It wasn't pretty. He got pretty beat up on the arms and knuckles, too. He swears he still has a blue spot on one.