Should I worry? Turkeys gone with wild ones...

[spook]

That is interesting, but I still have not seen them in 6 days. None of the neighbors have seen anything. We have Fox, Mt.Lions, Coyotes, raccoons, mink, fisher, martins, and god only knows what else for preditors up in these woods. A lot of brush down from past logging and boggy areas from natural springs and run off.
Really no hope. But, pdpatch, thank you for explaining that process. It may come in handy some day.


walkswithdog, thank you, that is very interesting and thanks for that bit of info ! Interesting.

Also, in my area, back many, many, years ago a farmer here, 1/2 mile from me, had a bull get loose. It was 6 months later when it was spotted making eye contact with someones heifer. So there are a lot of little areas to "get lost" in. I'd love to hear that they were found, but no luck so far.
I appreciate your kind words and support.

 

[farrier!]

We had wild turkeys at our farm. Maybe more like feral turkeys. You could often get within 15 feet of them. If/when one was killed you knew it. Feathers everywhere. So.....unless you have found lots and lots of feathers I would not give up hope on your birds.

 

[spook]

Thanks farrier, it would be nice, but I believe the coyotes are eating feathers and all, probably not a huge amount but there are acres that I'll never be able to cover. I have all neighbors on alert, but these guys were free range and do stand a great chance to survive. Then again, possibly they went south to find their flock- we've all heard of stranger things!

 

[firedove]

This is less than encouraging! I just brought home my first tom, a Royal Palm, and I don't have a good pen built just yet so he is living in a carrier. Will he have to be in there until we can finally get the pen built or is there some way I can let him out without him taking off. To be fair we don't usually see wild turkeys in our area, just once actually last fall but DH scared them off when he tried to shoot one with his bow (yes they were in season and he did have a valid bow hunting licence) They haven't been back since, but if they do decide to stroll through will my tom be gone with the wind? With no other flock options will he stick with my chickens?

 

[spook]

Boy, I don't know. You don't have a hen turkey? It was suggested to get 2 hens to give him a sense of "flock" or he may walk off to find someone, beat your windows to death or the reflection in the shine to your auto while pecking at it poofed out strutting.
Make sure your turkey has food for about 3 weeks in the same spot, that way he knows where to return.
Clip his wings, bond with him - you are his flock, and have him come to a yellow bucket each time you go out and bang it with your hand. Feel like a fool...nodda, my chickens will come running from the furthest corner if they see or hear that pail, because I use it as a food bribe and that is the one motivational thing they have.
Now, you can go to Walmart, pick up some inexpensive plastic fencing- like $10 a roll of 3' high fence.
Place stakes in a circle, attach fencing and then a bird/berry net to hang over the top, clip with clothes pins. If you have an area that is high, say cut the top off a tree and drape netting over it, then you can build a roost.
He will need to be taken in at night, but should be happier with a bit of room to move.
These are only suggestions. My two would not go through the bird netting, but as breeding season came, they were restless and ready to go take care of business.
Good luck to you, I had actually thought about tethering them out with a cord around their ankles, wish I had.

 

[firedove]

Getting this tom was a snap decision at the Chichester NH chicken swap on Saturday. He was just so pretty and my friends insisted I should take him home. I love him, we named him Bruiser, he is calm and very handsome. I fitted Bruiser with a large dog harness today, like some people do with their chickens. It fits him well and he doesn't seem to object much to guidance with it. Tomorrow I will try him on the leash. If it works out I will just take him out on the leash for a few hours every day for now. Who knows, maybe I can tether him with it eventually, like a dog. Put it somewhere where he can find cover if necessary and let him range around that way for awhile when I'm home. For now though I'll just see how he does on the leash.

 

[spook]

That is a great idea, I had the thought at question on tethering them out, I'll be eager to hear what your thoughts are after putting him on a leash.
What breed is he?

 

[Plain_View_Farm]

The neighbors already think were a bit "Strange" with all our menagerie.
I can just hear it if they saw us "Walking the Turkey"
I'll be interested in reading how that works out though.

Hope ya good luck,
David

 

[firedove]

Bruiser is a Royal Palm, probably about 1 year old. I took him out on the leash today. He liked walking around and didn't much like being leashed but he didn't throw a fit. He did come with me, with some protest, when I needed to bring him back in. He mostly seemed scared when he was out. I know he is scared of the chickens, when he did finally screw up the courage to go check them out they all ran from him. Poor guy stood there peeping at them sadly, like "come back, please?" For such a big guy he sure is a wimp

He did totally respect the leash when he couldn't go out any farther. He would just strain against it for a second and then he would just walk another direction. Really I think it was quite successful. I will walk him again tomorrow and see how he does. I'm hoping it won't be as cold and rainy tomorrow, I felt about as warm as an icicle by the time I got back into the house. I hope Bruiser is warm enough, it's so raw out there! I have a blanket over the top and three sides of his crate but it isn't a heavy blanket. He is protected from the wet by the run in shed that the crate is in, but I still worry!

 

[Struttn1]

A crate is no place to be keeping a grown turkey day after day. You need to either build an adequate pen for the bird or find someone who does have the facilities to house him and let them take him.