Turkeys drowning in the rain?

[Jennsbirds]

Thanks for all the great responses!  I had a sneaking suspicion that the "turkeys are stupid" mantra was merely an urban legend.

My friend's mom had turkeys on her farm and jokingly said they're intelligence should make them qualify as vegetables. I suspect this is related to breed, incest, and how generations were raised.


She said ond did drown.

 

[Arielle]

Here is my take, in the natural world, as I look around my area of woods, and old farm land and preserves, I see only a few areas where water levels are deep. It is many puddles here and there. A wild turkey isn't going to fall in like they can held in a brooder/coop with a large water supply. ANd the hen is available for instant heat for the poults. Not so when we raise the poults in a brooder or pen. I have seen a broodie hen try to shelter her 4 month old children. lol They had run to her as the day was coming to an end, gathering at their brooding box.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I agree, turkeys are very smart and personable. IMO, they are much smarter than chickens, but if hand raised, do need to be shown where the water is, sometimes, so I do hatch a few chicks to do the job for me. Poults are more fragile than chicks and chicks more than ducklings!

x2

 

[yinepu]

I think the turkeys are better at finding food and water than most give them credit for as well. I show them where the food is once, dip their bills once, and they do just fine. No Marbles, no shiny things, no baby chickens. I do put in a few rocks so they can't fall in the water and get wet, but I take them out after a few days.

I think the drowning myth is from very young birds getting hypothermic in the rain.

Turkeys are definitely more curious and personable than chickens.

What happens is people put them out to early before they are fully feathered and they get wet, chilled, and die. Once they get older the weather doesn't seem to bother them at all.

Yup.. this is exactly where the myth came from..
poults and young turkeys are very suceptable to chilling

 

[retlaw]

The commercial breeds might be dumb but not the heritage breeds.
Seen it in chickens to.
Heritage ones free range well when commercial ones stay in between the feeder and the water.
its like they have never been fed in months.

Here In British Columbia it can rain for months and the birds still roost in the rain and only come into the shelter to dry off after crazy amounts of rains.

The reason why a turkey holds its head high and looks into the sky is to look for predators like eagles.
They are just using their very sharp eye sight.

I have a barn right beside my turkey coup zone with a window in the loft that looks down on the area.
Every time I walk up to the window and look down on them the tom sees me almost instantly.

 

[lilchick]

Ask anyone who turkey hunts and they will say it is hard to actually get one. Our heritage turkeys ancestors!

I have been raising turkeys for 17 plus years and find them to be smarter and more personable than most chickens..

 

[yinepu]

Ask anyone who turkey hunts and they will say it is hard to actually get one. Our heritage turkeys ancestors!

I have been raising turkeys for 17 plus years and find them to be smarter and more personable than most chickens..

I have to agree.. I have 0 issues butchering excess roosters.. but the turkeys are like puppies... Just hate to take something with so much personality and send it to freezer camp...



then I stop and think about how good they taste... it makes it a tiny bit easier...

 

[satay]

We have had excessive rain here for the last 6 weeks (flooding) we have 6 acres and my turkeys are the only ones who are happy to be out all day in the rain.(never had one drown in the rain ever) They have young ones too and they all happily free range around. I think turkeys are rather smart.

 

[daniel rainey]

only wild turkeys do this as fr as i know and only if they have no place to shelter and this is just to give them a good shape for the rain to run off them. its actually smart, domestic turkeys will have so shelter ll the time so will shelter and wont do this...

 

[ivan3]

daniel rainey wrote: only wild turkeys do this as fr as i know and only if they have no place to shelter and this is just to give them a good shape for the rain to run off them. its actually smart, domestic turkeys will have so shelter ll the time so will shelter and wont do this...

Thread with pic: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/639693/dh-and-son-saying-turkeys-are-too-stupid