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Our turkey Andy has a lot of personality.  So I thought that I would compile a list of some of my favorite Andy things to date.

DANCING: Andy does a lot of dancing and puffing, and to some people this might make you believe that he is being aggressive. His dance reminds me of a Japanese fan dance — lots of prancing then posing with a swish of his fan-like wings. But the truth of the dance is in his colors, he has a beautiful head of color that he wears like an ever-changing '70s mood ring. 

COLORS — OF HIS HEAD: Red means agitation, this should be obvious, but it took a while to sink in. The darker the red the more agitated and the more likely he is going to peck or spur his agitator. If you wear red or dark orange, you appear to be asking for a fight and Andy will take you down.

Blue means curious and interested. He is checking things out and making sure that they are all right. He also turns blue if you calmly sing or whistle to him while he dances all around you.

White means calm and at peace. When Andy gets his breakfast he is white and pale blue — just looking at him makes me feel calm. In the evenings after the chickens are in bed, he nests under the trees and serenely looks around all in pale blues.

GOBBLING: Me and Andy have a ritual — if he can't see me and I crow or say Abba dabba dabba, he will gobble back. Sometimes when I honk the horn or rev the ATV engine he will gobble also. I think his gobble has a different inflection for the mood he is in.

MUSIC: Andy has a wide range of sounds he makes that are totally different from the chickens. His calls are more jungle sounds, some are Up-Up or We-Haws or throaty vocalizations. At one point when fighting my red sweatshirt, he let out a purr that was rare and I will always treasure.

HAPPY: When I come home from work, Andy runs to the gate and paces back and forth. You might say he is just hungry but that does not explain why he also does a dance around me before he ever touches his food.

BEDTIME: Putting Andy to bed is an adventure. We are always trying to think up new ways to get him into the coop. He will chase a red object inside. A light tap on the bottom sometimes works, but my favorite is walking behind him gently touching his tail feathers while he waddles up the path to his door. This is a time when you can just enjoy the evening with him.

Andy doing his fan dance.

Andy agitated by the camera