Okay, so I've already got a thread on chickens... but I decided that I want to take the plunge on turkeys! I am terrified of them, namely because I've never met a turkey that didn't try to kill me, but they're apparently super easy to care for and won't really require a whole lot in the way of resources since they're seasonal. w00t w00t! We are probably going to the feed store tomorrow to see if they have any left!

Anyone else keep turkeys?

I don't keep turkeys, but my dad used to do paper routes up in the mountains for wealthier customers and sometimes I'd go with him. One property took care of turkeys, and they mostly didn't give a flying crap about us. Except this one turkey.

When it would see my dad's car, it would always run out and gobble loudly at him, chase the car a little bit, and then it'd leave. It was totally harmless, never tried to attack us or anything. It was kind of cute. They seem like they'd make interesting animals to keep around! They're certainly full of personality.

Did the feed store happen to have any left? c: I'd love to hear about your turkey adventures!

I did a thing yesterday.

:D :D :D

They are happily peeping away in my garage at the moment!

- aw! I like the little pink nubs on their beaks. :)

mmm, I have wild turkeys. Back in like November a whole flock of like 15 turkeys came and hung out in my yard. Like 3 perched themselves along the top of a bench. It was quite the sight. They come stomping down from the woods every once in a while. There is a thing in my state to report female turkey sightings to try and estimate the population every season, but I can't tell the difference between male and female????

Males are the ones that puff up and strut around, and they have the bigger wattles and floppy-looking faces. Females are much more petite and trim, and don't look so "gobbly"!

- they are very sensitive and alert so I can never get a really good look at them. I think when the huge flock came there were some young-lings/teenagers, quite a few were skinny.

Hope you don't mind me asking a horrifying question, kinda random but last week my family all saw a turkey eating an egg. It was a huge egg, like chicken size, light brown with dark brown speckling. Cannibal? or can turkeys get mean and nasty like blue jays and go after other birds??

edit: quick google search - it was a turkey egg. And yeah birds eating their own eggs its a thing :(

So I don't own any turkeys but I do have a funny turkey story.

So I've lived like in the suburbs my entire life. Outside of zoos, the only wildlife I've seen has been squirrels and birds and bunnies. I got excited the first time I saw a live raccoon. My husband really enjoys this about me and likes to point out more 'exotic' wildlife as when I moved in with him we moved to a little more of a country area, just off some mountains. Whatever.

One day we're driving down the highway, like near some woods and farms but still kind of close to the city but on the fucking highway and there's just like this single fucking turkey just derping up the fucking highway! I was like "!!!!!!!!!! Husband! Who does he belong to?" And he just laughed at me and told me that he doesn't belong to anyway, that is a wild turkey.

Listen you guys. The only wild turkey I know is like cheap whiskey this blew my mind and here I am still talking about it YEARS later.

It sure is. One of my hens -- and I haven't pinpointed the culprit -- develops an occasional taste for egg. That can be an issue of not enough protein or calcium in the diet, but I supplement for both of those things, so there's no reason my hen should be egg-eating. Worst part is that it's a learned behavior, and if one hen gets into it, the others will pick up on it. I nipped it MOSTLY in the bud after putting in a golf ball (they think it's an egg, and pecking it hurts and does not yield tasty treats), but I still occasionally find a smashed-up egg.

As someone who's grown up in a place jam-packed with wild animals, I can't help but laugh. xD Though we don't get wild turkeys up here!