replacement Tom being shipped from MN to Mass- problems to expect?

[Cape Cod Chicky]

Hi all,
I am having a nearly grown tom shipped to me from quite a distance, from Minnesota to Massachusetts. Anyone have any experiences shipping grown birds that they want to share? Any tips? Warnings? I have a lovely girlfriend waiting for him who I hope will become quite fond of him right away- she has been the only turkey on our place since a few days prior to Thanksgiving. Should I isolate the tom? Our place is very small (we have a 1/2 acre) and I do not have the luxury of lots of predator safe buildings, I could put him in a crate until she is used to him I guess, but quarantining is not a practical option. We had originally purchased a pair but the Tom had been lamed by mishandling via the person I bought them from; she picked him up, a mature bird, by his feet and let all of his weight fall on one leg when she failed to support him! When he could not tread His hen she got pretty miffed at him and they both seemed very frustrated. We waited months for him to improve but his injuries proved permanently disabling so poor Hop-a-long was Thanksgiving dinner. Probably a blessing in disguise because now we will have a tom from Duane Urch's line instead of a hatchery quality bird. Any suggestions regarding how to make his transition to our homestead easier will be greatly appreciated. Our hen is a good one- laid more than 46 eggs from the end of June until she quit in October sometime, had to break her up from setting on 3 separate occasions, she is super hardy, and she has good shape and color to boot. I will try to post pictures in the next week or so.
Thanks
Sandi

 

[ColbyNTX]

Frozen turkey????

Yes, you should keep him away from all your birds for at least a week. He will also have to be penned for a month before you even think about free ranging him or he will be 10-17 to MN!

 

[mommyofthreewithchicks]

Quote:
Actually we are having such a warm winter, that I don't think anything is really frozen! 50 today

. In January

bad new is that since we aren't frozen we have mud here on the farm, which means my boys 5 and 6 are in it constantly

Congrats on the Tom!

 

[Cape Cod Chicky]

Quote:
I have moved the turkey hen in with my chickens so he can have her coop to himself for a week, he will be able tohear them and it is not what I would consider far enough away from the others to be truly quarenteened, but it is the best I can do. I do have a mostly fenced yard, and will probably use my poultry netting to create a separate pen for him. I also plan on clipping a wing to keep him from going over the 6 foot fence- I will have someone help me with the clipping this time, last time I clipped a wing no sooner was it clipped than the bird raked it across my face hard enough to leave bloody scratches! Anything special I should feed him or give him in his water? I already plan on giving him some probiotics for the first week or so to help him adapt faster to his new home. Since he is coming from a big farm I am going under the assumption that he has not been handled much, and once he settles in I will be visiting him often with treats, probably dried meal-worms and shelled sunflower seeds since they generally go over well with the birds I already have.

Thanks for any advice!
Sandi

 

[redhen]

I wouldnt ship live animals in the winter time..

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Hi Sandi! Welcome to BYC!!!

Bryan