Tom and Lady

In a storm last month, the play house my sister and I spent a good deal of time in as children got knocked by a downed tree. It was no longer safe (up on poles) to be in, so a house for our future turkeys was born.

Tyler and my dad got it lowered onto the ground and cut a door since the original door was underneath. We cleaned it all up and got it turkey-ready.

The interior walls, apparently Lindy thought it was just her house. See my old nicknames? Lissy Doll, Missy, Kissy, Kmissy... PS I don't go by any of those now.

Mason and power tools...

Cleaning out the old insulation, taking a load to the dumpster.

Cleaning out a waterer for the turkeys. 

  Spreading the wood chips. Elliot and Finnley got a little carried away and started taking handfuls out, like when we were cleaning out styrofoam pieces. It was hard for them to understand this stuff stays.

Best shot I have of both turkeys. Lady on the left, Tom on the right. They move so much all my other photos are blurry.

The night before we got their house all ready, Tyler and Mason drove an hour and a half to go pick them up at bedtime (Mason had napped that day, so he was ready to go!) The farm they came from, according to my husband, was right up my alley in a dreamy way. They had goats, rabbits, chicken, oh my. The people were very nice, their kids played with Mason, and we are welcome back any time to visit and learn. I wish I could have gone, too!

They brought home a male and female. Tyler started calling the male Tom (as a male turkey is referred to as a tom, brilliant, eh?) He automatically thought Laura for the female because his step brother is Tom, his wife is Laura. We decided they might not enjoy having turkeys named after them, so we stuck with plain Tom and Lady. Or more formally know as Tom Turkey and Lady Turkey.

We aren't certain yet of the fate of our feathered friends. I want to keep both for breeding purposes. Tyler thinks it is too weird since they are siblings (turkeys can breed 4-5 sibling generations out before defects begin to appear) and wants to eat Tom and get another male to breed with Lady. We haven't come across any males for sale of the same breed (Royal Palms), so we have some more time to think it out.

Right now, Tom and Lady come out of their house in the morning and go straight into the enclosed chicken run, which is just strange. They are free ranging and can go anywhere they want, yet they choose there. Perhaps over time they'll get braver? Tyler is in charge of getting them in at night and it has yet to be an easy task. They are uncooperative, but at least they haven't hissed at him in a while!

So far I really enjoy having the turkeys. They make a pretty noise, much quieter than the ducks. They aren't exactly tame, but if you go very slowly up to them, you can catch them. They are growing quite fast, I can't wait to see how the male especially changes over the next few months.