Turkeys with chickens??

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rmonge00

rmonge00

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Has anyone raised turkeys in the same coop as chickens? I am thinking about getting some turkeys and housing them in the same house as my chickens. I am planning on splitting the coop in half with a framed chicken wire barrier. The coop is 120 sq feet. The chickens I currently have (7) are only forced in at night, other than that, they have 3 acres to roam... Do you think I could safely raise turkeys along side my chickens? I have heard disease can be a problem....

Thanks,
Ryan
 
Blackhead disease may be a large problem in your area. Ask a local farmer. Other than that, if you're getting a tom as well, be careful of it attempting to breed with your chickens. As far as I know, they'll crush the chickens. Get some turkey hens.
 
Chickens and turkeys also have different protein needs. Laying hens 16-18% protein and turkeys 22% or more I believe. We also thought about raising both together. It just wouldn't work for us.
 
I have 25 chickens, 7 turkeys (midget white), 8 ducks, and two guinea cocks all running together, with no problems. They all get Purina Flock Raiser (20%) as their basic feed. I also give daily supplements: scratch grains for the chickens and guineas, peas for the ducks, and mealworms for the turkeys. Note that blackhead is not common in my area, however.
 
My friends and I co-raise turkeys every year from day-olds, and then eat them for xmas and thanksgiving. The last time we got them, they were raised with a flock of 25 baby chickens, and the turkey that ended up as a tom would get sooooooo mad when you picked up one of the hens that were raised with him. Lol he'd challenge anyone for his little girls.

You don't have to much worry about the tom crushing the hens, they're too fast for him by the time he gets around to thinking about that stuff. And if you get the non double-breasted breeds, you don't have to worry about the protien difference as much (just let them free-range, they'll hunt for bugs and stuff).
 
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^Same here, (sometimes my turkey doesn't want to share food with the chickens though).
 
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Yes, my turkeys roost. They roost in the chicken coops alongside the chickens, on top of the chicken coops and in the pecan trees.
 
Turkeys most definitely roost. We had a wild one around here that would fly really high up in the trees at night. Our own turkeys love roosting as well. Mine scared me the other night by pecking my head when I went into the coop
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As for keeping chickens with turkeys, it's all about where you live. Some can get away with it but some can't. We keep our turkeys in separate coops but I have one that was raised with chickens so she'll stay with the chickens.. she doesn't know she's even a turkey
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