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

[R2elk]

And when she got well enough to wander around the barn she would walk in front of me and then plop down. I realized it was her way to ask to be petted.

The turkey was not asking to be petted. She was submitting herself to be bred. Unlike chickens the hens (normally) decide when the toms can mate with them.

When the hen was molting she was very uncomfortable which explains her mood change. Trying to put a "sweater" on her was wrong and would make her even more uncomfortable. People cause animals more harm by their ill-advised good intentions than by any other way.

Turkeys are a flock bird and really don't do well living by themselves. Chickens are not turkeys and are not an acceptable companion except in rare cases. It is not uncommon for hen turkeys to take issues with roosters.

The best thing to do is to either find her a home with other turkeys or get her additional turkeys as companions.

 

[SlamGrier]

The turkey was not asking to be petted. She was submitting herself to be bred. Unlike chickens the hens (normally) decide when the toms can mate with them.

When the hen was molting she was very uncomfortable which explains her mood change. Trying to put a "sweater" on her was wrong and would make her even more uncomfortable. People cause animals more harm by their ill-advised good intentions than by any other way.

Turkeys are a flock bird and really don't do well living by themselves. Chickens are not turkeys and are not an acceptable companion except in rare cases. It is not uncommon for hen turkeys to take issues with roosters.

The best thing to do is to either find her a home with other turkeys or get her additional turkeys as companions.

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.

 

[rjohns39]

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

 

[SlamGrier]

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

She's about 25 pounds, if that helps.

 

[rjohns39]

I'm betting She's a white holland, which suggests she didn't likely come from a commercial grower. You can go to the Livestock Conservancy, select Turkey:White Holland and then your region to see who near you breeds them.

 

[SlamGrier]

I'm betting She's a white holland, which suggests she didn't likely come from a commercial grower. You can go to the Livestock Conservancy, select Turkey:White Holland and then your region to see who near you breeds them.

Interesting! From what I can tell from the map on my cell phone, there are no farms in Massachusetts or neighboring states. We don’t always get the truth from people who bring in animals – for instance one guy claimed that his chicken had been attacked by a hawk and that’s why she was missing the top part of her beak. But her beak looks suspiciously like a lot of other hens we have who have been factory farmed. Although I seriously doubt of Massachusetts farmer was hunting all the way in Pennsylvania for his Thanksgiving meal so who knows? Her past remains a mystery.

 

[rjohns39]

There are a lot of folks like me who work with heritage breeds but not ready yet to be on the breeders list.

@memphis how long after Anne got her primary feathers before she was social again?

 

[lazy gardener]

JK. Maybe she's cranky b/c it 's hunting (or was) season! Has she laid any eggs? I'm wondering if she's approaching turkey puberty. I know nothing about how quickly they mature.

 

[rjohns39]

Given how well developed her beard is, I'm guessing she's at least a year old, if not more. So come spring she'll likely start to lay.

 

[SlamGrier]

JK. Maybe she's cranky b/c it 's hunting (or was) season! Has she laid any eggs? I'm wondering if she's approaching turkey puberty. I know nothing about how quickly they mature.

She started laying some time last spring I think it was. Pretty eggs!