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Barnyard Buddies:  Turkeys as pets.......  |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
1406 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 30 2013 : 8:05:51 PM
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It's about time to order chickens and I've been thinking about ordering a trio of heritage turkeys. A male and two females. They would be just for pets, just wondering if anyone has had a positive experience with them.
....it's what's inside a women, when she's up against the land.
Farmgirl #680!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lessielouise22 |
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cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2013 : 04:30:37 AM
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I keep turkeys as pets and as a meat source. The ones kept as pets are used in the farm tour and educational part of our farm They're pretty much the same as raising chickens...just bigger.
Except!....They are so stupid. Most people say that chickens are stupid, but I have found that chickens are quite smart. Chickens can figure out how to escape coops, hide eggs, steal cat food, etc... Turkeys do nothing. I'm not trying to really insult them, it's just funny to watch them.
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt." |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
1406 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2013 : 05:57:16 AM
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I know how smart chickens are, and I was reading something that said turkeys are smarter than chickens. From watching turkeys, that has not been my experience. Ha! But they seem like they would be fun pets
....it's what's inside a women, when she's up against the land.
Farmgirl #680!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lessielouise22 |
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sherrye
True Blue Farmgirl
3775 Posts
sherry
bend in the high desert
oregon
USA
3775 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2013 : 07:37:22 AM
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i think when turkeys are young they are stupid. they will drown in a teaspoon of water. that said we have blue slates that i really like. we have had some live here for years. folks pet them and they eat from our hands.
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farm girl #1014
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crittergranny
True Blue Farmgirl
1096 Posts
Laura
Lindrith
NM
USA
1096 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2013 : 09:23:10 AM
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My daughter's mother in law had some turkeys and they would constantly try to mate everything including anyones leg and one didn't dare sit down around them. They tried to teach them better and one day my daughter got fed up and choked one till it passed out then it came to and just continued. It didn't learn apparently. But my father used to have a white one that lived in the front yard and it wasn't like that. He used to put my children on it's back (when they were very small) and they would ride it around for a minute with Dad holding their hands. Was cute. We have wild turkeys that live around here and they are very smart. They manage to raise a huge brood every year in the wild in spite of coyotes, lions and bears and bobcats and foxes. I have read that they can roost in a tree for up to 2 weeks at a time. Pretty amazing. So I guess it would depend on maybe the breed? Some of the best snipers in the military were turkey hunters before cause they pick the turkeys off from the last in line to the front and none of them know what's going on till too late, I guess the same method was effective in war at times. And that is everything I know about turkeys...lol. Oh also they are supposed to be the ultimate critters for getting rid of grasshoppers.
Laura
Horse poor in the boonies.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CrittergrannysLair
www.nmbarrelhorses.com
www.creamofthecroptrailrides.webs.com |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
1406 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2013 : 2:40:14 PM
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I just love the heritage turkeys, the big pretty brown ones. I have never had a negative experience with one. But I've never had one in the back yard either. I love their noise
....it's what's inside a women, when she's up against the land.
Farmgirl #680!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lessielouise22 |
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oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2013 : 3:23:09 PM
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hens only are somewhat good pets (fun to watch and usually like their heads rubbed), as good as pet a turkey can be, you add a tom, and its gonna get somewhat dangerous, he will protect them from everyone includeing you, and can become dangerous, and I am talking about domesticated wild and heritage birds, broadbreasted are as dumb as a rock and will cripple up as they grow
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
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rksmith
True Blue Farmgirl
858 Posts
Rachel
Clayton
GA
USA
858 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2013 : 5:51:26 PM
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I like turkeys! We had 4, 2 of our hens have died this past year so now we are down to Jasper and Tish. I want to go to the stockyard sometime soon and see if I can find him a couple more lady friends ;). I've had some turkeys (mostly toms but a few hens too) that were super over the top mean and aggressive. The last one was a bourbon red (I believe) anyway he found himself in the stew pot pretty quick. Jasper is one of the most laid back toms I've ever seen (he's a bronze, Tish is a royal palm). He and Tish get along very well with our chickens (they all live together) and he's good with babies. We had about 20 turkey chicks that Tish and Lily hatched last year, we brought them in until they were a good bit older and then put them back out with the adults. The hens wanted nothing to do with them but Jasper tried his best to show them how to be turkeys, that was funny. I love watching them and listening to their noises. I think you'll enjoy them. When they are younger they are some of the most stupid birds I've ever come across so take care with them.
Rachel
Farmgirl Sister #2753
True enlightenment is nothing but the nature of one's own self being fully realised-- His Holiness the Dali Lama
www.madameapothecary.com |
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magnoliakathy
True Blue Farmgirl
453 Posts
Kathryn
Magnolia
Texas
USA
453 Posts |
Posted - Feb 01 2013 : 06:42:43 AM
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I have Royal Palms, 2 hens and a tom. They follow me around when I am in the pasture, fly over the fence when I am working the yard and "talk" to me while I am working. They go back over the fence when I go inside, put themselves up in their "room" in the barn, come running when they see the compost bucket or I ring the cow bell at feeding time. They coexist with chickens, ducks, guineas, and goats. The only time I see aggression is when they have poults, otherwise very smart and laid back.
When you free your mind your heart can fly. Farmgirl # 714, |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Feb 01 2013 : 07:16:30 AM
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I've had turkeys before. Bourbon Reds. I liked them to start with but after a couple years the ones that were left had to go. They woulf fly over the fence and were all over the place. Very messy stinky birds. And the tom could be aggressive when men came around. I won't have any again. But your place might be better able to handle them. You should at least try. I do. Then I figure they aren't for me or this farm. Like ducks. Nasty birds!
Kris
Happiness is simple.
www.kris-outbackfarm.blogspot.com |
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Barnyard Buddies: Turkeys as pets....... |
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Turkeys as pets.......
