Can a Turkey Actually Drown in the Rain?

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A very old story says that if you leave a turkey outside in the rain, it will look up and drown. We know this isn’t true, but the turkeys that live at Blackberry Farm have some cute personality traits that we love to see. We asked our livestock manager what turkeys do when it rains and to tell us more about the hens and toms that live at the Farm!

There is always a pair of adult turkeys around the Dairy Barn so that people can get close to them and see what a unique animal they are! Tom was our male (called a tom), and Ms. Turkey was our female (called a hen). Ms. Turkey is still with us, but Mr. Tom passed away of old age a couple of years ago. The tom who lives with us now is Tommy. In addition to our staple pair, we raise a group of turkeys every year. The Narragansett and the Heritage Bronze are the two breeds we like best out of all the ones we’ve had over the years.

There is always something new for the turkeys to see, and Tommy likes to add the chickens to his flock. You will almost always see Tommy showing off and strutting around the Dairy Barn. Tom turkeys make a noise called “drumming” and flex tiny muscles at the beginning of each feather to make it puff out. This is done to get people’s attention. The different fleshy parts around their face, called the snood and caruncle or wattle, change color too. This is done by narrowing their blood vessels. The color depends on their mood. When they are chill, their skin is light pink, but when they want to show off, it turns dark red. Some parts of the skin around their face will turn blue when theyre excited. The turkey can make his snood longer as part of his strutting act. It hangs over his nose. All of this strutting serves a few different purposes. It’s used to get females to come near, scare off other male competitors, or keep predators away from hens and their chicks. Females can also flex out their feathers, and they do it sometimes to show another female who is boss or to protect their young, but it doesn’t happen very often.

In the rain, turkeys will seek shelter to stay dry. Heavy rain will usually make a tom put his feathers back down if he is busy strutting so that the water doesn’t get to his skin. Ms. When Turkey runs to safety in the rain, she often sounds an alarm call, almost as if she’s telling the other birds where to go.

As Thanksgiving approaches each year, turkey-themed folklore seems to spread as rapidly as the bird’s feathers One popular myth contends that turkeys are so stupid, they will drown if they look up at the falling rain with their mouths open Is there any truth to the idea that turkeys can drown in the rain? Let’s take a closer look at the evidence.

Where the Myth Comes From

The myth that turkeys can drown in the rain likely stems from their reputation as dumb birds. Turkeys do have some quirky behaviors like gobbling at strange noises and staring into space. When turkeys tilt their heads back to look upward they can appear oblivious to their surroundings.

During heavy rain, turkeys sometimes do look skyward with their beaks open. This odd posture led to the myth that rainwater will pour into their mouths and drown them if they hold that position too long.

In reality, the turkey is just gazing upward, not helplessly catching raindrops in its mouth. But the myth makes for an amusing visual.

Can Turkeys Actually Drown?

While turkeys won’t drown from natural rain showers, it is technically possible for them to drown under the right circumstances. Here are some scenarios in which a turkey could drown:

  • Being submerged in deep floodwaters and unable to lift its head above water

  • Getting its head stuck in a container of water like a bucket or trough

  • Being forcefully held underwater by a predator or human

  • Falling into water and suffering injury or exhaustion that prevents it from swimming

So while rain alone won’t drown a turkey, immersion in water can be deadly if the bird cannot get its head above the surface to breathe. Turkeys can swim short distances if needed, but they tire quickly.

Why Turkeys Tilt Their Heads Back

Rather than raindrop enchantment, there are a few real reasons turkeys tilt their heads back:

  • Scanning for aerial predators like hawks and eagles

  • Adjusting their line of vision – turkeys have monocular vision so can’t see straight ahead easily

  • Displaying dominance and authority to other turkeys

  • Suffering from a genetic condition called tetanic torticollar spasms

So next time you see a turkey staring skyward, it’s likely just demonstrating natural turkey behavior, not an act of self-destructive foolishness.

Are Turkeys Actually Intelligent?

Despite the myth, wild turkeys have impressive abilities that require intelligence and awareness, including:

  • Complex social structures and communication
  • Ability to band together against predators
  • Capacity to learn from prior close calls with predators
  • Navigation of large home ranges
  • Skill incubating eggs and raising young

So while turkeys may look silly to us humans sometimes, they have evolved effective instincts and behaviors for survival. Their quirky nature doesn’t equate to stupidity or helplessness.

So let the turkeys enjoy the falling rain without worrying about them! With good waterproof feathers and the natural instinct to seek shelter, rain showers are no existential threat to our feathered friends.

can a turkey drown in the rain

A To-Do About Turkeys

can a turkey drown in the rain

A very old story says that if you leave a turkey outside in the rain, it will look up and drown. We know this isn’t true, but the turkeys that live at Blackberry Farm have some cute personality traits that we love to see. We asked our livestock manager what turkeys do when it rains and to tell us more about the hens and toms that live at the Farm!

There is always a pair of adult turkeys around the Dairy Barn so that people can get close to them and see what a unique animal they are! Tom was our male (called a tom), and Ms. Turkey was our female (called a hen). Ms. Turkey is still with us, but Mr. Tom passed away of old age a couple of years ago. The tom who lives with us now is Tommy. In addition to our staple pair, we raise a group of turkeys every year. The Narragansett and the Heritage Bronze are the two breeds we like best out of all the ones we’ve had over the years.

There is always something new for the turkeys to see, and Tommy likes to add the chickens to his flock. You will almost always see Tommy showing off and strutting around the Dairy Barn. Tom turkeys make a noise called “drumming” and flex tiny muscles at the beginning of each feather to make it puff out. This is done to get people’s attention. The different fleshy parts around their face, called the snood and caruncle or wattle, change color too. This is done by narrowing their blood vessels. The color depends on their mood. When they are chill, their skin is light pink, but when they want to show off, it turns dark red. Some parts of the skin around their face will turn blue when theyre excited. The turkey can make his snood longer as part of his strutting act. It hangs over his nose. All of this strutting serves a few different purposes. It’s used to get females to come near, scare off other male competitors, or keep predators away from hens and their chicks. Females can also flex out their feathers, and they do it sometimes to show another female who is boss or to protect their young, but it doesn’t happen very often.

In the rain, turkeys will seek shelter to stay dry. Heavy rain will usually make a tom put his feathers back down if he is busy strutting so that the water doesn’t get to his skin. Ms. When Turkey runs to safety in the rain, she often sounds an alarm call, almost as if she’s telling the other birds where to go.

– Christen Waddell, Livestock Manager

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Ava: Why Turkeys, Rain Don’t Mix

FAQ

Can turkeys be left out in the rain?

There’s an old myth that if turkeys are left outside in the rain, they will look up at the sky and drown. While we know this isn’t true, there are some fun personality traits that love observing in the turkeys that live at Blackberry Farm.

What will turkeys do in the rain?

During and after a rain, gobblers will crowd into flooded fields to eat swampy insects and other grubs from the ground. Turkeys like to huddle in open fields during rainfall because their eyesight is not as good in those conditions, and the rain falling on leaves through trees limits their hearing.

Can turkeys get wet?

When wild turkeys get wet, they will shake frequently like the tom in the 1st picture to rid themselves of excess water and allow feathers to dry. Their ability to shed that water so easily hinges on them being able to preen, and wild turkeys spend time each day preening like the tom in the 2nd picture.

Can turkeys swim in water?

Wild turkeys can also run 12 miles an hour and, completing the triathlon, they are actually adept swimmers. They move through the water by tucking their wings in close, spreading their tails, and kicking. Wild turkeys are able to fly short distances at considerable speed.

Do turkeys drown if they look up during a rainstorm?

The myth that turkeys will drown if they look up during a rainstorm is false, though they do sometimes look up due to a genetic condition called tetanic torticollar spasms. Turkeys have monocular vision, meaning they can look at two different things simultaneously, but this doesn’t cause them to drown in rain.

Do baby turkeys drown in the rain?

Baby turkeys may drown in the rain, because obviously they are young and can’t take care of themselves. Baby humans would drown in the rain too. It has nothing to do with turkeys being stupid. This leads us to the next question. What do turkeys do when it rains.

Do turkeys look up at the sky when it rains?

There is an old wives tale that turkeys look up at the sky during the rain and drown. This is purely gobble gossip. The myth started with a dash of truth. Like for most animals –and people– severe weather can be deadly.

Do domesticated turkeys look up at Falling Rain?

Domesticated turkeys are so lacking in intelligence that they will look up at falling rain until they drown. Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Example:[Collected on the Internet, 1999] My grandfather told me that domesticated turkeys are so stupid that, upon feeling the first drop of rain, they will look up at the sky, fascinated.

What happens if it rains a Turkey?

If it’s a light rain, your turkeys wouldn’t mind and continue their daily routine as they don’t feel cold much. If however the rain becomes heavy and the turkeys are in the rain, the wild turkeys will run to their roosts for shelter or any available shelter that is good enough to protect them from the downpour.

Can rain kill turkeys?

Yes, rain can kill turkeys. If you don’t provide a shelter for your turkeys to run into when it rains, the heavy downpour could kill them. Inadequate roost or shelter can also be a problem when it’s raining. If the shelter can’t keep them protected from rain adequately, you may soon have dead turkeys on your hands.

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