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OT End of an era around here

D

Dave H (MI)

Well-known Member
Our old tom Narragansett turkey died today. Came here when he was just a poult. A gift to my oldest daughter when she was a preteen. She is 25 now so we roughly know him to be over a dozen years old. This turkey was exhibited at the Michigan State Fair for the last several years it was in existence. He won champion turkey every year but one. The year he lost his daughter beat him. I have told people he must have been the most photographed bird in Michigan for a while. Several times over the years I sat and counted the number of people who took his picture over a period of time at the fair. Came out to a huge total over the term of the exhibit. You never saw this bird but what he looked like he does in the picture. If there was a human around, he was on display.

His name was Candle because the skin on his head and neck looked like melting wax. He had one last egg he managed to fertilize last year, the others were clear. Survived by four sons and two "wives". He woke me up WAY to early many a morning so I never thought I would say it...but...

I'm gonna miss him.
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Great story about an unusual pet/bird. I wonder what the average life span of a Turkey or even a chicken is????
 
Iv had a few hens make it to 6 years but they got killed by a fox, so not sure how much longer they would have lasted.
 
Best looking turkey I've ever seen- I'm not surprised that he had a zillion pictures taken. Sorry for your loss.
 
Other than what I already mentioned? Well, he hit a lot more shows than the Michigan State Fair. Other than the one time his daughter beat him he was undefeated. Champion turkey at every show. The only other thing I would mention is that he was a bit of an a**hole. We loved him, yes. Beautiful, yes. But if you had a building project in the backyard where he lived you could count on his constant attendance. If you were using a hammer, then every single blessed hit of the hammer would be followed by a gobble. Frankly, it's a wonder I did not kill him. He liked to fight his reflection and had to be chased off the patio routinely. He started his calling before dawn and stayed at it all morning. He was not aggressive, but scared a lot of people because he was not afraid of anything and would strut around your legs all day if you let him. You can see from the picture...he was a very large bird. He has two beautiful sons, another that is less than a year old but looks promising. His fourth son is rather small and truly fierce. Chases people. Go figure. :)
 
My great grandfather told a similar story once about a bird he had. It was known to be unfenced and attacked anyone who travelled up the lane to the barn.

Upon hearing from him the most beautiful eulogy a turkey could receive, a fellow member of the church offered his deepest condolences and then after a pause, commented, "I hope he taste alright."


I don't mean to enflame, but rather, I hope this lightens your mood. It's always hard to loose a pet. They did bury that bird.
 
Good for a laugh, John! Many is the time I threatened to eat him! Candle never attacked anyone, but his one runty son does daily. That little guy has been slated for target practice for the last six months but I never get around to it. I am thinking about making a new turkey pen out to the farm house. Lot of predators there so I figure I will put runty in the new pen for a month and see how secure it is. If he survives then I shoot him and move the others out there. Or lock him out of the pen and let him be a guard turkey. He's going to hurt someone if I don't move him on soon though.

Candle on the other hand was a "people turkey". The minute he saw a person he fanned his tail and strutted and thrummed. Judges loved him. People gathered around and watched and photographed. A real ambassador for poultry. I think his one son has potential to be his successor. I guess we will call him "C.J."....Candle Jr.
 
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