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No gobbling this turkey

TILLIE THE TURKEY gets a hug from his friend, Janet Anderson, outside his pen in Norway. She has had the bronze tom as a pet for about 2 1/2 years. (Theresa Proudfit/Daily News photo)

NORWAY — At least one local turkey doesn’t have to worry about winding up on a platter this Thanksgiving.

Janet Anderson of Norway considers her bird a pet, not the centerpiece of the annual feast, adding that at 40 pounds Tillie wouldn’t fit in the oven, anyway.

Anderson had raised chickens for years when she decided she wanted a turkey as a companion. She bought the bronze domestic turkey, now 2 1/2 years old, from Ray’s Feed Mill in Norway when only a day out of the egg.

“He was just a little baby,” she said.

Hoping for a hen, Anderson took a chance and named the bird Tillie. But determining a turkey’s sex as a chick is tricky. Only months later, when he gobbled, did it become clear Tillie was a tom.

TILLIE THE TURKEY struts around his yard in Norway.

It didn’t matter much in the end to Anderson, who has become quite tight with her feathered friend. As a young bird, Tillie would sit on Anderson’s lap and she would pick sawdust out of his feathers. Tillie would reciprocate by picking at Anderson hair.

“He loves me. He is my boy,” she said.

Although he is lazy and likes to sleep, Tillie is a people magnet and enjoys company, Anderson said. When he was younger Tillie would chase the car when she left for the day.

“He is very friendly and he loves everybody,” she said.

In the summer, as Anderson plants the flower beds, Tillie digs in the mulch.

As a pet, Tillie is fairly low-maintenance.

“He gets food (corn and poultry pellets) and water and I keep his area clean,” Anderson said.

Anderson said she isn’t cooking, but turkey will be served at their Thanksgiving meal.

While she jokes that “Tillie is thankful for ham” at Thanksgiving, she swears he has nothing to fear even when holidays roll around.

“He will never be supper,” she said. “We will keep him until he dies and then bury him.”

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