Fen dad needs daughter-chasing turkey and ducks that scare dogs rehomed

A man wants to find new homes for his ducks, which have wrecked his garden and rendered his dogs too scared to leave the house, and a turkey who chases his daughter.

Paul Griffiths took on the animals as a favour to friends but they have become a bit much for him to handle.

The turkey stole food and his 15 ducks tore apart his garden near Guyhirn in Cambridgeshire.

He hopes new owners will give them a loving home rather than cook them.

Turkey-Lurky has grown to be rather large and somewhat unruly, Mr Griffiths told the BBC.

It regularly jumps on the kitchen counter to steal food, chases Mr Griffiths' daughter, and "has got a bit of beef with one of my chickens", he said.

He took that bird on as a favour to a friend, as the turkey used to get underfoot and trip up its previous elderly owner.

While he is looking to rehome his turkey, he said he would never consider Lurky anything other than a pet.

"Yes, I eat turkey at Christmas - but out of the freezer, not out of the garden," said Mr Griffiths.

His once-tiny flock of 15 Muscovy ducks are now more like feathered fiends than friends, he said - and the size of a small swan.

"My dogs are scared to come out of the house now, because the ducks attack them - and they've destroyed the lawn."

Asked if there was a way to curb the birds' behaviour, Dr Viola Ross-Smith, from The British Trust for Ornithology, said Muscovy ducks were "a funny old species".

"They are big birds and it sounds like it's all got a bit out of hand," she added.

She said both the ducks and the turkey were likely to "do this thing calling imprinting", which meant the first thing they see "becomes their sort of parent figure so if it happens to be human, they might basically think they're humans and follow that human around, and then that makes it quite difficult for them to change to a different environment later".

So, could the temperamental turkey be trained?

"No, I think that ship has sailed," she said, and although there are rescue centres that will take such birds on "this natural behaviour doesn't necessarily translate very well to people's homes".

She added: "They have a pecking order and maybe Turkey-Lurky thinks he's the top bird in the whole house."

Mr Griffiths said after an appeal on Facebook several people had come forward and he was hopeful all the birds would go to good homes with experienced owners.

A woman had expressed interest in breeding Turkey-Lurky with her four female turkeys, so Lurky could become a "stud turkey".

However, despite everything, he said, Mr Griffiths said would be "a little bit sad" to see them all go.