Very simple Turkeys questions

[Kestak]

Greetings,

I would like to hear from your experience about those questions. We are in Augusta, Georgia.

We have a pretty big setup for our 40 chickens. We have a 15x15 coop with 10 nest boxes and a 40x30 feet secured run we can split in 2 for the younglings. Moreover, we have a fully enclosed 100x40 feet garden that chickens can access off season. We also have a 26x26 two stories barn completely separated from the chickens. The first floor is occupied by 2 African goats. It was my plan to to produce some goats for meat, however, she named them. So they are not "farm-pets".

Our next endeavor would be to raise some turkeys for meat. Here are some questions in no particular order.

1 - The plan would be to house the turkeys with the goats. Is it a bad idea? Do we have to make them co-exists with the chickens? Issue is that we have 4 different breeds and the red one is quite aggressive.

2 - How long does it take for a baby turkey to no longer be a prey to hawks, snakes and owls? We do not worry about dogs or coyotes because we have a six-feet fence enclave for the goats. Are the parents protecting the younglings? Chickens do nothing useful for protection...

3 - How long do you wait from birth to slaughter for your turkeys?

4 - What Turkey breed would you recommend? Our goal is a low maintenance one.

5 - How many turkeys per year for example 5 females and one male would produce?

6 - Is is as easy to raise turkeys than chickens?

Thank you

 

[arwoon]

Who do I know who has turkeys....

 

[Fluffy_the_chicken]

1: turkeys do really well with my goats, so that would be no problem
2: depends on breed, maybe about the size that it can run and know how to hide, still depends on breed
3: I am not sure
4: I would choose bronze or white, they are very popular and grow very fast, while heritage turkeys don’t grow fast
5: the babies can be from like 3 to 20 per year, so about 7-11 average per female turkey
6: No. turkeys are very vulnerable to disease and are like big babies. You should keep them in the garage and not outside unless you want like 40-50% to die. And if you don’t clip their wings, they can easily fly over 6 feet and can get on to roofs of houses and what not

Turkeys are a lot more work than chickens, but it will pay off when you eat them knowing where they came from and the amazing life they had vs the life they would have had being raised and slaughtered with a big company.

 

[R2elk]

1 - The plan would be to house the turkeys with the goats. Is it a bad idea? Do we have to make them co-exists with the chickens? Issue is that we have 4 different breeds and the red one is quite aggressive.

Not the best idea in the world. At least one person I know had her turkey hen fall in love with a goat and refuse to breed with her tom. Goats can step on and cause harm to eggs, poults and even adults.

Housing them in too small a space with the chickens won't work very well for the chickens and may be a death sentence to the turkeys if blackhead is a problem in your area.

All domestic turkeys are the breed Turkey. You may have 4 different varieties but you do not have four different breeds.

2 - How long does it take for a baby turkey to no longer be a prey to hawks, snakes and owls? We do not worry about dogs or coyotes because we have a six-feet fence enclave for the goats. Are the parents protecting the younglings? Chickens do nothing useful for protection...

I don't let my poults sleep outside on the turkey roosts until they are at least 4 months old.

3 - How long do you wait from birth to slaughter for your turkeys?

That depends on whether you are raising broad breasted or heritage turkeys and how big a carcass you want. Broad breasted turkeys are usually processed from 4 to 6 months of age while heritage turkeys are usually processed anywhere from 8 to 18 months. I have processed them at 4 to 6 months for a much smaller carcass.

4 - What Turkey breed would you recommend? Our goal is a low maintenance one.

Variety depends on your goals. BBW or BBB for fast growth and early processing. Heritage are the way to go if you want them to reproduce and aren't into fast growth and early processing.

5 - How many turkeys per year for example 5 females and one male would produce?

If you allow them to have a nest, hatch and brood their poults, 50 poults hatched and 50% or less survival if you allow them to raise the poults. There are too many things that can go wrong when poults are raised in the general population.

If you collect, incubate, brood and raise the poults separately the production could be in the hundreds with survival at 90% or better.

6 - Is is as easy to raise turkeys than chickens?

Depends on how you go about it. It can be easier or harder.