Turkeys as pets?

[fiberdrunk]

I have a pair of Narragansett females (along with 5 Ameraucana chickens) that are pets. I've read that it's better to raise them with others. I don't let them free-range, except while I'm out to keep an eye on them (because of hawks, owls and neighbor's wandering dogs). They're very attached to me. They tend to almost panic when they see me walking away. Narragansetts are supposed to be one of the more docile breeds-- I have small kids, so that was an important factor. They do sometimes pick on the chickens, though. I've blogged about mine here .

 

[kari_dawn]

Quote:
Oh, my gosh, that is hilarious!...I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that though

we have three fourths of an acre, but close neghbors. We are the corner house, so my coop is on the side of the house that does not have a neighbor, but the street does have cars on it regularly...is that enough fenced space to keep them from attempting to jump over (If I get two toms, will they fight, and will they get too heavy to go over the fence)?

 

[Frosty]

Be careful keeping toms with chickens... when breeding season comes around, they can try to mate with chicken hens. I lost a few hens that way before I figured out that the toms were doing it.

 

[kari_dawn]

If I get a tom and a turkey hen, will that prevent the problem?

 

[wilds of pa]

Yup, we have are true Wild Easterns for almost 8 years. Pets.. really got started with them to learn more about there sounds and calls for hunting purposes of course.

We do not free range ours, they are kept in 4400 sq ft of covered flight pens dedicated to just them, this summer coming they will get another 1000 ft of new flight pen added... i wouldn't want to be without them now.. its truly fun to put a chair out and sit and watch them on a daily bases..as turkeys can be truly amusing at times..

anybody with "pet turkeys that wont be eaten", should worm them at the least in spring and fall. using valbazen, fenbendazole and other broad spectrum wormer's

you can train them to fly up onto your arms just with a snap of your finger, start training when they are poults. the one time i had 8 full grown turkey hens all trying to land on me at once, wouldn't do that again anytime soon because your head is fair game when they land..lol

 

[easttxchick]

I LOVE my Eastern Wild boy(we lost his hen this summer). Like someone else said, he follows me around when I'm outside and when I'm carrying the feed bucket-I HAVE to set it down so he can eat out of it. He LOVES that feed bucket.
He free ranges when someone is home and he's never offered to take off on me.
Even though my boy is housed apart from the chickens, he definitely sees himself as the head flock protector. Those are HIS chickens and ducks.

One thing, though, my boy has bonded only with me and doesn't want ANYONE besides me around his flock. He does tend to want to attack everyone but me. Make sure that whoever will be tending them spends time with them so they bond with the whole family.

 

[Cheapchicksfarm]

I have 7 Narragansetts they are supposed to be a breeding flock but I think they are more pets they do free range and stick close to the house they fly up on the chain link dog pens that house the ducks to roost which drives me nuts because they walk on my fly netting and shade cloth making it sag

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I have a spring tom who is sweet a yearling tom I just bought who is an @$$ at times but we are working on that (I think it was how he was raised) and 5 spring hens who are like puppies they follow me everywhere and will come on the porch thinking they can come in the house too

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I would like to build them a large pen but extra cash is rare right now so once a month I lock them up in the largest dog pen for a few days so they remember to stay close and to give my garden a break.

I'm not sure how they would do in a small yard I would think if they got bored or saw some good looking grass they would fly over your fence mine fly over fences a few times a day while making their rounds

 

[PintoPasoFino]

We have turkeys as pets. There are a couple blue slates, a black Spanish, a bronze, and a huge white one. The bronze has been here a long time, got him as a baby and raised him in the kitchen. He loves my husband but scares me. He has never pecked me or anything but he hangs out a little too close to me for comfort. He chases me around my car, several times at a go. When my horses are eating their grain, he pecks them so they drop grain on the ground out of their mouths and he eats it. That's pretty smart, I think. The others are all very friendly, all girls except for the white. They don't scare me but Bert does. He stalks me.

They are all free range during the day and in the barn at night. They never leave the property. Sometimes though they roost on my car roof. One flew into the dog yard and then walked in the back door into the kitchen. The dogs thankfully left her alone, I was in the kitchen at the time so she wasn't in for long.

There is a crested duck that was raised with Bert and he hangs with him all the time. The duck will preen the turkey to the extent that there are no feathers on the turkey's chest.

We love our turkeys. They make our barnyard a bit more interesting.

 

[kari_dawn]

how much space do you have though? I am concerned that I may not have enough room at the moment to have happy turkeys and happy neighbors

 

[kari_dawn]

are turkeys a bad idea for a suburban setting?