Turkeys and chickens housed together??

[idahoan]

I would like to get some Heritage turkeys but they would have to share a coop with my hens for the winter as it snows up here in Idaho and the hens will not go out in the snow. Will they fight??

 

[PineappleMama]

I don't know about fighting but I've heard that chickens can catch blackhead disease from turkeys... hopefully someone more knowledgeable will post.

 

[NonnasBabies]

Quote:
Actually it's just the oppisite. Turkeys get blackhead from chickens!!

idahoan, do a seach on blackhead and you will get lots of information!!

 

[Frosty]

Check locally with your ag department to see if Blackhead (Histomoniasis) is in your area, and see if anyone close to you raises them together (if they do, do they have problems with disease?). Other than that, if you keep them together and have any toms, you might want to separate them in the spring. Once breeding season kicks in, a tom can squish a hen trying to breed with her. I have overwintered them together, mostly because the turkey building doesn't have electricity and I have a water heater going in the hen house. In the spring I did start having problems and lost a few hens. My birds always have access to outside if they want to go, and sometimes they do.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

We have always raised ours together and have had no problems. Yes it is true turkeys can get blackhead from chickens but the illness has to be present in the soil for them to get it

Steve

 

[Tunastopper]

Not only can they get Blackhead, Mycoplasma gallisepticum can also be spread by chickens to turkeys. MG is everywhere.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
M gallisepticum infection is commonly designated as chronic respiratory disease in chickens and as infectious sinusitis in turkeys. Infection may also be seen in pheasants, chukar partridges, and peafowl. Infection in pigeons, quail, ducks, geese, and psittacine birds should be considered. Passerine-type birds are quite resistant, although M gallisepticum is the major cause of natural outbreaks of conjunctivitis in wild house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) in the eastern USA. The disease is worldwide. Its effects are most severe in large commercial operations during winter.

The only way to keep your flock totaly safe is to raise them in a sterile bubble but most people do ok raising poultry.

Steve

 

[farmerlor]

We get a wee bit of snow here too at 6800 feet in Colorado and I keep my chickens and turks together. See, it's dry here most of the time and that seems to cut down on a lot of the disease processes that can get started. While my chickens don't like to run around in the snow very much the turkeys LOVE it. No, they don't fight. The rooster thought he might take on a couple of those turkey hens when they were smaller but the very next day they were bigger than he was and decided to back off. The Toms are more interested in displaying for their girls and each other than messing with the chickens.

 

[Tunastopper]

Quote:
M gallisepticum infection is commonly designated as chronic respiratory disease in chickens and as infectious sinusitis in turkeys. Infection may also be seen in pheasants, chukar partridges, and peafowl. Infection in pigeons, quail, ducks, geese, and psittacine birds should be considered. Passerine-type birds are quite resistant, although M gallisepticum is the major cause of natural outbreaks of conjunctivitis in wild house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) in the eastern USA. The disease is worldwide. Its effects are most severe in large commercial operations during winter.

The only way to keep your flock totaly safe is to raise them in a sterile bubble but most people do ok raising poultry.

Steve

I would not say you need to raise them in a sterile bubble but you should practice basic biosecurity. Only get eggs, chickens and poults from clean tested birds free from MG. If you do not know, ask if there birds are tested.

Wow! You left this part out in your copy and paste thread.

In the USA, most breeder flocks are free of M gallisepticum , and outbreaks are due to lateral transmission from infected chickens; however, in some parts of the world, egg transmission is a major source of infection. The incidence of egg transmission is highly variable, ranging up to 30-40% during the first 2 mo after infection of susceptible birds in production. The transmission rate then lessens and is inconsistent (0-5%) until the end of production. Birds infected before the onset of production transmit through the egg at a much lower rate, if at all. The infection may be dormant in the infected chick for days to months, but when the flock is stressed, aerosol transmission occurs rapidly and infection spreads through the flock. Live virus vaccination, natural virus infection, cold weather, or crowding may initiate the spread. In addition, the infection may be carried by personnel (especially from an infected to a clean flock), fomites, or introduction of infected birds. In many flocks, the source of infection cannot be determined.
The epithelium of the upper air passages is most susceptible to infection; however, in severe, acute disease the infection is also found in the lower respiratory tract. There is a marked interaction between respiratory viruses, Escherichia coli , and M gallisepticum in the pathogenesis of chronic respiratory disease. Once infected, birds remain carriers for life.

 

[Omniskies]

We keep our turkeys and chickens together, however, our word of warning has nothing to do with diseases (which is pretty easy to prevent if you're not raising a thousand birds in a barn).

One year we kept losing young chicken hens. They would be fine one day, then the next day they would be dead. No bloody spots, no signs of disease - nothing.

After we found the third hen, we discovered what was happening. The new pullets, smitten by the charms of our young Bourbon Red, were allowing him to mount. Once he would get on top the poor girls didn't have any choice in the matter. And if you have ever seen a turkey romancing his lady, you will know that they take forever. By the time he finally consented that what he wanted to do was impossible it was too late for the hen.

We fixed this problem by getting a rooster in the pen. Whenever he saw the turkey going after his girls he would put a stop to the nonsense. Later when we got a few turkey hens for the tom he completely lost interest in the chickens.