Turkeys as pets -- best breed?

[Kekko]

I don't notice a lot of difference in personality in the ones I have and have raised together. There are skittish ones and more friendly ones in all of them.


They're People Too You Know!!!!!

 

[Struttn1]

For a pet only I prefer Royal Palms...they are smaller than some of the other breeds and don't eat quite as much and are just beautiful to look at. If I were also planning on eating some then I would go with Bourbon Reds. They get a lot meatier than the Palms. I have both but of course everything here is a pet so the offspring are sold and I add young new blood to the flock every 2 to 3 years.

 

[TGreenhut]

Quote:
x2 my RP is a sweetheart and he wasn't even handled often until 8 weeks when i bought him

 

[Farmerwife1]

What breed is the best cold hardy? My husband wants them to wander around the farm. We keep our chickens penned. I am figuring out how to keep them safe from preditors and I figure it will help if they are kind of trained to come to me, so I can put them in a safer place at night. I read they will not dig up my yard like a chicken will. Is this true? I would like them to be kind of free ranging, with me supplementing what they are eating.

 

[R2elk]

What breed is the best cold hardy? My husband wants them to wander around the farm. We keep our chickens penned. I am figuring out how to keep them safe from predators and I figure it will help if they are kind of trained to come to me, so I can put them in a safer place at night. I read they will not dig up my yard like a chicken will. Is this true? I would like them to be kind of free ranging, with me supplementing what they are eating.

All domestic turkeys are the same breed which is Turkey. In my opinion, the heritage varieties are more cold hardy than the broad breasted varieties.

Turkeys won't dig up your yard like chickens but the holes they make for dust bathing will be huge.

When you limit the area a turkey can be in, you have to feed and water them. The wild turkeys survive because they cover miles of territory and move on when conditions do not supply them with sufficient food and water.

You can check out many varieties of heritage turkeys at Porter's Rare Heritage Turkeys.