Our adventure in turkeys began with a simple phone call.

Ten days ago, I received a phone call from a dear friend in a bit of a pickle. She had left a few days earlier on a road trip from Ohio to Colorado. She called from Topeka, Kansas, in need of a favor. The friend who was watching her animals was losing turkeys daily to a predator and had no clue what to do. She simply asked if I could collect the remaining turkeys and bring them to our farm to babysit till she returned. Well, of course, I said yes! That is what friends do right?

I place them in the small spare coop I had available and thought, ok, we could make this work. There are a few things about turkeys that we did not know. One, they grow fast! In only ten days they doubled in size! The little coop was no longer a fitting place for their living quarters. As my husband and I looked around the property to see what we could come up with, those turkeys figured out to fly. No longer wanting to be confined to their coop, they became free-range turkeys during the day… We decided to clean out a small greenhouse and make it their larger temporary housing.

A few other differences from chickens is they eat and drink a lot more. Which comes to the next big difference they poop a lot! I mean a lot! Ugghhhh, they need a bath so bad! They not only poop a lot, but they lay it….Ewwww I find turkeys to be much more smelly and dirty than the chickens. However, they are so sweet and gentle. They follow us around the yard and enjoy coming into the barn to hang out with the rest of the barnyard family.

As much as I have not had a ton of interest in raising turkeys, they are neat. I enjoyed having them, but I am definitely ready for them to go home. They are easy to get attached to. Sadly, these turkeys are going to be our friends’ Thanksgiving dinner. So, I’m trying not to become attached. However, they are so darn funny and enjoyable! I must keep telling myself they are not pets.

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