Wild Turkey Babies

[henpecked]

Josie and i ordered wild turkey eggs, Osceola subspecies which are native only to South Florida. Josie put the eggs under some broody bantam hens we have and almost all hatched. Here are the hens with their turkey babies.

And here they are at 2 wks old. At 2 wks wild turkeys can fly!!!

Of course, here in Fla you have to have a permit to raise them. We're working on our pens and evacuation plans before the inspectors arrive. It's no big deal as we;ve been though this before with the parrots.Maya, the guard dog will have even more responsibilities now, LOL. We also hatched some Bourbon Red and Narragansett Turkeys but those we can free range. It'll be neat to see now they react with the local Peacocks.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

They are so adorable!!! I love the second pic, with mommy and turkey babies. I love turkeys but rarely see them (other than in a supermarket, and i avoid that whole section).

 

[Featheredsamurai]

So cute! You should watch the documentary "my life as a turkey", it's about a guy in Florida who raises wild turkeys.

 

[JerseyWendy]

How super cute!!!! But wait, let me get this right: When you ordered the turkey eggs, did you know that they were going to be fertile? Probably a dumb question, and I apologize....

So they are ready to fly now??? Will they fly away or stay on your property?

Golly...I'm full of questions today, aren't I? :52:

 

[SandyBee]

Awww, they are cute.

 

[henpecked]

How super cute!!!! But wait, let me get this right: When you ordered the turkey eggs, did you know that they were going to be fertile? Probably a dumb question, and I apologize....

So they are ready to fly now??? Will they fly away or stay on your property?

Golly...I'm full of questions today, aren't I? :52:

I guess you take a chance that they're selling fertile eggs, so i try to buy from people who are in the business for awhile. We ordered 24, 1 broke in shipping,2 where infertile (clear) and of the 21 remaining 18 hatched and 17 survived. Pretty good results, turkey eggs are famous for not hatching. I think using broody hens works better than any of our incubators. We also wanted them to imprint with something other than humans, it's such a pain to get mobbed by turkeys every time you go outside, They're more like dogs than birds. Wild turkeys fly at a very early age to avoid predators by roosting off the ground as soon as possible. Yes, at 2 wks old they can fly pretty good.Here in FLA you can not "free range" "game birds". They have to be penned. The domestic breeds (Bourbon Reds, Narragansett) don't fly well and generally stay put (like the chickens).

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thanks for explaining it to me, Richard.

I laughed really hard at your comment "getting mobbed by turkeys when you go out." HAHAHAHA!!!!

They are SO cute!!!