Turkeys as pets?

[poorfarm]

No toms, huh? You know what comes next, don't you? The hen sitting down on your feet and tripping you every time you aren't looking. Turkey hens will solicit their keepers for mating. Of course, they do this even with toms around, it's that "Big Bird" appeal! Hee!

 

[turkeylady3]

Problem is with putting them together is he's so big he hurts them when mating. I've read where they can actually rip muscle layers and kill them. I did try one time to put them together then I couldn't even get into the females pen to feed or change water. He'd get me upon entering the pen. I've got it rigged where I can get to his food fairly safely and the water is shared. But other wise can't enter

 

[turkeylady3]

That sounds like a plan but not possible first he's huge. Have no way to estimate his weight but the biggest one I ever seen. I couldn't grab his legs without extreme injury. He's got huge nails and Spurs. He would most definitely tear me apart. I do take a broom with me if I've got to go in his pen which isn't very far and rarely. He hates the broom. He flies up with claws extended against the fencing. Thanks for advice. But can't do.

 

[poorfarm]

It really does sound like he needs to be dinner. Especially if he's a broad breasted tom and so big he will hurt your hens if he tries to breed with them. Do you have any pasture space for your turkeys?

 

[turkeylady3]

From what I read this breed is usually bred by artificial inseminatiin because Of the weight issue. No pasture. We have about an acre so not much room. The two pens they're in r pretty big both being around 10X12 Both have roosting bars. Although big bird I guess is too heavy to get up on his. I had my husband lower it but guess he's too lazy to get up there. I let the girls out about every day in the yard. I use to let them out most of the day and I went back inside but about a month ago something tried to get in at them. I'm sure it's a coyote since that's what got the wild turkey I befriended that started this whole turkey raising business. So I stay out with them. We also have a mink we saw recently. In the girls pen there's a ramp leading up to a small coop with a roosting bar Windows and nesting box. But girls won't go in there unless laying an egg. Strange. U would think with it so cold right now they would.

 

[poorfarm]

I don't think they are much bothered by cold. I've seen a huge flock of wild ones sleep in the bare trees on the hill behind my pasture, in minus 14. I lock all my birds into "Fort Apache" at night for safety from predators, but also so their body heat helps keep the coop buildings above freezing and their water dispensers stay ice-free. The ducks, especially, would never go in if I didn't herd them.

If you have the commercial turkeys, and you've been reading over the posts about them here, you've probably seen all the downsides to that type of turkey outside the poultry industry. Have you thought about starting over with a breed more backyard-friendly? You could probably keep your hens until they started having health problems, but if you have a 50 lb. aggressive tom, eventually he is going to do you significant harm. When I had sheep, the young rams sorted themselves out into future fathers and Lambchop by their temperament as they hit adolescence. Of course, a turkey can't kill you like a ram can, but still, being attacked all the time isn't fun, especially if he gets you in the face.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

some of my turkeys choose to sleep outside here in Wisconsin, turkeys aren't bothered by cold temperatures, which here are up to -20's with -40 wind chills, on those days they go inside more often but they are still outside most of the day, they do appreciate dry ground covered in hay or straw to stand on, and a wind break.

 

[Nunie]

Can a single tom be kept alone, or a couple toms with no females? If 2 toms were raised together and free range in a backyard together, and have a building they sleep in at night, would they fight in the yard?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You can keep a single Tom or a pair. I'm unsure if they would still fight if there are no females.