Benjamin Franklin was famous for suggesting that turkeys be the national bird, not the eagle. Apparently the bald eagle took 6 years ot pick out as the national emblem. Here is his reasoning quoted in a letter to his daughter in 1784. I found this inWikipedia.
| For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him. With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country... I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America... He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on. | ” |
| "For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the fishing hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him. With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little king birds not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country... I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America... He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on. | ” |
These heritage turkeys, although not wild are definitely getting acclimated with time. They are very observant. When a grape comes in their cage they get very excited. If a worm or insect gets tossed in, they notice. Recently they have been escaping , first just sitting on the fence, then yesterday I found them near their buddies , but enjoying foraging in the wild wide world. They are very much a flock animal and do not like being away from the others.
Where these turkeys are located there are also flocks of wild turkeys. I am afraid the males might be in trouble if they start exploring in the neighborhood. The wild males might feel threatened. We clipped their wings recently, but not all of their wings. We have 11 of them and 4 chukkers. I guess the job of the weekend is to recheck clipping their wings and make their fenced area fenced higher.
When they are full grown we are going to butcher all but 3 or 4. One male and 3 females. It will be fun to see if we get little ones.
The waterer has been freezing lately, bummer. So we have a aquarium heater in the 5 gallon bucket. It has been in the low 20's. I guess we will have to put the bucket inside to try that. I set up a water bucket with nipples directly that seems to dethaw during the morning, but the nippleator is not fool proof in cold weather as of yet.....
Project plans, bring water bucket inside and test if it freezes the hose inside, and then make the fence higher for the turkeys.
When clipping their wings we had to be careful not to cut to close.
