baby chickens with baby turkeys

[Highland Hens]

A friend of ours has a baby turkey that injured its leg and the others are picking on it, they have allot of birds so she asked me if I wanted it. I have a bunch of baby meat chickens I can run it with and they are the same age. Should I get it and put it in with my chicks? Is there any harm in raising them together till butcher age? I have never had a turkey, only chickens. I have been told they eat the same thing, chick starter and high protein feed for grow out? Any special considerations I should think about? Thank you

 

[gmomfarms]

It is my understanding that this is not a good idea as you are more prone to blackhead.

 

[ArtGirl]

If you put it in with the chicks I would watch for pecking but if there being nice to each other then I would think it wouldn't hurt. Can you get a picture of the hurt leg on the turkey? If you leave the leg when it's hurt than it can get an infection in it then the infection can get into the blood stream and kill the bird

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I've never had a turkey and I don't know if it's true but somebody said that if you leave a turkey out in a rainstorm it will look up at the rain and will drown because they have there mouth opened when there looking at the rain

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[my sunwolf]

If they are meat chickens and meat turkeys, you may slaughter them before you have any signs of blackhead, especially if they never touch the ground. Though blackhead is rare, it can strike at 4-6 weeks of age and can kill large quantities of birds, so you may choose to be careful. I know a lot of old timers that raise a chick or two in with the turkeys to show them how to eat, drink, get out of the rain, etc. It's up to you if you're willing to take the risk.

And I think baby turkeys do need a very high protein starter, but I've never had them before so I couldn't say the exact percentage.

 

[Highland Hens]

Can blackhead effect people? And yea they will prob be in the freezer before they can develop anything, from what I have read. A lady I work with told me she has raised them for years together with no problems, as well as some threads I have read on here. But there is always a risk tho it seems and knowing my luck I will pull the short straw lol.

 

[Highland Hens]

And if my chickens are carriers and it kills the turkey (that will die one way or the other) does it increase my chances that the rest of the laying chickens, we have will be harmed?

From what I can find it seems that it doesn't affect chickens as much and you can't tell by looking at the chicken if it is a carrier. And the turkeys have more of a chance at dieing from it.

The turkey will die if we don't take it. The turkey will die if it happens to get blackhead. The turkey will die at thanksgiving. Not worried about the turkey.

What I am concerned about is would I be increasing the chances of my laying chickens of contracting blackhead that could kill them by bringing in one butcher turkey to run with them this summer? Thank you

:cd

 

[blkwdw]

I had baby turkeys and baby chicks together till they were grown with no problems. Its an old wives tale about turkeys looking up in the rain and drowning... Kind of like kissing a toad under a full moon to get rid of warts..

Good luck with the turkey.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

No, it won't increase the chickens chances of catching blackhead. In fact, blackhead lives in the soil much like cocci. So, if there is blackhead in your soil, your chickens already have it. The easiest thing to do would be to call your local Ag department and ask if there have been any reported cases in your area.

I kept my chickens and turkeys together and never had a problem. I loved my turks, but I must say, the intellegence the adult birds seem to have is NOT something they're born with. Poults are probably some of the dumbest (and cutest) poultry I've ever raised. Without another bird teaching them they'll starve to death (which is why some raise their poults with chicks), stand out in the rain and catch a chill and die (which is probably where that myth about them looking up and drowning in the rain came from), wander off and be eaten.......they literally seem to have no survival instinct at all.

Enjoy your new turk while you're raising it and enjoy it again while you're eating it