Wow! So happy to find you and I have many questions!

[SlamGrier]

I just checked – because I take pictures of everything. She laid her first egg in April 2017 and we have had her since November 2016.

 

[rjohns39]

I just checked – because I take pictures of everything. She laid her first egg in April 2017 and we have had her since November 2016.

So she was at least 24 weeks old in April.

 

[venymae]

This is a wonderful turkey lesson! I think I'll stay and learn!

 

[SlamGrier]

This is a wonderful turkey lesson! I think I'll stay and learn!

Agreed!

 

[R2elk]

Thank you for your response... which naturally leads me to more questions and a bit more information. I don't plan on taking the rap for trying to put a sweater on Gwennie. It wasn't me. That was another woman who has her own back yard chickens that she puts sweaters on when they molt. But I'm not going down for that.

Questions:
1) She's still crabby but the molt is over. Has her personality just changed?
2) I'm pretty certain she was bred on a massive turkey farm and so I'm wondering if she's like other breeds of turkeys. Does that make sense? Like, because commercial birds go to slaughter so quickly, do they have the instinct of turkeys that are back-yard bred or wild? Wild turkeys are all over the farm and she seems to not even be aware of them. Is she more like my pug that literally stood over a baby rabbit and had no idea it was even THERE because she's bred to be sweet and is kind of stupid and not a hunter.

The sanctuary did have two turkeys before I started for years but they passed away. I don't doubt more turkeys will end up our way over this holiday season.

Turkeys can be "funny" creatures. They can hold grudges for a long time. If someone was trying to pet her while she was molting she may have taken offense and is still harboring ill will. A limited amount of her favorite treats (meal worms, grasshoppers, crickets, black oil sunflower seeds,etc.) may help get her back to her sweet personality.

She may well be a BBW (broad breasted white) and as such would have a different disposition due to her genetics but also due to how she was raised in cramped, crowded quarters. She may need to be in close proximity to the wild turkeys in order to notice them. Another aspect is that a white turkey raised with other white turkeys may not recognize the bronze wild turkeys as being the same kind of bird she is. I have noticed among my turkeys and my guineas that they can definitely be "racists". When I had Royal Palms, Bourbon Reds and Blue Slates all at the same time, they each kept to their own kind except for breeding season.

 

[R2elk]

R2, I'm thinking Holland or beltsville, trying to gauge size based upon the goose. She looks way too small to be a BBW.

I say the short legs look to be a BBW. Not all BBWs get huge especially the hens and that hen definitely has a broad breast.

 

[R2elk]

I just checked – because I take pictures of everything. She laid her first egg in April 2017 and we have had her since November 2016.

I would say that she is at least 2 years old. My guess is that she laid eggs in the spring of 2016 also. By Nov. 2016 she would have been done laying for the year 2016.

 

[SlamGrier]

Turkeys can be "funny" creatures. They can hold grudges for a long time. If someone was trying to pet her while she was molting she may have taken offense and is still harboring ill will. A limited amount of her favorite treats (meal worms, grasshoppers, crickets, black oil sunflower seeds,etc.) may help get her back to her sweet personality.

She may well be a BBW (broad breasted white) and as such would have a different disposition due to her genetics but also due to how she was raised in cramped, crowded quarters. She may need to be in close proximity to the wild turkeys in order to notice them. Another aspect is that a white turkey raised with other white turkeys may not recognize the bronze wild turkeys as being the same kind of bird she is. I have noticed among my turkeys and my guineas that they can definitely be "racists". When I had Royal Palms, Bourbon Reds and Blue Slates all at the same time, they each kept to their own kind except for breeding season.

I really do appreciate this information! I know that the farm owners know a lot of the stuff – maybe all of it. They were a working farm before they became a sanctuary. But they are doing a lot of other work which is why they have volunteers. I will say, when I first started a year ago I mostly like the goats and the cows. But the more I get to know all the birds the more I really appreciate them. Even the geese – Noisey things that they are. Now that I recognize their signals I see that they are just as friendly and curious as their non-feathered friends. Like I said, I want to do right by the turkey and I’m really glad to be getting all this information. Thank you so much.

 

[memphis]

As R2elk said, she was submitting while she was laying eggs. She'll be back to her flirty little self once she starts laying again. In the meantime she will still want to hang around you. You need another turkey....she needs a roommate.

 

[Turkey parents]

I have a couple little friends that will sit with me. I have a Bourbon Red and a Royal Palm that think I'm theirs just fair warning but this is mainly for Toms they can be extremely protective of their flock. If you are truly here's she may very well not let anyone else near. I had a hen "Mars" who would wait for me to get home before she'd lay her eggs, after she passed I had a Rio Grande Wild Tom who had health issues to begin with so he got to sleep with me (more than Mars ever did) anyway he decided it was his job to wake me up for asthma attacks and nightmares. When he came down with blackhead it was the last straw and he passed in my arms. Neptune was the best little Tom I ever had. Give her love and she'll love you too more than any person or animal you have ever met.