Turkeys have become synonymous with November in modern times.
You can easily guess that we actually invite turkeys to HAVE dinner here, not to BE dinner.
We celebrate our very first turkey at Unity Farm Sanctuary - Palmer the Royal Palm tom. He was headed to be slaughtered for the freezer one very cold day in February when we got the call that the owner just could not keep his two toms, "one had to go". Co-founder John got in the van and drove an hour to pick him up, brought him back and the rest is history.
Palmer lived with us for almost 8 years before passing away one night this summer. He was quite the fixture here and made an impression on most folks, always inquisitive and sometimes... a bit amorous to visitors!
Our Sanctuary turkey residents are a wonderful part of each day here - they have to see what is going on in the barnyard. Handsome Paul the Bronze Breasted tom fluffs up to display his best looks as soon as he realizes you are watching!
They have fancy shiny feathers, fancy snoods (that unicorn dangle over the toms' beaks), lengthy wattles, funny little beards, and a lot of personality. They make purring sounds too.
Turkeys actually enjoy listening to music and often loudly sing right along.The turkey hens, like Zelda, are chirpy and super social. And so particular! Zelda simply MUST lay her springtime eggs in the back of the golf cart!
When you visit here, you will see White Broad Breasted turkeys like Skipper, Maryanne and Ginger. There are Bronze Breasted turkeys and turkey crosses with Narragansett. And we even have Blue Slates that have surprising gray and white plumage
One petite new turkey friend here? Buttercup the Wild Turkey hen! We like to say she must have liked the room-service and the entertainment here, so she moved in over the summer. (We suspect she lost her flock) She sleeps in the tree above the Sweet Home Coop each night and all the other birds now trust and welcome her.
Sanctuary indeed!
(Top photo is Handsome Paul, lower photo of the brown hen is Buttercup, lower photo of the white hen is Ginger)
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