Some children want a dog or cat to be their playmate every day. But some consider rare animals to be their pets. Many of you may find it unusual to have a turkey as a pet. But for your information, for decades, turkeys have been kept as pets. In fact, the son of Abraham Lincoln had a turkey as the first White House turkey pet due to his turkey-like social behavior.

Farm Sanctuary, one of the animal welfare groups, proved that turkeys are intelligent and highly social animals. They can be compared to dogs when it comes to companionship and reliability. Former US President George W. Bush once noted in his 2001 Thanksgiving national introductory address that keeping turkeys as pets is a generation-old and still-existing tradition and recommended continuing it.

There are two types of turkeys based on their breed and turkey behavior. One is the wild turkey and the other is the domestic turkey. Domestic turkeys are those that are born and live on a commercial poultry farm where they are only destined for Thanksgiving dinner. They are fed with pellets and other commercialized artificial feeds. Domestic turkeys do not have the ability to fly as they are only kept in cages and given food and warmth every day without letting them exercise their wings. They are not known for any intelligence abilities, unlike wild turkeys.

Don’t be afraid to keep wild turkeys as pets because of their name. It is because of their turkey-like behavior that some consider them pets. They are called wild turkeys because they are born in the wild and live naturally with no restrictions on what they eat and do. They can fly since they are born free. Some believe that they are more intelligent than domestic ones, and for this reason many prefer them as pets.

It is also best if you will keep a male and female turkey to keep your turkeys happy and lively. The usual turkey behavior of a wild male turkey is loud clucking and clucking. They are also gobbling and fluffing their feathers when they want to mate with a female guan. They will spread their wings while gobbling tremendously for the female to notice. You will also observe that they will run from one side to the other. It is an additional attraction strategy to get the female. These are common indications that the hen or hen is ready to mate. You will then identify who is the dominant tom and who is not. Typically, the dominant male turkey will mate first, while the others will simply attempt to mate when the dominant one is not around or looking.