My little gal going to have wild visitors?

[JustHenny]

I have a little poult that I think may be a female. And I started to wonder... if she is free ranging will she have wild male turkey visitors? We have some in the area. Is that safe? Any chance she'll accept one and give me grand turkeys? It may be far-fetched but I just started thinking about it cause I heard one call the other night. Thanks for any input!

 

[ivan3]

If your turk imprints on you & your property, thoroughly she might be `intrigued' but probably won't get involved. Allowing this sort of indiscriminate breeding is not a good idea (particularly as touches potential for disease transmission). Our first jennies saw a lot of the Wilds but retreated to the back deck when they would get too close:

 

[JustHenny]

Oh my gosh! Those Toms are so close. I think its funny because I don't even know if my Bronze turkey, named Mushroom (children), even knows she's a turkey. We got three initially but two did not make it. They were two days old, same as the chicks when we got them all. The turkey was a surprise purchase. My daughter wouldn't leave, quite simply, without some. So I caved, but only had one area setup. So everyone went in together. And, being that she is the only one, I don't know if she realizes she is different or what. People told me she would be aggressive and pluck, but she is like a big sis to the littler chicks. They climb on her and snuggle when it's chilly. Who knows when she finishes growing if she'll act like a turkey! lol. But i did wonder about it being safe to be near the wild ones, just in case. Seems like it wouldn't be a great idea, however I'm new to this whole thing.

 

[jaj121159]

If she does get close to wild turkeys the jakes and toms shouldn't hurt her, but may want to breed her. She could be attacked by a wild hen during the spring breeding season. After wild poults are hatched, turkeys live in flocks. The males stick together and the hens and poults stick together. In the spring most of these groups break up. Yearlings will hang out in mixed sex flocks for a while.