Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Just wondering when @windwalkingwolf will begin teaching this course. Pretty sure we all know what a turkey can do from bitter experience (and mine are only small!)
"To pick up a turkey, stand behind the turkey, fold your arms and upper body over her wings and back, hug firmly, and lift. If you “lose” a wing, put the bird down immediately and start over. Handle firmly but gently to avoid injuring the turkey or yourself. If your turkey is struggling or seems to be highly stressed, set her down for a moment and start again. Covering the bird’s head and eyes with your free hand may calm her. If you have never handled an adult turkey, do not attempt to do so alone and have someone with training demonstrate this for you. The turkey can panic and easily injure herself or the handler."
This was from farmsanctuary.org

works better in the dark for me....and better get it right the first time ha ha

Killerbunny wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:46 am

Just wondering when @windwalkingwolf will begin teaching this course. Pretty sure we all know what a turkey can do from bitter experience (and mine are only small!)

Right bloody now

Killerbunny wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:46 am

"To pick up a turkey, stand behind the turkey, fold your arms and upper body over her wings and back, hug firmly, and lift.

What? NO. Anything coming from above, especially from behind, is likely to be viewed as an aerial attack. Turkey will either turn to keep you in view and you lose your moment, or she will startle and whack you. If it's a heavy breed like broad-breasted, you risk sprained back, knees, pulled hamstring...add to that the fact that this particular lifting position will lift the birds' legs up in front of it. As soon as you start to tip a turkey backwards like that, it's an automatic struggle.

Killerbunny wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:46 am

If you “lose” a wing, put the bird down immediately and start over.

Should have said, "put the bird down immediately and make sure you don't have an open artery bleeding while the turkey heads for the hills"

Killerbunny wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:46 am

Handle firmly but gently to avoid injuring the turkey or yourself.

Good advice, but start more on the firm side than you think you need to. Because, unless said turkey is particularly enamoured with you, "gentle" may not be an option. Take how strong you *think* they are, and multiply that by 20.

Killerbunny wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:46 am

If your turkey is struggling or seems to be highly stressed, set her down for a moment and start again.

No. Setting her down will in no way improve the situation, especially if you're trying to vaccinate and have a time limit. Aim her butt away from you in case she poops, grip harder and get it done. Putting a panicked turkey down may result in 15 lbs of kamikaze bird trying her best to break out a window, and she won't care if you're in the way.

Killerbunny wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:46 am

Covering the bird’s head and eyes with your free hand may calm her.

I wasn't aware I had a third hand. I will have to look for it next time. Remember, both known hands will likely be full of kicking, wriggling turkey if you pick them up like this. On a related note, I have tried using cloths to cover the turkeys heads, thinking it would calm them like a falcon's hood. NOPE.

Killerbunny wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:46 am

If you have never handled an adult turkey, do not attempt to do so alone and have someone with training demonstrate this for you. The turkey can panic and easily injure herself or the handler."
This was from farmsanctuary.org

You. She will injure you. If she flaps, she can break your nose, and there is no describing the sting that comes from those wing feathers if they rake your skin at 40 km an hour.
Go at them on their level whenever possible, and broadside. Don't tower. Sit or squat and offer goodies. You simply can't get over top of a turkey if it's in a tree or the rafters or other high perch. Well, you can, but you won't want to. To pick them up, either (1) feet in one hand with turkey weight resting on it's chest on your other arm, or (2) one arm under bum and the other under chest. Use the chest arm to grab a fistful of wing primaries, and the other wing will be trapped against your body. Use the "bum" arm to hold onto her legs in case she starts kicking...those claws can do some damage, too, and if it's a tom, spurs can shred your skin through jeans. She will be unable to get her wings loose, and her attempts at freedom will most likely keep her distracted enough that your face will remain intact: however, if she's known to bite, don't count on it. They're pretty simple creatures, and once they realize that struggling is futile, they generally calm down, but a really panicked turkey may try to peck. If she pauses and looks you in the eye, she's calculating. You better recoil, fast. Either use a protective face shield, or march him to the axe.
With some practice, if turkeys aren't too huge, you can carry them like this with ONE arm, leaving the other arm free to help get you both down out of the tree

And thanks to Jan's teaching when she first came to pick up some turkeys I have survived the intervening years with only minor damage! Raking claws through my T-shirt leaving 3 marks akin to a velociraptor strike (Thanks Kathleen) and this years OPB show when I was chatting to John saying I got the turkeys cooped he looked at the scrape by my eye and said "yes I see that"! Thank goodness for the safety glasses. HD just looks confused and is no hassle, Eddie and Freddie are easy because they really really like me. Elena at the show just calmly walked her lovely bronze male to his trailer! It really is the females who are trickier. Oh and the 6 I took for processing weren't too bad because I was up a ladder taking them down from the rafters. DH was hand off person to the cage.
I am now very much looking forward to the end of February when vaccination boosters are due but I "only" have 12 turkeys to catch. Like I said previously I was going to overwinter 5.
My vet was interested in my turkeys and asked about vaccinations. I explained the ILT intraocular and she said she'd never had to deal with poultry or gamebirds. I offered her the amazing opportunity to come help the next time I did it. She hastily declined muttering she knew how big my birds are (she's local)!

OMG! I had no idea.

I must say, I am not planning to ever attempt this unless me or my dearest are in danger of starving to death, but Thanks for the entertaining read, I feel I am truly and well informed.
On second thought perhaps if I was starving squirels might do, certainly seems they would be easier to catch.

When I had my turkeys, beltsville, I was selling a young male and getting him out of the cage to hand over to the new owners. I was having a bit of trouble and exasperated I yelled at my husband " Gee Andy you could help! " The new owners thought I was talking to the turkey and when I saw them later in the year they were telling me how Andy (the turkey)was getting along.
Ha!Ha! Ha! Did I ever laugh telling my husband all about his name sake and how he looked just like him. We still laugh about that one.
You are right I always found the males easier to handle then the females.

Kbr42 wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 26, 2019 8:40 am

OMG! I had no idea.

It may not be that bad a lot of the time. It is critical that the birds get used to you and are used to being handled. In my breeder listing I comment that my birds are handled on a regular basis. I usually hope they don't maim the judge although not too many take them out of the showcage unless they are up for going further in the competition!

kenya wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 26, 2019 12:10 pm

When I had my turkeys, beltsville, I was selling a young male and getting him out of the cage to hand over to the new owners. I was having a bit of trouble and exasperated I yelled at my husband " Gee Andy you could help! " The new owners thought I was talking to the turkey and when I saw them later in the year they were telling me how Andy (the turkey)was getting along.
Ha!Ha! Ha! Did I ever laugh telling my husband all about his name sake and how he looked just like him. We still laugh about that one.
You are right I always found the males easier to handle then the females.

Kbr42 wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 26, 2019 8:40 am

OMG! I had no idea.

The heritage breeds can fly, very well when they decide they want to. The strength it takes to get a large bird in the air is formidable! The broad-breasted turkeys cannot fly, but they are just as strong, or stronger, and weigh 2-3 times as much! The BBs I had were very sweet, very well handled, and would walk right into my arms to be picked up...but I would not want to be a turkey catcher in a large operation!
It (usually) goes smooth as silk when they're used to being handled, but wild, they're often a two-person job just to get one caught in the first place. My old Tom, Mr. Fizzlebeef, is always a test of patience and fortitude

i have a red slate hen that will basically run into my arms....or my hubbys....(we joke he has a wife and a girlfriend; but that's okay, because the tom likes me, so i guess we're even). for me, honestly, we turn out the barn lights, have a red light flashlight (keep in mind i do NOT show), sneak up on the birds as they are on the roost and wrap them in a bear hug from behind, while grabbing legs with one hand. the head invariably ends up under an arm (in the dark) and they stay nice and quiet. IF you get them right the first time. if they manage to get a wing out, we just let them go and try for another bird.....until they settle back down. and yes, safety glasses help....especially the jennies that go for the eyes when they're pissed.
mine can fly quiet well, so if they are on the ground we can grab them just as they are crouching for a take off.....but gotta be fast with those wings. it only takes getting hit in the face once with a wing to actively avoid it the second time! oh the whole though, my turkeys are breeders, so we really only need to catch if claws or beaks need trimming. and that i can do in the dark with my red light while they're on the roost, just go down the line clip clip clip and they have no clue what's going on. LOL