Keeping Turkeys

Ok, I LOVE turkeys! Seriously they are so sweet and cute and little- well little for a while. They are so sweet and loving and they "need" you.

We had them one very cold spring and it was too cold to be outside.  Mrs. Cottage let them stay in the living room in a tote. They would trill a gentle peep peep peep when they saw her.  

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But if we would walk away the peep peep peep got louder and more panic-stricken each time.  Then when we walked back to them they would trill the gentle peep peep peep.  They were so adorable!

When they grew up they still were sweet and gentle, just a bit bigger...

And bigger.  

This is the male turkey as it is doing its gobble, gobble, gobble and it makes the snood (the long piece of skin on its snout grow longer and its face turns blue.  It will puff itself up and hold out his wings to look bigger.  Then it will slowly prance around.

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Turkeys don't have the best eye sight and they are heavy.  See this little uh, er big lady standing on Mr. Cottage's hand.  OUCH! She is over 50#

They are really fun to raise and are a pretty easy animal to keep.  Just make sure you keep an eye on their feet.  Sometimes they can get infections.  We keep lots of straw or shavings down to keep their feet in good shape. 

Related Video: Baby Turkey 

They are very curious and love to have their photos taken.

Here are the boys looking to impress all of the ladies in the pen. Who am I kidding? They were talking to my mom.  She would come out and talk to them and they would turn blue in the face and spread out their feathers like this. 

Related Video: Winter the Turkey  

Love these guys!  Any questions?  Shoot us the question and we will do our best to answer them.