What's that gobbling in my chicken yard?

[ole-crone]

First off - we have two wild turkeys who have adopted us this winter. Yes, I'm aware of the dangers but they can fly over the fence and we have a large yard. Anyway, they are normally out there when I go to give the girls their evening grain and run out into the pasture because I'm big and scarey.

Yesterday, I was pouring out the grain when I heard right behind me "Gobble gobble gobble."
I jumped! Neither of them had ever been bold enough to walk that close before. I turned around, expecting to see a turkey and only saw my hens, munching away. I had my suspicions and waited - a few moments later, Biddie - our wonderful broodie hen - a white silkie wanted to get to the food and emitted "Gobble gobble gobble" and the larger hens moved aside.

My parrot imitates our chickens but I'd never heard a chicken imitate a turkey.

What a hoot!

 

[miss_jayne]

how funny! the wild turkeys that live in my yard hate me with a vengeance!

 

[TreeFever]

A video is needed!

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

No way?! That is too funny!

 

[meleagrophile]

Turkeys are a wonderful thing...just as a heads up, they can get Blackhead from chickens. This IS curable, even though you often read that it isn't. You can give them metronidazole, as long as you don't plan to eat the turkeys later. Another thing you can do is de-worm the chickens with pyrantel, to get rid of the cecal worm that carries the paramecium that gives the turkeys the disease. If you don't know what the disease looks like, a good description would be "their heads look like burnt marshmallows." In fact, a turkey that I treated for Blackhead got re-named "S'mores."

Don't mean to be an alarmist, but I can't help it, I'm a veterinarian.

 

[meleagrophile]

Oops!! My computer goofed up...or was it the wine? This letter went to the wrong subject! It was supposed to go to "Gobbling in my Chicken Yard!" I swear it was the computer!

 

[Gazinga]

VIDEO! VIDEO! VIDEO! GOTTA HAVE IT!

 

[norahsmommy]

wait, whats the deal with turkeys and chickens? I have a large flock (30+) wild turkeys roaming through my yard almost every day, so can they hurt my chickens or is it the other way around?

 

[tygab]

we have turkeys coming into our yard all the time. There is a mother who has a brood of about 6 poults, they must have been a late brood as they are 1/2 the size of the brood at this time last year.

In summer, they sometimes stood and stared into the run, and the chickens looked at them too. I haven't worried about it but maybe I should.

Anyway, the turkeys are human wary, and generally walk or run away if we get too close.

That is very cool your chicken learned to gobble. maybe one of mine will!

 

[tinners204]

Who said Little Silkies can't gobble with the best of them!!!!!