Turkeys are afraid of Watermelon

[gbpack12]

Hi guys, I'm new to raising poultry and bought 6 Turkeys back in early May. Yesterday I went to feed them some Watermelon that I had leftover and put it next to their hanging feeder which is located in the under cover portion of their pen. They were so scared of the Watermelon that they stayed in their exposed pen area and didn't want to come under cover and roost last night until I put it way in the back corner. What can I do to get them to not be afraid of these treats I put out there for them?

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

That is so strange! I guess I would probably just leave it in there until they learn it can't hurt them. You might have to shoo them in at night. Mbut I think they would eventually not be so scared, then maybe even try it out! That is just my suggestion.

 

[Molpet]

time.. they are leary of anything new... put little pieces in a corner at first.. mine were even scared of mealworms at first, now they see the container they go crazy wanting them.... you should see them when I wear a yellow raincoat... all the birds run and hide, even though I am talking to them.

 

[gbpack12]

I'll give that a shot. It was cut up into quarters, so I just went out and cut it into smaller chunks and spread it around their pen area, then I pulled some grass out of my rhubarb patch and set it up next to some of the chunks to try and entice them to the area.

My Dad's chickens will go after anything the second it gets close to their pen so I was surprised when these bigger birds got so scared of this stuff.