Turkeys as pets -- best breed?

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

That's exactly why we say

"Everybody loves a turkey"

Steve

 

[PintoPasoFino]

I have two tom turkeys as pets, Ernest and Bertram. One is a blue slate, the other a bronze. We raised them since they were babes, and have had them about 3 years now. They free range outside with the ducks and chickens, and go in the barn at night.

I also have one crested duck who thinks he is a turkey. He will never ever associate with the ducks, only hangs with the turkeys. He has preened these poor turkeys to death that both toms have bare breasts. I have even seen the bronze turkey walking with this duck under his wing. He just stretched his wing out and he and that duck just walked along together. The duck gets upset if the turkeys decide to roost on the wood horse fence, because he can't get up there to be with them. It's an interesting relationship.

The turkeys are very aware when strangers come on the property. They won't peck or charge at them, but they won't let the strangers out of their sight and stay within a couple feet of them.

The turkeys seem to enjoy strutting along the dog fence to get the dogs riled up. They will stand by the back door on the deck next to the dog fence and do their little turkey dance. It's funny on the wood deck because they stamp their feet like tap dancers.

Never had any problems between them and the chickens, or ducks, or geese, or guineas.

We love our turkeys.

 

[ozark hen]

It's funny on the wood deck because they stamp their feet like tap dancers

I would play them some Celtic music and then film it and send it in to funniest videos and make some money

 

[chocolate m'scovy]

I like Bourbon Red girls. They are very talkative and inquisitive, and like to run after you. And they like to run off with gloves and slippers, and can't resist the temptation of an open car door... So we can't leave our doors open anymore....

 

[Sjisty]

I had a bronze that I raised from an egg. He was always stand-offish, not liking to be petted. One day I found him stomping one of my light Brahma hens into the ground. She died. He went to freezer camp. I decided no more turkeys with chickens, but had already bought some Royal Palm eggs. They hatched about 4 weeks ago and are the friendliest birds I have! They are always in our laps when we are sitting outside and they follow us everywhere. I'm not sure I'm going to keep them because I'm afraid for my chilckens, but they are by far friendlier than our bronze tom was.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

show here with 10 out 14.

 

[robyn1976]

aw what a sweet turkey

 

[Kekko]

What Turkeys Make a great pet? That is a very good question and one that I am asked a lot when people come to buy Turkeys.

We have had Spanish Blacks, Royal Palms, Blue Slate/Self Blues for several years, This year we have added Sweetgrass, White Hollands, Penciled Palms, Bourbon Reds and some mixed color that I’m experimenting with.

I have found that making a pet from a Turkey is not so much the breed as how it is raised and handled growing up. The ones that I have spent a lot of time with and handled a lot will follow me around and want to be very close, eat out of my hand, allow me to pick them up. Basically be like a puppy dog! The ones that I have spent less time with have been more stand offish. They will still come to me when I feed them (I call them to come eat when I feed) they all come running! They will even follow you around but don’t want any personal (hands on) contact. I have yet to have any that would show aggression toward a person. I would still keep an eye on them with small children though just for safety. Ours all free range when they are not in the breeding pens. They do have their pecking order just like chickens and once in a while they have to go through the ritual of testing their place in that order but I have never had a problem with serious fighting.

To make them a pet get them as young as possible and handle them several times a day. When they are about 3 to 4 weeks old give treats such as hard boiled eggs. Let them eat it out of your hand. I’ve had year old Turkeys that would jump into my arms when they know I have boiled eggs for them.

As young birds they can and will fly! However they won’t fly very far (just far enough to get over the fence then they will spend hours trying to figure out how to get back where they belong). The Toms once they get a year old will fly up to a low roost and maybe make it a few yards when they come off the roost. The older hens will occasionally fly maybe a hundred yards at an altitude of 10 to 15 feet (they are like a B-52 coming in for a belly landing so don’t get in their way). The ones that don’t get quite as large such as the Royal Palms fly better even as older birds.

Bottom line is any of them will make a great pet once they get you trained!

 

[AquaEyes]

I have a question -- how different are the various turkey breeds from each other? I know that the broad-brested bronzes and whites grow huge, the midgets and beltsvilles are tiny, the royal palms are a little bigger, and the rest all give the same weight range. Is there thus much difference between the rest, other than color and pattern? I was looking through Porter's website , and he breaks down the gene combinations that give rise to the phenotypes for the breeds recognized. So if most of the breeds are within the same size range, are they all basically just color variations? Is there then much of a difference to be found in personality between a bourbon red and a black spanish and a blue slate, or are they as alike as different colors of cochin chickens? I don't know...that's why I'm asking.

 

[chicmom]

This year, I bought my first turkey poults ever. A Royal Palm and a Blue Slate. I love them both! They live with my chickens, and they get to free range every day. I haven't seen any problems, but if there's a new chicken, they do get very curious, and sometimes a little bit mean, but nothing major.

Mine are both Toms, and they're always together. I don't have any turkey hens. They're real buddies, and at night, when they roost, they sort of "hug eachother" with their long necks, if you can picture that. The Royal Palm is the more vocal one, and the Blue Slate is sort of the follower, I guess.

They will run to greet me, and they do get very close, but they only let me pet them briefly. They really look at me and I make the turkey sounds to them and we call back and forth to eachother. Just a few days ago, they've gotten into the habit of going onto the front porch, and looking into the window. I feel like they're saying, "Hey! When are you coming outside?". The weather has cooled off, and I just started being able to turn off the A/C, and have the windows open, so I think maybe they hear me talking inside, or hear the TV or something. It was the cutest thing when they peeked in the window the other day! (So far, they haven't pooped on the porch. I'm glad because it's just been stained. LOL

I also believe, any breed can be a pet, since I have two different breeds and they're both just darling!