You know what I also like? Real Live Turkeys. A guy on Craigslist advertised turkey pairs for sale last week. I wasn't really interested in teenage turkeys, but I did email him to ask what his experiences have been with predators and how his large-ish turkeys dealt with it. He's never had a problem with raccoons, which was music to my ears. Also? He had tiny baby chicks, unadvertised. I drove up their today, through two hours of godawful traffic, and was rewarded by a happy flock of Bourbon Red turkeys and miscellaneous chickens. The big tom was funny, strutting around and constantly gob gob gobbling and making sure that we knew exactly how awesome he was. Are they tame? Well, the guy walked over and picked up the tom turkey and cradled him under his arm. All of the teenage flock were way more curious than they were aggressive or scared.
Sold! I brought home two turkey chicks. One is nine days old, the other around three. They have been sleeping nonstop ever since coming home, so the picture is not the most compelling. There is no way to tell if they are toms or hens for the next three months or so. We'll have to be creative with naming. They will be living in the kitchen until the end of September, I suspect. The three month old adolescents the guy had were at least two feet tall, so they get big fast!
the flock of rambunctious teenagers, with dad at one o'clockI am excited to have friendly hand raised poultry again, and hope that these babies will have a long and happy life.
sweet sleeping babies!
4 comments:
whoah! turkeys- do they lay eggs like chickens, or are they just cool big birds?
They lay Big Eggs. They have not been historically bread for production like chickens, so I don't think they are one-a-day-layers. The turkey man had several---they are about twice as big as a chicken egg, and this breed lays white with brown speckles. I can't wait to taste. I assume they will be a bit more gamey but that is ok by me!
Where are they going to live when they're out of your kitchen? Do you need to build another pen?
Don Paolo
Hopefully with just two I will be able to have them live in the coop with the other girls. If one of them turns out to be a boy, well, we'll see if he will fit in there. I may have to build a bit of an extension to the hen mansion.
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