Turkeys and Electric Netting

[Finnie]

You may come to regret that once the toms are mature.

Oh, he’ll regret it all right, and not just the toms! He will regret the poop all over the porch. He will regret the turkeys perched on top of the house that somehow can’t get the nerve to jump down. He’ll regret the claw scratches all over the hood and top of his pickup truck. He may even regret the holes in his window screens from turkeys trying to get closer to him in the house!

These are the reasons why I eventually confined my turkeys. Come to think of it, most of these are the same reasons why I’m not allowed to have outdoor cats any more.

 

[R2elk]

Oh, he’ll regret it all right, and not just the toms! He will regret the poop all over the porch. He will regret the turkeys perched on top of the house that somehow can’t get the nerve to jump down. He’ll regret the claw scratches all over the hood and top of his pickup truck. He may even regret the holes in his window screens from turkeys trying to get closer to him in the house!

These are the reasons why I eventually confined my turkeys. Come to think of it, most of these are the same reasons why I’m not allowed to have outdoor cats any more.

I don't imprint my poults and do not have those problems. Mine do not follow me around.

The most annoying thing mine do is stand by the gate and holler to either be let in or let out.

 

[Berd Man]

I don't imprint my poults and do not have those problems. Mine do not follow me around.

The most annoying thing mine do is stand by the gate and holler to either be let in or let out.

Are your poults raised by the hens? We have to come to the brooder with food/water and move them to the outdoor tractor, then back in to the brooder at night. They had to have imprinted because of that, but yet they still will run from me when it’s time to go in for the night. The person I got them from actually told us we should spend a little time with them outside to encourage them to want to not run away.

Funny, geese do the same thing when they want to be let out for their swim .

 

[R2elk]

Are your poults raised by the hens? We have to come to the brooder with food/water and move them to the outdoor tractor, then back in to the brooder at night. They had to have imprinted because of that, but yet they still will run from me when it’s time to go in for the night. The person I got them from actually told us we should spend a little time with them outside to encourage them to want to not run away.

Funny, geese do the same thing when they want to be let out for their swim .

Mine are in a brooder for their first two weeks. The only contact I have with them is to refill the water and feeder. At two weeks old they go to the grow out pen.

They are usually a month to 6 weeks old before they join the general population.

I do not use "tractors" at all.

If I need to relocate them to somewhere else, I "herd" them with a long stick.

I do not handle them except in cases where treatment may be needed.

 

[Finnie]

I don't imprint my poults and do not have those problems. Mine do not follow me around.

The most annoying thing mine do is stand by the gate and holler to either be let in or let out.

Yes, I only made pets of my turkeys in the beginning, and then I learned better. I think that’s what a lot of people do. It was pretty neat at first until it got old

I think trying to have imprinted pet turkeys gets perpetuated by the internet. Unsuspecting people read that they make fun pets, so they jump in without continuing to research to find out the drawbacks. (I didn’t get my first ones for pets, I got them to guard my chickens. And eventually learned the fallacy of that myth too. But the breeder I got the first two from talked up how great his tame tom was, so I bonded with mine in the house like he did.)

At least we can continue our public service announcements about not imprinting poults, and it will help some of the people anyway.

 

[R2elk]

Yes, I only made pets of my turkeys in the beginning, and then I learned better. I think that’s what a lot of people do. It was pretty neat at first until it got old

I think trying to have imprinted pet turkeys gets perpetuated by the internet. Unsuspecting people read that they make fun pets, so they jump in without continuing to research to find out the drawbacks. (I didn’t get my first ones for pets, I got them to guard my chickens. And eventually learned the fallacy of that myth too. But the breeder I got the first two from talked up how great his tame tom was, so I bonded with mine in the house like he did.)

At least we can continue our public service announcements about not imprinting poults, and it will help some of the people anyway.

The poults themselves make it hard not to imprint them. They can be so loving, attention craving and adorable that they suck people right in.

People think it is cute to teach the poults to fly up and sit on their shoulders without considering what it might feel like when a 20 lb.+ bird lands on that same shoulder and sinks its claws in.

One fellow I knew was so happy to get a non-human imprinted tom from me because his previous human imprinted tom had tried to "breed" his head when he was kneeling on the ground fixing a hole in his fence.

 

[Berd Man]

I definitely don’t want or need my head mounted by a tom… perhaps it’s not too late to create some healthy space from the poults?

I will admit that I am in no way familiar with turkeys and this was sort of on a whim since they were offered to me (if it’s not obvious).

I figured I’d give em a shot and try and adapt to their needs and learn some things along the way. If it’s a nightmare situation I won’t be keeping them or passing along problem birds to the next person, we will be processing them for food.

I do appreciate the reality check and the experiences you all have shared. I have kids and a small wife, whom I do not want mauled by turkeys.