I am absolutely hooked on turkeys!

So I have 18 baby turkeys (about 4 weeks old) out in one half of the coop and 21 baby chicks on the other half.

This is my first time raising turkeys and am completely hooked already! They are so cool! And they completely show up the chickens when it comes to personality.

They are so curious and very social..... And smart!


If anyone is considering raising turkeys and are on the fence I would encourage you to give it a try! Granted I'm only 4 weeks in but so far so good!

Any tips with young turkeys? Mine are coming soon!!! But since I have a small flock for now I can only get a few . I've heard there very fragile. Have you had any loses? Sorry I'm just so curious and excited to get mine!

A few is good too! More time to spend with each!

I heard they were more fragile as well but I've not lost a single one (yet, fingers crossed). Compare that to my chicks where i lost 5 this spring and 5 last spring as well!

The things I've noticed with turkeys so far are:

* they are voracious eaters and drinkers - need to have larger vessels to feed and water that are still easy to access right from the start otherwise you'll be refilling constantly

* turkeys' poop is do much more moist than chickens so definitely need to clean a bit more often than in the chicks side

* the heritage breeds do love to fly even at 3 weeks. I think they really appreciate having some perches they can get to early on.

* Ive heard keeping things dry is important. We're in CO so it's dry to begin with but using sand in the brooder and coop seems to work very well.

What kind of turkeys are you getting? How exciting!

PoultryCrazed said:

Any tips with young turkeys? Mine are coming soon!!! But since I have a small flock for now I can only get a few . I've heard there very fragile. Have you had any loses? Sorry I'm just so curious and excited to get mine!

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Please read the stickies at the top of the turkey subforum main page, as well as: (can be downloaded in full) http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/resources/internal /turkey-manual We've had ours going on ten years and they are intelligent (can identify strangers - always check the live traps to make sure there's nothing in them - hang around while you're working and steal small tools, hens are the worst) and sometimes just too social. When they're depressed (tom on losing end of sparring match) they'll hang their heads and sulk for days - plotting a comeback, when they're happy they circle up flapping wings and whooting away. When ours were about five months old, and we'd let them out to wander with us - they'd often hang back, wait until we were nearly out of sight and then they'd take off and fly as a flock, landing around us (as if it was a game). Now, more than one tom and you'll have to deal with sparring; usually in the Spring for adults - for those about three months old in August - those jakes will "practice" to the point of injury (though usually minor head/neck abrasions-contusions-lacerations), those can be treated with betadine, but our guys always heal up fine without intervention. Jennies/hens are more problematic. You'll know when they want to start nesting as they'll start beaking around through long grass and Day Lilies and walking off as if in thrall. It is vital that one have a safe and acceptable nesting location cobbled together (inside shed/coop/run), if this isn't attended to beforehand, they'll wander off into the woods/fields and count on something killing and eating them (some members have had hens and new poults return from the "wild" but, around here, they pretty much end up as a pile of feathers and a disarticulated skeleton). Poults can be "fragile" if not cared for properly. Our hens have hatched and raised several broods with no losses so far. Make sure they're eating and drinking and keep them warm and dry (wet & cold & dead). Pretty good old birds:

I am about 6 years in and they are still keeping my interest.
I like them because one feeds many in one meal or one many meals.

The best tip for raise turkeys is keeping up on your husbandry.
And keep an eye out on change of behavior.
That is the telling point something is up.