Turkeys and chickens together

[Ozarko]

I have lost nearly 90 chickens over the last three months, so about 1/day. In reading about protecting chickens from hawks and owls I saw several people mentioning that having a turkey would help keep them away. I have no experience with turkeys whatsoever, so I have some questions for those of you who know more.

1 - Have you found this idea to work? Would a tom really keep hawks and owls away from the chickens?

2 - Is an adult turkey just as vulnerable to attack as any chicken?

3 - My chickens are able to run around outside within an area enclosed by 42" high electrified poultry netting. Would a turkey simply fly over it and disappear forever, or at least stay away from the chickens thus negating any protective potential?

4 - I assume turkeys have different nutritional needs, is there a way to keep differing feeds separate for the turkeys and chickens? Or would a turkey do well on chicken feed? They are layers, so perhaps not.

5 - Is there anything else I should be thinking of that has not entered my mind yet?

I would appreciate your thought on this.

Thanks!

 

[feedman77]

I keep my turkeys and chickens to free range together. Except when hen turkeys are laying.

I have lost young turkeys to owls. Only one adult possibly small body hen.

I have seen an owl take a hen chicken while they were out together.

I had an owl get in a pen one night and couldn't get out and both hens and toms were putting on displays to keep it at bay.

42 inches turkeys would go right over that. Mine are behind 6 foot chain link and can clear that easily if they want to. Generslly if they do get out they don't stray far. A feed bucket will get them back in easily.

Once they are adult feed them the same as chickens. If the can range some they can usually find all they need.

 

[Wyleiria]

If you have one turkey with your flock of chickens, and the turkey ends up being a tom, would he hurt the hens?

 

[feedman77]

If you have one turkey with your flock of chickens, and the turkey ends up being a tom, would he hurt the hens?

I would say that is highly possible.
During mating season if that's all that's there they are fair game.

 

[LovedMyAlydar]

It depends on the tom. I had 6 turkeys in with my chickens last year. Three were hens, three toms. One was Thanksgiving dinner, one we kept for breeding. The third was New Year's dinner because he tried to breed one of my hens and crushed her. He was the only one who ever tried that. But on the plus side, the three of them together took down a hawk that had been harassing my chickens. I thought they were being attacked and when we walked out there it was a big hawk being thrashed by 3 tom turkeys. Needless to say he was able to get up, make it to a fence post and fly off. He has not been a problem since that day and we have not lost any chickens to hawks. Foxes, skunks, that's another story.

So I like Mr. Turkey in with the chickens. He doesn't try to breed them, he is bouncer when they get a bit nasty with each other and is a good guardian of our flock. Plus he is a big, spoiled baby who loves human interaction, scratches under his wings and being held, even though he probably weighs about 25-30 lbs.

 

[Finnie]

Quote:
I am 5 months into the same plan as the OP. After a hawk got a chicken last winter, I searched BYC and found out people had gotten a turkey and it was helping.

But I think this plan may not be working out. The turkeys do jump over our 4 foot fence all day long, and then seem to forget how to get back in. We know that if they decide to wander over to the neighbors, we will have to confine them to a covered pen, and if that happens, then they will do the free ranging chickens no good whatsoever. My husband said that if they have to be locked up, what's the point of keeping them? (We don't really want to eat them ourselves, and they are still too small for that anyway.)

But now I don't think it will even get that far, because the turkeys have decided to start attacking a couple of my hens. I've been trying to find out if this is temporary, due to their age, and they will get over it soon, or whether it just means that these particular turkeys are not safe around chickens. They were brooded with a group of 6 chickens, and they get along great with those, but it's my older hens that they have taken a disliking to.

And I have another turkey poult being raised with another group of six chicks, which now I am worried that when it's time for them to meet the flock, the big turkeys will pick on the little turkey.

Is it just a toss of the dice whether a turkey can stay with chickens? So many people seem to do it successfully. I had so hoped that raising them with the chicks would make them chicken proof.

P.S. I don't happen to know yet whether any of mine are jakes or jennies.

 

[feedman77]

I am 5 months into the same plan as the OP.  After a hawk got a chicken last winter, I searched BYC and found out people had gotten a turkey and it was helping.

But I think this plan may not be working out.  The turkeys do jump over our 4 foot fence all day long, and then seem to forget how to get back in.  We know that if they decide to wander over to the neighbors, we will have to confine them to a covered pen, and if that happens, then they will do the free ranging chickens no good whatsoever.  My husband said that if they have to be locked up, what's the point of keeping them?  (We don't really want to eat them ourselves, and they are still too small for that anyway.)

But now I don't think it will even get that far, because the turkeys have decided to start attacking a couple of my hens.  I've been trying to find out if this is temporary, due to their age, and they will get over it soon, or whether it just means that these particular turkeys are not safe around chickens.  They were brooded with a group of 6 chickens, and they get along great with those, but it's my older hens that they have taken a disliking to.

And I have another turkey poult being raised with another group of six chicks, which now I am worried that when it's time for them to meet the flock, the big turkeys will pick on the little turkey.

Is it just a toss of the dice whether a turkey can stay with chickens?  So many people seem to do it successfully.  I had so hoped that raising them with the chicks would make them chicken proof.

P.S. I don't happen to know yet whether any of mine are jakes or jennies.

I stsrted spring with 7 toms and 17 hens that freeranged with my chickens. Out of all those birds only 2 hens had any issues with the chickens.

A black spanish hen that seemed to fight any rooster that got within 10 feet of her.

And a bourbon red hen that is extremely protective and mean at the food trough just to chickens.

Im assuming your poults are 5 months old?

As far as picking on the older hens I'm guessing that it is a pecking order situation. The chicks they were raised with probably had that sorted out early. With the older hens they are trying to determine there place in the order.

My adult turkeys with exception on those 2 hens don't pay any mind to the chickens.

I guess it is a roll of the dice. I've been lucky. I have no chicken deaths or serious injuries to them because of the turkeys.

 

[Finnie]

Im assuming your poults are 5 months old?

As far as picking on the older hens I'm guessing that it is a pecking order situation. The chicks they were raised with probably had that sorted out early. With the older hens they are trying to determine there place in the order.

My adult turkeys with exception on those 2 hens don't pay any mind to the chickens.

I guess it is a roll of the dice. I've been lucky. I have no chicken deaths or serious injuries to them because of the turkeys.

Yes, 5 months old. I read somewhere the hormones start kicking in now?

Do you think it's safe to let the turkeys and chickens work out their pecking order? I'm afraid the turkeys will kill the hens. One got pinned down and when I reached them, her comb was bloodied and the turkey had blood on it's beak. I'm afraid it won't stop at mere domination.

And then the other chicken, she seems to be going after the turkey and starting it. I figure if she won't back down, she is going to get herself killed.

Coincidentally, as soon as I posted a little earlier, I looked out and saw those two at it, so now I have both turkeys locked into a small hoop pen. But that isn't feasible long term, so I will have to figure something out.

(I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but I thought it might be good for the OP to have this information. When I looked into doing it, I didn't find much about this type of thing cropping up.)

 

[mamalaoshi]

My three turkeys have two chickens with them and ignored them most of the time except sometimes chase them away from the food. They've never hurt them in the six months they've been together. You can even see in this picture that my turkey and chicken were sitting on eggs together- the chicken is a black silkie and her head looks like it's sticking up from the turkey's back. You can't tell from the picture but the turkey has her wing over the top of the chicken. It was soooooo cute. Currently our other chicken hen is sitting on a nest of turkey eggs. The turkeys come and kick her off to lay their daily egg (we collect the new eggs every day and just let her keep the original 10). I'm curious to see what happens when the chicken hatches the eggs, how the turkeys will respond to the baby turkeys and chicken mom. Hopefully everyone remains peaceful!

 

[mamalaoshi]

Oh I forgot to add that they are free to come and go from their pen and have a large fenced area to free-range in. The fence is six feet tall and the turkey hens often fly right over it and I have to open up the gate so they can get back in because for some reason they don't know how to fly back in. We lost three turkey hens that way (we didn't get them back in before night and I just imagine we've provided three Thanksgiving dinners for the local coyote population) and are down to only two girls plus the male. The male can't or won't fly over the fence. I should probably figure out how to clip their wings but they will not let me grab them.

My three turkeys have two chickens with them and ignored them most of the time except sometimes chase them away from the food. They've never hurt them in the six months they've been together. You can even see in this picture that my turkey and chicken were sitting on eggs together- the chicken is a black silkie and her head looks like it's sticking up from the turkey's back. You can't tell from the picture but the turkey has her wing over the top of the chicken. It was soooooo cute. Currently our other chicken hen is sitting on a nest of turkey eggs. The turkeys come and kick her off to lay their daily egg (we collect the new eggs every day and just let her keep the original 10). I'm curious to see what happens when the chicken hatches the eggs, how the turkeys will respond to the baby turkeys and chicken mom. Hopefully everyone remains peaceful!

Oh I forgot to add that they are free to come and go from their pen and have a large fenced area to free-range in. The fence is six feet tall and the turkey hens often fly right over it and I have to open up the gate so they can get back in because for some reason they don't know how to fly back in. We lost three turkey hens that way (we didn't get them back in before night and I just imagine we've provided three Thanksgiving dinners for the local coyote population) and are down to only two girls plus the male. The male can't or won't fly over the fence. I should probably figure out how to clip their wings but they will not let me grab them.