tethering a turkey leg does this work

[Chicken man76]

I have a eastern wild turkey I purchased from a guy about a yr ago he could not keep it anymore do to where he lived.i felt sorry for her She was always caged I live in the country with 5 across I have her in a bigger pen with my Bourbon red im going to breed them to make my own breed for myself... My main question im afraid she will bolt for the woods. I know she trusts me she will eat from my hand and let me pet her but if I just let her out to free range with my male and the chickens will she stay...Has anyone every tried to tether a turkey leg to let them out and free range. Could she hurt herself I mean they do it to other birds. Is it worth trying im still debating any help would be nice. Shes just to tame to set totally free now she would surely be killed

 

[mrclif]

Doubt she'd go very far.

 

[Haida]

I don't have any experience with wild turkeys... but... my turkeys won't wander away alone. Even if all they have are chickens for company, they stay with the chickens. That being said, I NEVER let my turkeys out unsupervised (we have neighbors who hunt and we live off of a super busy road).

I wonder if you could build her a little harness that goes around her chest and under her wings? I bet you could use a small/medium sized dog harness... then you could take her on walks! That would be cool. She might just trip over the leg tether if you tried that... and then she might hurt herself (turkeys can be sooo clumsy sometimes).

Good luck!

 

[Chicken man76]

Do you think she will stay around and come back to her pen at dark?

 

[mrclif]

I live close to a fairly busy road I let mine out semi supervized mine dont venture over a 100 yds from their pen and are easy to round up. My portion of Alabama doesnt have a fall turkey season so hunting isnt really a concern but we have numbers of predators,coyotes,bob cats coons and stuff. But I kill and trap anything that tries to predate my pets.

 

[ivan3]

She's a domestic (raised by humans) and not a `Wild' Eastern. As was suggested, only leave her and the Bourbon out when you are there. Does the Bourbon return to the run in the evening without much direction from you? If so, half your training problem is over. I'd leave her penned up with the Bourbon for at least a month. Then, even if she were to fly out, she'd hang out close to the fence (stay with `her' flock) near the Bourbon. Tethering, unless you are right there, would be more of a live feed opportunity for some predator than anything else. Once she's used to where the food is and what's what at your place she should settle right in (as unlikely to head for the woods as is the Bourbon).

 

[Chicken man76]

Thank you for the insight. Yes I have had her now for a yr im not sure if she was wild before I got her from the guy I bought her from. I only let my Bourbon red out when im outside because he likes to fight my roosters all the time he's just ti big for that. The Female eastern acts like she just wants to roam with the chickens. And yes my Bourbon does come back to his coop or either the chicken coop at dark he doesn't like to be far from the hen when she clucks he comes back to her