We have about 70 Midget White Turkeys that free-range a little too well all over our place. They spend the night on that pine tree that’s right by our bedroom, and on the railing of the deck, right by our bedroom. I’m going to need a power washer to clean the deck of poop. When they wake up in the morning, they land on the deck with such a loud thump, and then there is lots and lots of loud chatter as they decide their plans for the day.
All day long, wherever we go, whatever we do, we have a parade behind us. Where are we going? What are we doing? Come on, everyone, it might be fun! Turkeys are the most curious creatures we have on the farm. With 70 of them, it can be a bit overwhelming, but since they aren’t aggressive or mean, we at least don’t have to worry about having them near customers and other critters. They are complete scavengers, too, so having them forage all over the place is good for them and good for us.
We’re about a month away from Thanksgiving and I can hardly wait. The amount of fighting that’s going on is starting to drive me nuts. It’s so loud and so constant. They are big drama queens, so no one is actually getting hurt, but five or six or seven times a day, all the boys get into it. Lots of showing and posturing and calling your mother names, evidently.
Randy and Dandy also taunt the dogs when they get bored. If Bjarki is inside, they’ll knock on the door to see if he can come out to play. When Bjarki is tethered, they taunt him and taunt him, trying to get a reaction out of him. He’s really good at ignoring the geese, but the turkeys are starting to drive him to distraction. We call the Icies the Fun Police, because they break up fights all the time. No fighting allowed on this farm, sorry. So when Bjarki is tethered and the toms are fighting, he’ll bark and bark and bark at them, and his barking is getting really irritating.
I’ve noticed several farms around here are now selling frozen turkey, and won’t have any fresh for Thanksgiving. I can certainly understand the temptation. Hogwash Farm said
(Narragansett and Bourbon Red) The turkeys were supposed to be around until Thanksgiving, but they were too difficult to keep around for another two months. They are around 12 pounds each.
I am not sure we’ll make it, either! They are a bit overwhelming.
We’ll be clipping wings on the hens that we keep, but then I’m not sure where they’ll be sleeping, because they won’t be able to fly into the pine tree.
Buffy and Faith have really bonded with them, amazingly enough. A group from Kroka Expeditions showed up the other day when the dogs were still out. Buffy and Faith both were friendly enough, but stand-offish to the strangers, not aggressive, and made sure that they were always between the people and the birds. I guess they’ve decided they might indeed be demons, but they’re our demons. (Think demons like Lorne.)
you are the most engaging writer. sometimes i copy and paste and send your posts on to friends.
i love the way you write.
Would you be interested in selling hatching eggs from your midget whites when they start laying?