Turkeys
Many people raise turkeys purely for meat but they make wonderful and rewarding pets too!
We got our first turkey poults early 2010 at 6 weeks old, we had no idea what sex they were, only that they were Bronzes. We were surprised at how cute and friendly these little ones were and were enthralled by their constant 'peeping' sound. We named them Spud, Sprout, Swede and Parsnip!
As they grew the 'peeping' turned into gobbling and 'whit whit' sounds, and it became apparent that we had three hens, Spud, Sprout and Swede and one stag, Parsnip.
With the ratio of three hens to one stag we decided that we would keep the quartet for breeding and purchased three Bourbon Red poults to grow on for Christmas.
As the Reds grew we realised we had two stags and one hen so it was decided that we would keep a pair for breeding and have the surplus stag for Christmas, however on the approach to the festive season we had a request for a stag for breeding and the hen went off her legs with a very swollen ankle joint.
After several trips to the vet and parting with a couple of hundred pounds poor Red, as we had now named her, was not looking much better. The local paper, the Shropshire Star, heard about the TLC Red was receiving, and the fact that both her and Jack were in the house, and did a feature story about them in the week before Christmas!
The final result after several months treatment is that Red still limps but is now able to get about ok, so will stay with us as a pet! However a revelation as occurred as when Red was put outside 'she' started displaying and it has become apparent that Red too, is a stag!!! I think the illness had prevented him from maturing at the normal rate and the male characteristics didn't become apparent until he was on the mend! Some people probably think we're mad but we love our birds and will always try to nurse them back to health if we can.
We decided to have a go at showing our Bronze stag, Parsnip, at the National Poultry show in Nov 2010 and he came away with 4th in class, we also took him to the Federation of Poultry Clubs Show in Decmber 2010 where he gained 2nd in class. In January 2012 he achieved Best Bronze at the Welsh National Show. Sadly in June 2012 Parsnip was involved in a fight with one of our other stags and passed away as a result of his injuries.
We have been surprised at how well natured and friendly turkey's are and also how well they fly, there's no better sight than seeing four or five giant birds flying overhead like a squadron of bombers!!!
We got our first turkey poults early 2010 at 6 weeks old, we had no idea what sex they were, only that they were Bronzes. We were surprised at how cute and friendly these little ones were and were enthralled by their constant 'peeping' sound. We named them Spud, Sprout, Swede and Parsnip!
As they grew the 'peeping' turned into gobbling and 'whit whit' sounds, and it became apparent that we had three hens, Spud, Sprout and Swede and one stag, Parsnip.
With the ratio of three hens to one stag we decided that we would keep the quartet for breeding and purchased three Bourbon Red poults to grow on for Christmas.
As the Reds grew we realised we had two stags and one hen so it was decided that we would keep a pair for breeding and have the surplus stag for Christmas, however on the approach to the festive season we had a request for a stag for breeding and the hen went off her legs with a very swollen ankle joint.
After several trips to the vet and parting with a couple of hundred pounds poor Red, as we had now named her, was not looking much better. The local paper, the Shropshire Star, heard about the TLC Red was receiving, and the fact that both her and Jack were in the house, and did a feature story about them in the week before Christmas!
The final result after several months treatment is that Red still limps but is now able to get about ok, so will stay with us as a pet! However a revelation as occurred as when Red was put outside 'she' started displaying and it has become apparent that Red too, is a stag!!! I think the illness had prevented him from maturing at the normal rate and the male characteristics didn't become apparent until he was on the mend! Some people probably think we're mad but we love our birds and will always try to nurse them back to health if we can.
We decided to have a go at showing our Bronze stag, Parsnip, at the National Poultry show in Nov 2010 and he came away with 4th in class, we also took him to the Federation of Poultry Clubs Show in Decmber 2010 where he gained 2nd in class. In January 2012 he achieved Best Bronze at the Welsh National Show. Sadly in June 2012 Parsnip was involved in a fight with one of our other stags and passed away as a result of his injuries.
We have been surprised at how well natured and friendly turkey's are and also how well they fly, there's no better sight than seeing four or five giant birds flying overhead like a squadron of bombers!!!