Meet Peter, Paul & Mary. They live in my backyard.
PP & M are Bourbon Red Turkeys, a heritage breed of which there are fewer than 10,000 worldwide. Why are three of them pecking and scratching around my garden? Good question. The answer lies somewhere between piqued curiosity and a moment of weakness.For one reason or another, the past few clutches of turkeys hatched at the farm, where we now both work, haven't fared well. So when Mark heard peeping coming from the turkey pen in late July, he did something that I would have never done. He went into the pen and scooped up three turkey hatchlings. The mama hen hated it, the baby turkeys hated it and Mark hated it too. But, it seems this was the right thing to do in the long run. They weren't eaten by raccoons as others had been. And as we found out soon after, a fourth turkey chick managed to hide out in the pen and ultimately drowned.
Mark wanted to bring them home immediately. I wasn't sold, no matter how ridiculously adorable he said they were. Luckily, a fellow farm apprentice named Chris was just beginning to raise a group of pastured chickens and agreed to let the turkeys crash his brooder. Chris also generously supplied the turkeys with feed and shelter for the first 10 weeks of their lives.
I first saw PP & M when they were just a few days old. As you can see, cute is hardly a strong enough word. They were spry, miniature ostrich-like birds with agile little bodies and tiny little bumps for snoods. My first mistake was holding one in my hands. It peeped at me like crazy, telling me off at first, but as we walked across the field a ways, it looked up at me and just stopped suddenly. We looked around the pasture and walked for a bit more. I was toast.
Several weeks later, I found myself making a backyard run out of rebar mesh and feeding the remnants of my tomato garden to three growing birds. Funny enough, I named them long before I knew what mix of toms and hens we had on hand, and I got it just right somehow! Peter and Mary displayed fairly definite traits; however, "Paulie" kept me guessing until just one week ago. We've had them out back for three weeks now, making them about three months old all told.There is just so much to share about the backyard turkey experience so far, and in coming weeks, I hope to share a whole lot more about them. They are just such neat birds! In the meantime, I'm sure I've raised a few eyebrows and laughs around my family's dinner table back in Washington. If you have any questions for us, don't hesitate to ask.
Oh...and before I forget...
Paul wanted me to wish you all a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
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