# HOUSE train a turkey?



## gizooty (Dec 9, 2009)

hey everyone.. i just bought a turkey today.. 
HOW FUNNY ARE THEY.. 

and i was thinking... about keeping him in the house...

any ideas??

also what do i feed him.. 
i got him, cos some taliban was gona eat him.. 

hes sooo cute.. 
ill try n post a pic..


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## penny_black (Dec 6, 2009)

I have never kept turkeys, but i have geese n chickens i feed them corn, they love it. good look with house training it lol.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Wow, he's lovelynice Afghan hount too:thumbsup:


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## aurora (Aug 16, 2008)

he's lovely, you can get proper turkey pellets from the corn merchants for him. never had turkeys to keep only eat at christmas, have kept ducks and chickens for years, but not anymore


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## xxwelshcrazyxx (Jul 3, 2009)

I found a turkey but my hubby cant find him lolol


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## Guest (Dec 19, 2009)

xxwelshcrazyxx said:


> I found a turkey but my hubby cant find him lolol


LOL! 

Aww well done on saving him from being eaten! He's lovely.


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## Kenthenfriends (Dec 19, 2009)

Greetings, what a sweet turkey!

I have an indoor hen in this office here with me. I too am wondering how to house train her. So far, I have discovered that she does not like her sleeping area to be messy. A friend of mine said she saw a programme about pet indoor chickens with nappies, so my son and I tried to devise one, but Mary just kept stepping right out of it. I've no idea how she managed to walk right out of it given how many ways and times we wrapped and taped it!

She has asked me for a nesting box--my outdoor hens all have nesting boxes so I ended up giving her a basket filled with straw. She has turned it on its side and is sleeping in it right now.

We've trained a couple of our hens to walk up and down the stairs, and they do understand phrases like "up" and "in", and I do think they understand "water" and "mash". They are remarkably intelligent and gentle, and love being cuddled.

To eat: no experience with turkeys, maybe google or join a poultry club? Our hens love earth worms, slugs and snails, as well as mealworms which you can buy at pet food supply. One can order earthworms on amazon. Their staple is layers mash but then they are layers, and normal wild bird seed or sunflower seeds later in the day. If your turkey does not like pellets (our hens will not eat them), you can mill or grind them up. Some of our hens like it with a little bit of water. Also, I've noticed that a couple of them love grapefruit and honeydew melon! Some poultry like apples but not mine. I've heard of chickens liking pasta, and I've read about people cooking up various vegetables and feeding them to their chickens.

For healthy digestion, I've learned to add apple cidre vinegar to the water, and "vermix" to the food once per month, which is a herbal addition. They love the taste of the herbs, which reminds me that chickens love herbs--peppermint, spearmint, basil, and go wild over it!

Please keep us posted on how your turkey is doing, especially any insights into house training. Our guinea pig lets me know when he has to go by nibbling on my finger and starting to shake. If I don't get him back in time, he will have an accident. Maybe there is a way to have your turkey tell you. I hope to get Mary to that point, too, somehow.

Best,

Liz


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## gizmossister (Jan 26, 2010)

u can get bird nappies for them like parrots but u really cant house train them i have hatched turkeys out and looked after them at home and its ok when they are little mine lived in the house and fell asleep on my shoulder but they will poo whereever they stand really. u can buy corn mix from any decent pet shops or farm shops but u can also feed them a wide range of fish or vegtable scraps which they love, like chickens they will eat anything u give them really just try not to give them too much protien and obviously no poultry because of the risk of disease transfer, mince meat is ok very very occasionally but should only really be given as a treat. mine love rice pasta and anything else thats white really lol.


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## Kenthenfriends (Dec 19, 2009)

A friend of mine has offered to buy us nappies in the States. The website was temporarily down or one could order them online.
Mary is at the point where she stands next to her poo and toots and points to it with her beak. She has watched me collect poo so often she knows that's what I'll want to do. Also, I've observed that the hens wait to be let out as much as possible from their hen house in order to poo outdoors. They do not like to poo in their own area. It seems there might be potential for training them, but one would have to figure out how. They learn quickly but do not necessarily learn from detention: One of my hens likes to peck at Mary's crest. She does this right in front of me and then runs straight away into the detention cage. Obviously this "consequence" is not effective though it indicates poultry can be clever.
Food: a couple of our hens love plain and vanilla flavoured yogurt, spaghetti with olive oil is another favorite, chopped lettuce leaves. Honey dew melon! Fish bait places sell live earth worms, yum! Pet food stores sell dried or live meal worms. Seed for wild birds is worth trying.
I wish you the best of luck and bundles of fun!


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