Adding one "meat turkey" to Chicken flock

[Ccort]

There's just one. Are there any issues with adding it to the chicken flock? It would be in the same run, same coop, with free ranging when I'm home.

Should I be concerned about diseases that may spread to my hens?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

We did that a few years back...we raised Mary (Queen of Scotts) and Marie (Antoinette) for the holidays. (We ate Marie at Christmas, too on the nose for Mary, who was eaten Thanksgiving).

It worked well within the chicken flock. I was more of a newbie then, and since I've learned that turkeys are beneficial to chickens providing resistance for Marek's from the lesser turkey virus. However, you can pass blackhead to turkeys from chickens, which is much more of a problem for turkeys. But then, our chickens were healthy with no blackhead, so we had no problems.

It was fun. We shoveled tons of feed into the turkeys, so if you are doing this for cost effectiveness for the holidays, even for organic turkey prices, think again. I also found the turkeys to be massively more messy than the chickens, so plan for extra shavings.

Free ranging was fun. The two turkeys stuck together and did this really incredibly beautiful synchronised bobbing as they foraged. We used to stand by the windows and hold up rating cards for fun.

But it was a great project for the kids, provided (pricey) but good meat for the holidays. Turkeys and chickens free ranged with no issues.

My experiences.

LofMc

 

[Molpet]

I had a BBB jake that I caught squashing his BF cockerel. Broke it's back. They both tasted good.

 

[R2elk]

There's just one. Are there any issues with adding it to the chicken flock? It would be in the same run, same coop, with free ranging when I'm home.

Should I be concerned about diseases that may spread to my hens?

How well it will work out depends on your long term plans for the turkey. If you plan on processing the turkey for food, you can get away with it better than if you are planning on keeping it as a pet.

Keeping it long term as a pet you won't want to be feeding it chicken feed but rather a special feed such as Purina's Game Bird Maintenance feed which is 12% protein to help keep its weight down.

Keeping one long term, it is also better to have another turkey as a companion. Turkeys are very sociable birds and need the company of their own kind.

 

[Ccort]

How well it will work out depends on your long term plans for the turkey. If you plan on processing the turkey for food, you can get away with it better than if you are planning on keeping it as a pet.

Keeping it long term as a pet you won't want to be feeding it chicken feed but rather a special feed such as Purina's Game Bird Maintenance feed which is 12% protein to help keep its weight down.

Keeping one long term, it is also better to have another turkey as a companion. Turkeys are very sociable birds and need the company of their own kind.

It would be as a pet. I could separate a turkey or two during the day for the feeding situation. I only have one coop for nighttime roosting though

 

[Ccort]

We did that a few years back...we raised Mary (Queen of Scotts) and Marie (Antoinette) for the holidays. (We ate Marie at Christmas, too on the nose for Mary, who was eaten Thanksgiving).

It worked well within the chicken flock. I was more of a newbie then, and since I've learned that turkeys are beneficial to chickens providing resistance for Marek's from the lesser turkey virus. However, you can pass blackhead to turkeys from chickens, which is much more of a problem for turkeys. But then, our chickens were healthy with no blackhead, so we had no problems.

It was fun. We shoveled tons of feed into the turkeys, so if you are doing this for cost effectiveness for the holidays, even for organic turkey prices, think again. I also found the turkeys to be massively more messy than the chickens, so plan for extra shavings.

Free ranging was fun. The two turkeys stuck together and did this really incredibly beautiful synchronised bobbing as they foraged. We used to stand by the windows and hold up rating cards for fun.

But it was a great project for the kids, provided (pricey) but good meat for the holidays. Turkeys and chickens free ranged with no issues.

My experiences.

LofMc

Thanks. This would be as a pet.

From what I've read, there isnt really anything the turkey can pass on to the chickens, disease wise. Is that correct?

Never having a turkey before, I'm not familiar with blackhead besides what Ive read. My flock is healthy and well cared for. Do you know...is blackhead very common?

 

[R2elk]

It would be as a pet. I could separate a turkey or two during the day for the feeding situation. I only have one coop for nighttime roosting though

That would depend on the size of your coop. Turkeys need a lot more room than chickens need. While chickens can get by with a minimum of 4 sq. ft. of floor space per bird, a turkey needs at least 10 sq. ft. per adult bird. Even more is better.

The broad breasted turkeys do fine with a bale of straw or hay for a roost. Anything much higher can cause severe leg damage when they get down off of the roost.

 

[R2elk]

From what I've read, there isn't really anything the turkey can pass on to the chickens, disease wise. Is that correct?

Avian flu can pass from turkeys to chickens and vice versa. It is not however a disease that either would tend to be a carrier of since both species would die from it.

I'm not familiar with blackhead besides what Ive read. My flock is healthy and well cared for. Do you know...is blackhead very common?

A healthy chicken flock is not a sign that blackhead is or isn't in your area as chickens can be carriers of the parasite without suffering from the disease.

Check with your local agriculture extension office, local vets and as a last resort your state vet to find out if blackhead is a problem in your area.

If it is you want to keep turkeys off of any ground that chickens have been on during the previous 4 years plus keep the turkeys separated from the chickens.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

How well it will work out depends on your long term plans for the turkey. If you plan on processing the turkey for food, you can get away with it better than if you are planning on keeping it as a pet.

Keeping it long term as a pet you won't want to be feeding it chicken feed but rather a special feed such as Purina's Game Bird Maintenance feed which is 12% protein to help keep its weight down.

Keeping one long term, it is also better to have another turkey as a companion. Turkeys are very sociable birds and need the company of their own kind.

x2

If you keep long term, definitely get another turkey and plan some differing feed needs.

The turkeys will also need a different place to "roost" as they are too big to fly up to the roosts. We have a raised coop within the run, so our turkeys simply pulled up under the coop to nest.

We didn't keep ours long, so I can't speak to long term issues.

LofMc

 

[Molpet]

BB as pets are Heartbreakers
Lots of leg and heart problems .