We have had the hardest time keeping baby turkeys alive, but we have 3 survivors this time. We ordered our first batch of turkeys from Murray McMurray Hatchery last year and that was a total disaster. The turkeys were in the same box as the ducklings and unfortunately the ducks spilled their waterer and flooded the box. All the turkeys drowned, meanwhile all the ducklings were frolicking in the water happily.

This time we knew we had to separate the baby turkeys and the ducklings, and also not give the turkeys a deep water bowl. So, out of the 6 turkeys that arrived, three remain.

They are all very cute and were actually surprisingly tiny, smaller than even chicken pullets. Which may be why they were so fragile.

The biggest of our surviving turkeys, is most likely a boy so we named him McFly. I have yet to name the other two, as their gender is yet to be determined and they are still quite small. I’m pretty sure they are girls but not 100%.

One of the unnamed turkeys is a Lavender Slate heritage breed turkey, cream colored all over. The other one looks like a Black Spanish turkey just like McFly. Both of these breeds grow to be very large, broad-breasted birds.

I think we will breed them and try to get more turkeys before we eat one for Thankgiving this year. I’m really hoping we don’t have to order them from McMurray Hatchery again because for some reason they are just so weak and feeble I just don’t think taking the gamble with them is worth it.

So, what should we name our Lavender Slate turkey and our other Spanish turkey? Any suggestions?