Loves hugs, falls asleep in mom's arms: What life is like for turkeys at a farm sanctuary

Donna Gervasi, co-owner of Grayrock Farm Sanctuary in New Jersey, knows turkeys have feelings.

They cry. They whimper. They love. They mourn.

“When we had to euthanize our turkey Nicholas, I had to cover his brother Elijah’s eyes because he was crying and whimpering,” Gervasi said. “And for days before that, Elijah stayed right next to him to guard him from any danger.”

Nicholas wasn’t euthanized because he was sick or old. As a genetically modified, or GMO, turkey, he was bred to grow massively in just a few months to be someone’s Thanksgiving dinner.

He was saved from slaughter, but by the time he was nine months old, he weighed 70 pounds and his legs, unable to support his unnatural weight, buckled underneath him.

After depression from the loss of his brother, the same fate befell Elijah two months later.

One night he couldn’t get up due to his genetically-enhanced weight, and he had a heart attack and died. He was 11 months old.

Domestic turkeys without genetic modification live up to 10 years, but turkeys bred for consumption are killed when they are between 5-6 months old.

Luckily that end won’t be the same for Tama, a domestic, non-GMO turkey living at Grayrock Farm Sanctuary, which houses farm animals that were abused, neglected or otherwise need homes. They're all free range and roam about the sanctuary.

At two years old, Tama loves hugs and follows her “mom” around no matter where she’s going.

“Like a dog or a cat would, they choose one person to follow around and I’m it,” Gervasi said. “She’s like my shadow. If I sit outside, she will sit by me and purr like a cat while I pet her in the sun. She falls asleep in my arms.”

During the day, Tama hangs out with chicken and duck flocks at the sanctuary and she “fits right in,” Gervasi said.

At night, Gervasi lifts Tama onto an extra-wide perch that she made in the chicken coop so she can rest. Sometimes Tama flies down from the perch in the morning before spending her day “talking.”

And no, domestic turkeys are not mean like some people think after encountering wild turkeys – who are unfriendly to people because they are, well, wild animals.

Gervasi’s turkeys have never tried to chase her, bite her, or harm an animal. She said turkeys are sweet and affectionate and just want love and attention – much like a dog or cat does.

However, they can be difficult pets since they need a farm to live on – they can’t live on concrete – and they need to dust bathe. They also love to "talk," like Tama does, and they can be loud.

Gervasi has eaten turkey in past years, but she’s been a vegetarian for a decade. For Thanksgiving, she makes lasagna instead of turkey, and she makes all the traditional vegetarian sides, like stuffing, sweet potatoes with vegan marshmallows, and green beans.

Gervasi encourages people who don’t want to give up meat to source their Thanksgiving turkey from local farms, where animals tend to be treated better than they are at factory farms.

During one-hour, appointment-only, free tours of Grayrock Farm Sanctuary, Gervasi doesn’t push vegetarianism. People feed the animals, learn about them, and get to know their unique personalities. Many times, that’s been enough to inspire people to become vegetarians without a single word from Gervasi.

“Everyone is on their own journey, but people connect with the animals when they’re here,” she said. “Sometimes I will hear back from people or they will visit again and tell me that for this holiday, they did something different, or they don’t red meat anymore or now they’re vegan.”

Gervasi said that just in the few years since she opened the sanctuary in 2018, she has seen a big change in peoples’ attitudes and diets since the plant-based movement became more mainstream. Plus, she said, people are slowly starting to stop disassociating the animals they eat from the animals they love.

“People don’t consider farm animals loving and affectionate creatures, but once you raise them and see what they’re like – which is just like us – you get it,” she said. “I tell people that our sheep, Ben, was going to be leg of lamb for Easter dinner and they’re like, ‘I don’t understand ? but it’s a sheep.’ “

The farm will close for tours for the season from Nov. 30 until April 1, but donations can be dropped off no matter the season, including old blankets and towels; Graham crackers and Saltines for the goats, pigs and sheep; mints and pumpkins for the horses; canned cat food and cat treats; and canned vegetables for the pigs, chickens and ducks.

The sanctuary is able to support its animals partly due to student programs and two festivals held each year. Gervasi, who takes care of all of the animals herself, pays the rest of the costs with her job as an accountant with her husband's contracting business.

Those animals include three horses, two goats, one sheep, four pigs, seven barn cats, 50 chickens, two roosters, nine ducks and Tama the turkey.

It all started with one of the horses – Gracie, who Gervasi’s daughter Samantha bought with money she had saved up when she was 16.

The black-and-white American paint horse was living at another farm where she was confined to a stall for several years and was likely hit. Samantha, who fell in love with her after riding her, desperately wanted to give her a better life.

Gervasi and her husband, Dave, were more than onboard with Gracie’s rescue. Gervasi had always wanted to work with animals and have her own farm sanctuary, though she worked in real estate for 30 years and is allergic to hay, horse and goat hair, and cats.

The family sold their home in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, and purchased their Clinton Township farm in a foreclosure. After fixing it up, Gracie moved in, who was followed by Freckles, a blind horse. The list of residents quickly increased.

“I knew there was a need for a farm animal rescue, so I decided to rescue whatever animal I could that needed a home and it just grew from there,” Gervasi said. “People text and call me all the time. We want to help any animals that were abused or neglected and rehabilitate them, and also teach people compassion for animals.”

Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014. She can be reached at[email protected], on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Thanksgiving turkeys: Some spared roam free at a farm sanctuary