Turkeys on my Farm

Turkeys are a lot of work and have to be kept confined or they will wander off. The hens are good at hiding their eggs and really, really hate being messed with on their nest when they are sitting.

The chick that we raised up from last year is setting and may hatch babies around Christmas. There is a lot to learn about the care and raising of these birds. The mothers don't take particular good care of the babies, not like hens. We will have to have a “nursery” area. And did you know they get minuscule bugs called mites, that can end up weakening the turkey so much they die?

Now why did I want to raise turkeys? Seemed like the thing to do to have good size fresh turkey for Thanksgiving. So far, no home grown turkeys on our table. Maybe next year.

At least these turkeys can mate naturally and artificial insemination isn't needed as it is for the Butterball turkeys in the US markets. Don't think I'd be up for that.

When I drafted this note in Nov, I had 3 adult turkeys and one chick. Both turkey hens were sitting on 10 eggs each. One hen died Sat and we didn't find her till Sund. Too late to save any of the eggs. The other hen is doing OK and hopefully the eggs will hatch out Mon or Tuesday.