Husband wanted to try out turkeys...

secuono · Mar 20, 2022

Ah, they found the roost!
Hope they don't fall behind the cardboard...

Lizzy733 · Mar 20, 2022

Turkey poults, unlike chicks, will follow you like puppies. They're very endearing! We have 5, 3 jakes and 2 jennys, that are about 5 months old now. When they start getting big, they get big fast and will make your chickens seem soooo tiny in comparison.

One of my girls is a genuine lap bird and will come up for a cuddle as soon as you sit down in the run and promptly fall asleep. She also gently tugs my hair until I give her attention.

The boys can fight brutally when they want to, but don't seem to ever do more than superficial damage to each other.

I'm guessing all of yours are earmarked for slaughter? We have one white, but he doesn't appear to be BB. Ours were bought as breeders to establish our own flock and I could maybe cull one or two of my boys if it came to it as our gender ratio is the wrong way round, but the other 3 are far too lovely for that.

We keep boys and girls separate to keep our jakes and roos on the chill side and so far, its working. No fusses intermingling them with the chickens, though one of my girls does not like our upcoming roo who I've added in with the girls on occasion. She'll fluff up and try to intimidate him, give him a bit of a chase around, but never lays a beak on him otherwise.

I'm not sure if I like them 'more' than chickens in general, but it's a pretty close call and certain individuals, absolutely. I just love to watch my boys fluff up for me and the girls trilling when I give them attention, or bark away like the puppies they are when a stranger comes to call.

One thing to be mindful of, they can end up being quite nippy if you don't discipline them. And when they get big, that can be a problem that can easily draw blood. When mine start poking too hard or too persistently, I put a hand on their back and pin them down to the ground, not letting them get up for a few moments - rinse and repeat until they stop nipping. It can take a few times in a row with some of my more persistent boys, but it's definitely stopped this behavior for me, so I highly recommend getting on top of it early once those pokes for attention start to be painful or provoking when directed towards yourself.

Otherwise, enjoy them! They are a bounty of personality, for sure!

secuono · Mar 23, 2022

secuono · Mar 23, 2022

secuono · Mar 25, 2022

Ridgetop · Mar 26, 2022

Our 4-H club kids raised turkeys for the fair one year. We fed right and all the kids were very careful to follow the instructions. We had the prettiest birds at the show! All the project kids washed them in dish soap like we were told to do. They absolutely sparkled! They were the biggest and meatiest too! The kids paraded around guiding their birds and the judge selected all our club birds of course! They were the best right?! WRONG! Our enormous turkeys were all disqualified for being too big for the mechanical pluckers!!! :ep

We found out what he was talking after we all had them processed and had to cut them in pieces to fit them in the roasting pan. :lol:

Let alone trying to fit them in the freezer! :th

They must have been 50 lbs at least. Dont wait too long to butcher. :gig

Oh yeah! and it turned me off raising them because they were very stinky! No matter how often we cleaned the pen they smelled horrible. Worse than the hogs.

DS3 and DDIL1 raise Bronze turkeys now and love them.

Lizzy733 · Mar 26, 2022

S

Ridgetop said:
Our 4-H club kids raised turkeys for the fair one year. We fed right and all the kids were very careful to follow the instructions. We had the prettiest birds at the show! All the project kids washed them in dish soap like we were told to do. They absolutely sparkled! They were the biggest and meatiest too! The kids paraded around guiding their birds and the judge selected all our club birds of course! They were the best right?! WRONG! Our enormous turkeys were all disqualified for being too big for the mechanical pluckers!!! We found out what he was talking after we all had them processed and had to cut them in pieces to fit them in the roasting pan. Let alone trying to fit them in the freezer! They must have been 50 lbs at least. Dont wait too long to butcher.
Oh yeah! and it turned me off raising them because they were very stinky! No matter how often we cleaned the pen they smelled horrible. Worse than the hogs.

DS3 and DDIL1 raise Bronze turkeys now and love them.

Stinky, really? I haven't noticed any odd smells outta mine aside from the occasional cecal poop. Could it be lack of ventilation or limited coop\run space? They should get a fair bit more than chickens.

secuono · Mar 26, 2022

We would of gotten ducks or geese, if it wasn't for the smell. Feed, poop & water. Woof! What a horrible smell that creates!
Not bad when free ranging and NO pool, but otherwise, it really is one of the worst smells out there.

I'm getting overly attached to these dumb turkeys. One is most brave, one is flat out dumb, other is more chicken-like. None of the chickens care about coming near, they're feathering out & now I'm wondering who will be a roo!

Lizzy733 · Mar 26, 2022

secuono said:
We would of gotten ducks or geese, if it wasn't for the smell. Feed, poop & water. Woof! What a horrible smell that creates!
Not bad when free ranging and NO pool, but otherwise, it really is one of the worst smells out there.

I'm getting overly attached to these dumb turkeys. One is most brave, one is flat out dumb, other is more chicken-like. None of the chickens care about coming near, they're feathering out & now I'm wondering who will be a roo!

Very easy to get overly attached to them, for sure.