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Post by Wheelgarden on Nov 6, 2022 14:28:27 GMT -5
No turkeys seen yet here either, at least nearby. Very unusual. They've usually been benign when they show up, except when they harvest my grapes.
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Post by binnylou on Nov 6, 2022 14:38:46 GMT -5
21 turkeys on the yard this morning…some of them were in the big old oak tree. Also in the Norway Spruce trees. I wonder if they spent the night.
One of the big Toms was interested in the bird feeder (still empty). He obviously visited it last year.
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Post by gardendmpls on Nov 6, 2022 15:48:12 GMT -5
No turkeys seen yet here either, at least nearby. Very unusual. Maybe with inflation, people are getting theirs the old fashioned way.
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Post by breezygardener on Nov 7, 2022 13:17:39 GMT -5
Maybe with inflation, people are getting theirs the old fashioned way. They'll be sorry if they want to roast it. Wild turkeys are a lot tougher than farmed birds & really need to be braised to be edible. And all dark meat, so you're out of luck if you're a white-meat fan. This year, as we did last year, we pre-ordered our bird from a local organic farmer who buys poults in the spring & field-raises them just a few miles from where we live. They get moved to new pasture every couple of days, & last year our Thanksgiving bird was the very best we've ever tasted - much better than the equally pricey heirloom birds we used to buy from Whole Foods every year since 1994.
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Post by Mumsey on Nov 7, 2022 19:26:36 GMT -5
breezygardener, Yes they are very different from farm raised! Dad knows how to cook them though, not my choice, but not bad either.
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Post by binnylou on Dec 15, 2022 11:47:23 GMT -5
25 turkeys currently on the yard. They were here earlier, moved to the cornfield across the road, but now they’re back. The wind is strong today and they have moved to a more sheltered area. It didn’t take long for them to decide that the cornfield was too windy.
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Post by Mumsey on Feb 1, 2023 7:07:05 GMT -5
Saw a flock of turkeys when leaving Dad's the other day, right on his corner and the busy blacktop road. They weren't even phased to see me.
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Post by binnylou on Feb 2, 2023 7:04:03 GMT -5
I’m thinking “love is in the air”. There was a lot of jumping, wing flapping, chasing happening yesterday. Must have been the sunshine.
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Post by binnylou on Feb 23, 2023 12:04:02 GMT -5
Turkey count this morning was 36…they were in the trees, on the deck rail, one fluttered down from the roof of the house. The branches of the trees are ice coated so there was a lot of dancing to maintain their balance. Beautiful feathers, but such an ugly face.
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Post by breezygardener on Feb 23, 2023 13:34:31 GMT -5
We haven't seen any all winter, which is a rarity considering how mild our winter has been. Unless the population was diminished for some reason, we should be seeing some in the next couple of months as breeding season starts.
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Post by binnylou on Jul 31, 2023 21:30:56 GMT -5
On the yard this afternoon, 2 toms, 2 hens, and 11 poults. Hubby ran the brush cutter through the non groomed part of our property, thus giving them better access to bugs. Today was the first we’ve seen of the little ones.
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Post by breezygardener on Aug 1, 2023 11:16:50 GMT -5
Yes - we've just recently (past month or so) seen "our" turkeys. Looks to be two or three adult females banded together with their different broods of poults. We should start seeing more of them once the poults get a little older.
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Post by Mumsey on Aug 1, 2023 12:40:52 GMT -5
Traffic had to slow when I saw turkeys the other day, mom with all babies crossing the highway. Wooded area near a state park. Cute!
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Post by breezygardener on Aug 1, 2023 13:46:32 GMT -5
They definitely have a solid social structure here. April/May is when we start hearing the Toms gobbling &, if we're lucky, get to see them strutting their stuff in our yard or fields, trying to outdo each other in attracting the groups of Hens. Then in June/July we sometimes get a glimpse of individual Hens with their tiny little fluff-ball poults. One year we saw a brood that were no bigger than small plums, so definitely just a day or so old. They were adorable!! Next - July/August - the Hens start combining their families & traveling in groups. This is when we see them the most. Groups sometimes get as large as half a dozen or more adult Hens surrounded by several dozen poults of various ages. Last social stage comes around in October/November, when the adult Hens kick all the young male poults out of the group, & they form their own same-sex groups until the following spring. We've gotten to see this kicking-out in person. It's both funny & cruel to see the adult Hens rounding up all the poults & then sorting them out - like one sees done with cattle - chasing the males out & then running about keeping them from rejoining the main group. Then it starts all over again the next year - you can almost set your calendar by their antics.
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Post by datgirl on Aug 3, 2023 18:26:57 GMT -5
We've been seeing pheasant strutting around the neighborhood. First time we've seen them in a very long time. I guess I'll need a pheasant crossing sign.
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