Toby the Turkey!
Arrived 10/18/2008

Meet Toby!  He came to us as a 1-1/2-year-old Narragansett turkey.  He is so handsome and so sweet and we just know he's going to make a great addition to our little hobby farm!  He is another PET and will not be eaten!  Kathy's warped biological clock was ticking and she needed another critter to cuddle.  More pictures to come soon of this handsome young man!  (I learned that thing on his nose, that goes from short to long, is not called a "face penis."  It it's proper name is called a "snood" and the red stuff is called "caruncles."  Not only does he gobble, but he drags the tips of his wing feathers on the ground to make a scratching noise and he makes a low-frequency "vroom" sound while he struts, called drumming.  Fascinating birdie.

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT!      

May 26, 2010 - Toby and Luc yuckin' it up for the camera.  Yes they are "fishing" from a boat, no there is no source of fish on which to do either--like a pond.

October 17, 2009 - Toby is such a ham!  Not only does he love people, he LOVES people...especially people wearing lots of blue.  It turns him on.  Here are some photos of him molesting our friend.  He is quite the gentleman though, just bumps up against them and does his fancy mating dance.  Thanks for having a GREAT sense of humor Jen!

August 11, 2009 - Toby is doing fantastic and hasn't changed one bit.  He still lets me give him a good-night h ug every night before bed and is just as sweet as day 1.  His babies left last month to go back to their original owners and his "woman," Theresa the Turkey, will stay here indefinitely to keep raising babies with Toby.  He seems to really enjoy staying in the chicken area with everybody else, and I enjoy it too because there are no more huge Toby poops on the driveway, on the porch, or on the front step.  I love my turkey but his poops were a major bummer. :-D

Toby and Theresa turkey with "Shaniqua" the duck all enjoying a warm sunny day.

October 21, 2008 - Toby has had a chance to meet so many people and little kids here!  He LOVES all the attention and let's everyone pet him who wants to.  Despite having a really mean and scary looking face, he is truly a love bug!  Kathy sneaks out to the barn many times during the day to grab him and plant smooches on that wrinkly head of his and he eats it right up!  Such a good boy!

October 25, 2008 - What a busy day for Toby!  He had so many visitors who wanted to meet him and pet him.  He put on quite a show and was even let out of the barn for the first time today!  He didn't leave "his" humans at all!  He stayed with everyone the whole time and when it was time to go back in the barn, he went right back in like the good boy that he is--AND he was a gentleman to everyone he met.

Click any picture to enlarge!
Look at the last 2 head shots of Toby here--can you see how his head can change from bright red to blue?!  Isn't that just the coolest thing EVER?! 

November 3, 2008 - Nighttime fun with Toby!  Yes, that is Luc and Toby doing the 2-step.  They are so white.
   

November 13, 2008 - Toby gets challenged by "Czeckers" the rooster.  Who knew roosters had problems with turkeys?  Or maybe it's just THIS rooster.  Toby was the one getting attacked, although you'd think it would be the exact opposite.  Toby wound up laying the smack down, however, and now they get along (see chicken page for photodocumentation of this).  Despite the aggressiveness of these photos, no one was injured as I was there to break it up.  I just HAD to document all the posturing for any would-be chicken and turkey owners.  This is stuff they don't tell ya about in books.

November 20, 2008 - Sometimes things go on here that, "just ain't right."  This was one of those times...
Toby, MD PhD, came inside to give me a hand, err beak, with my work.  He did not appreciate the intrusion of the camera man and was gonna go all HIPAA on his ass.

 

June 12, 2009 - Toby is a father!  The Royal Palm turkey he mated with hatched out 4 beautiful little babies! 

  First comes love!

Then comes marriage!

Then come eggs!

  Then come the babies!

November 6, 2009 - Toby and his nutty friend, Michele.  He does love the ladies!
Why yes, you too can come to Red Gate Farm and get molested by Toby the Turkey!