"wild" turkey

[stubborn1VT]

My brother told me about this critter.  He said 2 of them got loose from a hobby farm almost a mile away.  I believed him, but here's the proof!  It is running with a flock of actual wild turkeys.  Not sure why they didn't end up on camera.  Unfortunately, it's a hen, so I won't be able to call it in and shoot it in May.

[PREDATE]

Apparently some free range poultry owners also let domesticated turkeys roam around with the chickens. I just seen it 1st hand yesterday while driving. I wonder if the turkeys are used as "guard birds" of some sort?

[growalot]

Wonder what future points will look like.

[growalot]

Poults....f#$&@%/ ..kindle.

[Doewhacker]

10 hours ago, PREDATE said:

Apparently some free range poultry owners also let domesticated turkeys roam around with the chickens. I just seen it 1st hand yesterday while driving. I wonder if the turkeys are used as "guard birds" of some sort?

Yup. Exactly, plus the Turkeys help keep order. 

We have a Jake and a Hen in with our flock and they will stay together until the Hen starts to lay.   

 

[Doewhacker]

10 hours ago, growalot said:

Wonder what future points will look like.

It doesn't look like a heritage breed so it can't be bred naturally. It may be a Heritage but I I'm not sure what it would be. It could be a barnyard special, if that's the case all bets are off lol. 

[Doewhacker]

One other note, I doubt it will survive long because it probably can't fly up to roost or avoid predators. 

Edited January 24, 2017 by Doewhacker

[stubborn1VT]

It has already survived most of a year.  Domestic birds can roost if they aren't grain fed and heavy.  We used to have to trim our bird's wing tips to keep them from flying over a 5 foot fence.

[Buckmaster7600]

Being surrounded by hobby farmers I have saw a bunch of domestic turkeys over the years. I know of one tom that was shot on opening day a few years ago by a neighbor.


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[Buckstopshere]

I wonder how many times this same thing (an alien escapee) happens with does and bucks that escape those high fence breeding/hunt operations into the wild. And those genes go into the indigenous population too. Gene pools get influenced by immigrants, aliens, and escapees. Little turkeys for generations with recessive genes and a few white feathers...if that hen can survive.

[stubborn1VT]

I spent a couple summers on Martha's Vineyard, and they had a mix of wild and "feral" birds.  They had all kinds of colors.  They looked strange to me, but they were BIG.  Some of that was climate and lack of predators.  

I think that hen stands a chance because she's with a flock of wild birds.  Of course, it has been a mild winter so far.

[growalot]

Quote

. Little turkeys for generations with recessive genes and a few white feathers...if that hen can survive.

Damn! There goes my tongue ...bit it clear off...alas...I'm getting better at this, though my tongues taking a beating....

[Doewhacker]

A little info info on Turkeys.

 

 

"A heritage turkey is one of a variety of strains of domestic turkey which retains historic characteristics that are no longer present in the majority of turkeys raised for consumption since the mid-20th century. Heritage turkeys can be differentiated from other domestic turkeys in that they are biologically capable of being raised in a manner that more closely matches the natural behavior and life cycle of wild turkeys. Heritage turkeys have a relatively long lifespan and a much slower growth rate than turkeys bred for industrial agriculture, and unlike industrially-bred turkeys, can reproducewithout artificial insemination.

More than ten different turkey breeds are classified as heritage turkeys, including the Auburn, Buff, Black, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Royal Palm, Slate, Standard Bronze, and Midget White."

Sure looks like a White Broad Breasted to me. 

 

[growalot]

Actually it could be a White Holland ,which are rare and very expensive. They were the "normal" sized bird(up to 25#'s) that was breed to wide breasted Bronze in order to produce those white broad breasted turkey. If she is, they may find spring poults...but I'm surprised someone isn't looking for her. If they are a turkey hobbyist it would be a show bird or breeder. There is at least one registered breeder here in NYS German town and one in Massachusetts, Sterling.

Then again it could be any one of these White Heritage breeds listed in the link. He did say it escaped a hobby farm...

http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/heritage-turkey-breeds

Edited January 26, 2017 by growalot

[Doewhacker]

It's definitely not a Midget variety, much to big for that. I actually might get some in the spring because they didn't not get as large and a broad breasted. We had some go to 50+ pounds live weight this year and let me tell you they eat too much and are a giant pain to process. 

It looks like some brown mixed in so I really can't tell what it is. 

 

Any one want a 32 pound frozen bird let me know lol 

 

PS We have Narangasettes now and they are awesome. You should hear my Tom gobble. 

Edited January 26, 2017 by Doewhacker

[stubborn1VT]

We raised both white and bronze birds to 50lbs.  Processing wasn't so bad, but they had to be sawed in half to cook.  The oven wasn't big enough!  

[Doewhacker]

9 minutes ago, stubborn1VT said:

We raised both white and bronze birds to 50lbs.  Processing wasn't so bad, but they had to be sawed in half to cook.  The oven wasn't big enough!  

I let them go too long and the plucking was a pain. Next year the ones we sell will go to a processor. Chickens on the other hand I do in a chicken plucker I built. I can two at a time in about 20 seconds. It's a hoot! 

[stubborn1VT]

On the farm we had to have 180 degree water in order to wash the milk pipeline.  We would fill a metal trashcan up with that hot water and dunk them for a couple minutes.  It starts to cook the skin and helps release the feathers.  It's called "scalding".  It made plucking go pretty fast, as long as you dunked them long enough.  We would hang them up by their feet and my brother and I could pluck one in no time.  

[Doewhacker]

I used a wheel barrow. Lol 

I had the water to hot and the skin ripped on some of my money birds. 

[Buckstopshere]

Wild birds, there are four wild subspecies...I remember the Western NY guy Dick Kirby that filmed the first Grand Slam of wild turkeys, and that was the four varieties...Eastern, Rio Grande, Osceola, and the Merriam of wild turkeys.

[Doewhacker]

31 minutes ago, Buckstopshere said:

Wild birds, there are four wild subspecies...I remember the Western NY guy Dick Kirby that filmed the first Grand Slam of wild turkeys, and that was the four varieties...Eastern, Rio Grande, Osceola, and the Merriam of wild turkeys.

Six actually. You missed the Ocellated and Goulds.

Edited January 27, 2017 by Doewhacker
Autocorrect

[Buckstopshere]

29 minutes ago, Doewhacker said:

Six actually. You missed the Ocellated and Goulds.

I stand corrected. Back in the day, there were four. I didn't know two more were added.