Turkey
| Turkey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Farming and Animals |
| Type | Livestock |
| Life Stages |
|
| Breeds | Meleagris |
| Smallest Pen | 40 tiles |
| Hatching | 28 days |
| Products | Turkey Egg |
| Food |
|
| Old Age | 4320 days |
The Turkey is a large farm bird that gives a survivor eggs, a whole bird for the pot and plenty of feathers. It is kept much like a chicken, but it breeds in a short spring season and gives far more meat per bird.
Turkeys are livestock. They live on poultry farms and stay near people instead of running off. Young turkeys are Poults. A female Poult grows into a Hen, and a male grows into a Tom. The Hen lays the eggs, and the Tom fertilizes them.
The game has a single breed, the Meleagris. The name comes from the scientific genus that holds the wild and farm turkeys of the real world. Toms are the largest birds, and Hens are a little smaller.
Turkeys matter because each one is a big meal. A whole turkey feeds far more than a chicken does. A flock with a Tom can raise a new generation every spring, so the stock lasts year after year. The cost is a little more care, since rain stresses turkeys and their mating season is short.
How to Raise Turkey
Turkeys live inside a livestock zone. The zone helps them find food, water and their hutch, and it keeps them from wandering. Adult Hens need about twice the room of Poults.
Turkeys eat animal feed, grass, hay, vegetables, fruit, seeds and nuts. Food goes in a feeding trough, and water goes in a separate trough. Poults can live apart from their mother.
Turkeys share hutches with chickens. They use a standard henhouse or a turkey house. The birds walk in during the evening and come out in the morning. The doors must stay open while they move, then close for the night. A closed hutch keeps the flock safe from the night predator event.
A hutch gets dirty over time. Dirt harms the health of the birds inside. Cleaning it takes water and an item that can scrub stains.
Rain stresses turkeys of every age, so a roofed shelter in the pen helps. Nearby zombies, gunfire, crowding and slaughter in sight of the flock add more stress. Every turkey can be picked up, carried and petted. Petting raises trust, lowers stress and trains the Animal Care skill. Toms attack when stressed and fight back when hit. Two Toms in one flock may also fight each other.
Turkey Breeding
A Poult grows into an adult in about four months of game time. Hens and Toms can breed as soon as they are grown. Turkeys mate in April and May, in the middle of spring. The breeding season can be switched off in the sandbox settings.
Hens begin laying in May. A Tom fertilizes the Hens that share his zone. A fertilized Hen stays fertile for up to two weeks, and the eggs she lays in that time can hatch. Eggs laid without a Tom are good for eating only.
Each Hen lays a large clutch of eggs over the season, one egg a day. A fertilized egg hatches after about four weeks. The hatch time can be changed in the sandbox settings.
Genes pass from both parents. They shape size, meat, weight, lifespan, strength, fertility, temper, egg size and clutch size. One Tom per flock avoids fights between males. Adult turkeys live for many years before they reach old age.
The turkey grows through these stages, each one taking the days shown to reach full size.
| Stage | Image | Grows For | Becomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poult | 
|
126 days | Hen, Tom |
| Hen | 
|
360 days | - |
| Tom | 
|
360 days | - |
Turkey Breeds
Each breed of turkey the game spawns.
| Breed | Image |
|---|---|
| Meleagris |
|
Turkey Products
A Hen gives one Turkey Egg a day once her laying season begins. She uses the nest boxes inside the hutch first. When the nests are full or no hutch is near, she lays on the ground in the zone. Eggs are gathered by hand from the hutch or from the ground. Collecting eggs trains the Animal Care skill.
Living turkeys also leave Turkey Dung around the pen. The dung is compostable and feeds a composter.
What a living turkey gives without being butchered.
| Product | Name | Image | How | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs | Turkey Egg | 
|
1 a day from a Hen | /additem Base.TurkeyEgg
|
Turkey Butchering
A turkey carcass gives a whole turkey ready to cook. It also gives a foot, a head, a skull and Turkey Feathers. Adults add Bone Pieces as well. Even a Poult gives a whole bird, which makes young turkeys a real meal.
Toms drop a Turkey Tom Head, Hens drop a Turkey Head, and Poults drop a small Turkey Poult Head. Adults share the Turkey Skull.
The number of feathers depends on the bird's plumage when it dies. Turkeys carry more feathers than chickens do. The carcass is used up completely, and adults leave no skeleton behind. The Butchering skill improves what each bird gives. Slaughter belongs out of sight of the living flock.
What a butchered carcass gives at each life stage, one tab per stage.
| Name | Image | Amount | Breed | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken Foot | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.ChickenFoot
|
| Turkey (Whole) | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.TurkeyWhole
|
| Turkey Poult Head | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Turkey_Poult_Head
|
| Turkey Poult Skull | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Turkey_PoultSkull
|
| Turkey Feather | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.TurkeyFeather
|
| Name | Image | Amount | Breed | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken Foot |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.ChickenFoot
|
| Turkey (Whole) |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.TurkeyWhole
|
| Bone Pieces | 
|
4-6 | All | /additem Base.SmallAnimalBone
|
| Bone Pieces |
|
2-4 | All | /additem Base.SmallAnimalBone
|
| Turkey Head | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Turkey_Hen_Head
|
| Turkey Skull | 
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Turkey_Skull
|
| Turkey Feather |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.TurkeyFeather
|
| Name | Image | Amount | Breed | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken Foot |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.ChickenFoot
|
| Turkey (Whole) |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.TurkeyWhole
|
| Bone Pieces |
|
4-6 | All | /additem Base.SmallAnimalBone
|
| Turkey Tom Head |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Turkey_Gobbler_Head
|
| Turkey Skull |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.Turkey_Skull
|
| Turkey Feather |
|
1 | All | /additem Base.TurkeyFeather
|
Turkey Locations
Turkeys start on farms with turkey yards. Small farms keep a few Hens and no Tom. Standard turkey farms keep several Hens with one Tom. Large turkey farms keep a big flock of Hens with a single Tom. Some poultry yards roll either turkeys or chickens when the map is made.
The farms that start with turkey, by size, and how many females and males each one holds.
| Farm Size | Females | Males |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 3 to 8 | 1 to 1 |
| Large | 6 to 15 | 1 to 1 |
| Small | 1 to 4 | 0 to 0 |
Notes
- Turkeys mate in spring, and Hens start laying in May.
- Close the hutch doors at night to save the flock from predators.
- A roofed shelter helps, since rain stresses turkeys.
- Even a butchered Poult gives a whole turkey.
- Keep one Tom per flock to avoid fights.
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