I watched our four young turkey poults off and on while we weeded, I have no idea how commercial turkey breeders can have in good conscious raise birds as they do. I know consumer driven demand calls for turkey on demand in huge amounts but the birds were never meant to be housed.
Ours do what we call a walkabout. They start in the morning about 5:30 am...walking quickly, browsing on grass and bugs as they march around the farm. They come back to rest and get water and some scratch but off they go again. From the youngest tiniest baby's to the 'old' guys they must walk 4 or 5 miles a day. Happy and curious, dust bathing in the garden and gobbling at things in the grass. They eat bugs, chase grasshoppers and we think have controlled the Colorado Potato beetles this year.
As we weeded the four poults we had in the house were with us in the garden, over by the tobacco barn, up on the hill by the hay bales and over by the house, peeping happy peeps as they marched.
Happy birds, a joy to watch and a bright spot in our day.
