Turkey Apocalypse

I can’t beat Michael and Marisa’s recent disaster but all of my disasters here, and here, here, and here, and here combined dwarf their’s, particularly since many of mine involve loss of life.   I had five turkeys that were well on their way to the Thanksgiving table. They were free range in the yard and they seemed to stick close by so we didn’t worry about them very much. But one morning just one of them showed up for feeding so I got a little concerned.  I sent the kids around the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen four renegade white turkeys roaming around (We see wild turkeys all the time). No one had seen them so I got very apprehensive. Our single turkey stuck very close to the house acting lonesome.
One afternoon I went out onto the deck of our house and looked over our pasture. In the middle of the pasture I saw a white blotch. I hadn’t noticed it from ground level because the grass was tall. My heart sank. I walked down into the pasture to a pile of feathers. OH! NO! It was not just one pile of feathers but feathers strewn all over the 4 acre pasture. How could one fox get four turkeys and spread out those feathers so strategically? Our turkeys were all gone.
No one felt the lose more than the remaining turkey. He turned to us for companionship. I was building the veranda on the front of the house at the time and he would stay right by me and brush up against me as I walked around sawing and nailing boards. He kept going up to the glass storm door. I thought he actually wanted to go inside the house but then I realized he was looking at his reflection in the glass. I felt so bad for him. It was the first time I got really attached to a bird so it was tough when Thanksgiving rolled around. The whole episode made us particularly thankful at our Thanksgiving feast.

 My coworkers from Turkey (yes, the country) admire my turkey in front of the almost competed veranda.

Full grown.

 He was a big one!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Turkey Question

I was asked a question about turkeys limping. I have never had turkeys so the only advice I was able to give was to buy them a cane.  If you have any advice or information for the following question, please leave it in a comment. 

I have 4 bronze turkey babies. They are in a warm location eating and drinking. Two of them have started limping and I noticed that each has one swollen knee. Any ideas on the cause or cure?

Question from a Reader- Turkeys

One of our readers, Patricia, had a question about her turkeys. I personally couldn't answer her question and thought that I would open it up to all of our knowledgeable readers. Leave a comment if you have any insight to her problem.

Hello,

I wonder if you have had the problem of your male turkeys (2 and one naked neck rooster) fighting it out like machos in a bar? It's distressing, and they just started it. I have considered clipping the upper beak, which seems cruel, but not as cruel as what they're doing! I had three guineas in the pen who were also adding to the problem, but I separated them. Unfortunately, I can't let them free range here because each time I let them out, I lose two to coyotes or bobcats (haven't seen the predator, but have seen the missing chickens),

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Patricia

Question from a Reader-Turkeys

My family is considering getting backyard turkeys this year and Dale’s article on turkeys was largely the inspiration for this. I had a couple questions though that I had hoped he might be able to help me with.

~Tricia

Tricia, I have personal experience with turkeys but I am not an expert. I will answer the following questions but I would certainly defer if you found better information.

We have several backyard chickens as well and we only live on 1 acre. I know that chicken diseases can be very harmful to turkeys – if we keep them housed separately and assure that they don’t roam the same parts of the land, will they be ok to share the yard?

We have never had a problem with putting our chickens and turkeys together. We have actually put the poults in a sectioned off area of the chicken coop. If you house them separately and let them roam in a differ area of the yard, I don’t see a problem. I think if there is any problem, it will manifest itself when the poults are young and you haven’t got much invested in them.

2. I keep reading mixed reviews on the friendliness of turkeys. I have three children, will they be ok to work with the turkeys or are the birds too aggressive for kids?

We get the large white hybrid turkeys. They are very friendly. They often approach us and sometime strut but they have never pecked. Heirloom turkeys which are more natural may be more aggressive. I don’t know. We are going to get heirloom turkeys for the first time this year so I will find out.

3. In your article, you mentioned getting large white birds. My personal preference is not white – but I thought you might have some wisdom on why you suggested white as opposed to any of the darker colors.

We get the large white turkey because they grow the biggest and that is what we have wanted in the past. They are also more economical feed converters, but that doesn’t matter quite so much because when we feed out turkeys out to such heavy weights, they are not economical anyhow. The last ten pound to get them up to 40+ pounds takes a lot of feed.

4. How long did you keep your birds before slaughter to get those astronomical weights that you reported?

I think we feed them about 16 -20 weeks. That is a long time.

5. Our plan is to keep the birds in an 8 x 10 metal shed and let them roam our fenced yard during the days. Firstly, will this shed be suitable for 4 birds and secondly, will they fly away or up into our trees if we let them free roam the yard during the day?

The shed is big enough. White hybrids will not fly. I think heirloom turkeys will. You can always wing them – cut the feathers off the trailing edge of one wing with a pair of scissors. As I mentioned one of my articles, you will cut the feathers off the left wing if you are a republican off the right wing if you are a democrat. We are going with heirloom turkeys this year because I am interested in them, they are more colorful and I have heard that they have more interesting taste. I expect it to be more of a wild or gamey taste. We will deep fat fry them. So of course we don’t expect to raise very big turkeys this year. The only reason to dress out a 40+ pound white hybrid is to impress your company which they will. But they are not economical (Over $2.00 a pound to grow) and they are not particularly young and tender. I fix that by drizzling drippings over the meat after I have carved it. That really fixes dry or tough poultry meat. Beware of foxes and raccoons. I will soon have an article up on Backyard Farming about our turkey disaster. Two years ago a fox got three of our four turkeys. I think you will find turkeys fun and fascinating! If you have any other questions, email me and I will blunder my way through them.

~Dale

How about turkeys!?

If you want to bring real excitement into your backyard farm this summer, consider turkeys. They are easy, entertaining, and delicious. Before getting too excited, there are some important issues to consider. If you order from a hatchery, most require a minimum order of 10 -15 birds. So you may need to find some other backyard farmers with which to split the order. You must also begin with the end in mind realizing that you will have to dress them out or find someone to do it for you. Call your agriculture Extension Agent and see if he or she knows someone who will dress them.

While you have your Agent on the line, see if the Extension service is sponsoring 4H turkey projects that you can get your children involved in. If so, Extension may order poults for you. If you order from a hatchery, I suggest you get the largest white breed they offer. Half the fun is putting a turkey on the table at Thanksgiving that is twice as big as anything you can find in the store. Your guest’s jaws will drop when they see it. This past year, our Thanksgiving turkey dressed out at 42 pounds (our record is 48). We use the lowest rack in the oven and the biggest pan we can find.

You will want to raise at least 3-5 turkeys. Turkeys are social creatures who want the companionship of other turkeys. Let’s suppose you start with five. One dies. You name the other four “Thanksgiving”, “Christmas”, “Easter”, and “Homeless” (you will donate Homeless to the homeless shelter or a needy family in your neighborhood.)

Turkeys are great for scavenging insects in the yard. It is hilarious watching older poults chase after a moth. They will eat grass and weeds. However, you will need to supplement with commercial feed. Fence them out of the vegetable garden if they start doing too much damage. Occasionally turn them in the garden. They will clean out the bugs before they start on the plants. Keep in mind that raising turkeys is more expensive than buying them when they are a loss leader at the store for $0.69 a pound.

Turkeys are not shy. They will run to you when you walk out the door and follow you around the yard. Don’t be surprised when they brush up against you as you are gardening. Don’t be afraid either. They rarely peck.

There is nothing quite like seeing two Toms trying to out strut each other. Their appearance doubles in size as they puff out their feathers. Their heads, snoods (flap of skin that hangs over the beak), wattles (flap of skin under the chin), and caruncles (growths on the throat) turn brilliant shades of red and blue (how patriotic they look!)

They gobble occasionally but it is not annoying like rosters crowing or laying hens cackling.

The biggest problem you may have is getting too attached to them. It can be a little distressing loading them in the pickup for slaughtering. But if you keep things in perspective and give them the names I suggested earlier, these emotions will be short lived. Turkeys are one of the best ways to teach your children and to remind yourself where your meat comes from.

Click here for more information refer to the following Extension fact sheet.

Dale Maurice Johnson