[symonep]

Oh my, it's the incredible growing turkey 

[New shoot]

They are looking very good    Can see the day approaching when gangly teenage turkey turns round to mum and says 'or what'  

[ANHBUC]

They are looking very good    Can see the day approaching when gangly teenage turkey turns round to mum and says 'or what'  

 

Our big hens have had the odd peck at them so I'm waiting to see pay back time!!   

[New shoot]

You'll have to see how brave they grow up to be   A bit of lip to mum is one thing, but tackling one of the big hens  

At my old job the garden centre used to get a visiting farm in regularly - half terms, red suited jovial man's arrival each year, that sort of thing. They used to bring a stonking great male turkey who would parade around displaying to anyone who watched  

They had to keep him out loose as if he went in the pen with the bantams, they would bully him      

[agapanthus]

They really are getting a spurt on!! Just wait....in a few weeks they'll be roosting in the trees!!! 

[ANHBUC]

They really are getting a spurt on!! Just wait....in a few weeks they'll be roosting in the trees!!! 

That's why I'm glad they still want their Mum for the time being Aggy.  How old do they have to be before I can wing clip?  All our bushes and trees are on our boundry so I don't want them visiting the neighbours! 

[ANHBUC]

You'll have to see how brave they grow up to be   A bit of lip to mum is one thing, but tackling one of the big hens  

At my old job the garden centre used to get a visiting farm in regularly - half terms, red suited jovial man's arrival each year, that sort of thing. They used to bring a stonking great male turkey who would parade around displaying to anyone who watched  

They had to keep him out loose as if he went in the pen with the bantams, they would bully him      

 
I was hoping they would keep my hens in line, fat chance of that then.    

[ANHBUC]

I think if I watched them for long enough I would be able to see them growing.  They are getting bigger every day. 

[agapanthus]

I don't really remember how old they were but they were fairly large....probably around 3 or 4 months when they started to roost in a huge tree and Karl got fed up of trying to get them down! 

[ANHBUC]

Snudge flew out of the shed today and over a 30" mesh fence panel which was across the doorway.  Boosty seems to be the dumb blonde and hasn't worked out as much so just paced up and down the mesh panel calling to Dotty.   

Will have to clip one wing as soon as they are not following Dotty any more unless I can train them with treats.   

[ANHBUC]

Think it is time to wing clip!!!  Spent nearly an hour with Bootsy in a pet carrier trying to track down Snudge who had flown around 60 feet and over a 10 feet tall bush into a neighbours garden.     Bootsy was calling and Snudge was calling back but we couldn't work out where he was.  All our neighbours at the back were out so it was a nightmare trying to get access to find him.  We ended up back in our garden with Bootsy and eventually Snudge came to the calling at the other side of our fence.  Then hubby had to get over the 6 ft fence to catch him.

I think that something must have spooked them, there was a black cat taking an interest this morning.  They were enclosed with Omlet netting but had managed to get out through the larger netting higher up.

They will have to stay in their shed tomorrow until I have researched how to wing clip turkey poults.  Bet they will sleep well tonight.   

[Franceska]

Oh they are sweet little darlings!  Makes want to have a go at it if one of my hens goes broody!  Just lovely.  That little white one, is it a turkey too?

[ANHBUC]

Oh they are sweet little darlings!  Makes want to have a go at it if one of my hens goes broody!  Just lovely.  That little white one, is it a turkey too?

Yes, it is a Pied and is just starting to get some black markings on its feathers. 

Have managed to clip one of each of their wings so hopefully no more exploring other peoples gardens.   

[ANHBUC]

They do seem to have a death wish as GA said "And turkeys are, to quote from an article in the Country Smallholder magazine "A suicide waiting to happen"! "  They have got into more scrapes in their 8 weeks than all my hens put together in their 2 years.  They are freeranging and I check on them regularly but Snudge still managed to get wedged between my quail ark and a sheet of plywood which is used as a windbreak.  When I rescued Snudge and put it on the grass it was walking with its legs crossed for a while!     I wondered why Boosty wasn't at Snudges side and couldn't see where he was.  Normally Bootsy is very vocal when not in sight of Snudge or Dotty.  Dotty was sat on top of a coop and not bothered.  I listened out and could hear a faint call coming from our pond.  Sure enough Bootsy had ventured into the fenced off area and tried to eat some of the pond marginal plants and got stuck.  Legs were in the water and body in the plants.  He was very cold when I fished him out but was none the worse once dried off.

Now they have started to either practice their mating dance or are establishing a pecking order.  Bootsy (pied) is doing a sort of mating dance and Snudge (bronze) is cowering and dancing round Boosty.  Then Bootsy is pecking and grabbing Snudges head.  No blood drawn as yet.  I put Snudge back in the turkey shed and Boosty started doing the baby "peep, peep, peep" call.  Such funny behaviour for 8 week old birds, it is making me dizzy watching them.  Not sure if I am cut out to be a turkey keeper!   

[New shoot]

Odd they are so different from chickens.  

Do you think it is because they just have a much shorter history of being domesticated    After all, the other fowl like chucks. ducks and geese have been farmyard critters for centuries, but turkeys were hunted as wild game before the white settlers reached america and anyone thought of farming them