i too dred the day that he's gone .. but it is rumored that they can live as long as 30 !!!! Every year, at least one turkey is pardoned by the president for Thanksgiving. Female domestic turkeys are referred to as hens, and the chicks may be called poults or turkeylings. Turkeys raised for meat in factory farms usually don't breed naturally so it's no wonder that many people wonder just how does a turkey reproduce? Additionally, wrestling a 14 pound (live weight) turkey is hard enough. Four years ago we found out if turkeys and ducks can live together. He's now down to 82 pounds & can walk, & his feet aren't swollen anymore. Feeding. I have a turkey farm and these birds are wonderful to raise. my dad is planning to buy some turkeys and a lot of people sell them in my area but i don't know how long they live so they might sell me an old turkey … If you own wild turkeys and do not wish for them to fly away, their wings need to be clipped on a regular basis. And then things went down hill fast. Turkeys need the majority of the care and attention during the very first couple of years. Instead, farmers artificially inseminate them. The natural lifespan of the turkey is up to 10 years, but on factory farms they are slaughtered when they’re just 5 months old. This tradition of sending the pardoned turkey to live on a farm began with Mrs. Nixon. All turkeys born of parthenogenesis are male, and they’re indistinguishable from males produced by natural or artificial mating. like you he is the my favorite !! Moving in with the ducks seemed like a probably solution. Turkeys should be fed pellets as their main diet. Although turkey parthenogenesis is rare, the incidence can be increased by vaccination with certain live viruses, and by keeping hens within the sight and sound of nearby males. And it worked for a time. The turkeys had outgrown their grow out pen and needed a permanent place to live. Let me … You can buy fowl pellets at many farm and pet stores. “Some years, I barely break even,” she admits, though her turkeys play an important role in the farm’s ecosystem, nabbing fallen fruit, eating insects, and scratching the soil. The number of turkeys that live on a farm depends on how large the farm is and how many turkeys the farmer wants to raise. Domestic turkey is a popular form of poultry, and it is raised throughout temperate parts of the world, partially because industrialized farming has made it very cheap for the amount of meat it produces. Turkeys are friendly and curious about nature. Because of this, I’d rather have them dressed and frozen at week 14, instead of extending my risk, chores and feed for another month and a half. In the wild, male turkeys seek the attention of females in the early spring by wooing them with a special courtship dance. Wild turkeys can fly at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour and run at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. There are more than a few reasons to boost turkeys. The turkeys have been sent to different zoos and farms over the years. The potential life expectancy of all species of farm animals is several times higher than the age at which they are slaughtered. After this time they get significantly simpler to care for. he is 16 years old !! So we put him on a turkey diet, lol. Turkeys do not live very long. After raising a pair of turkeys from poults we decided to breed them instead of eat them.