Can I use a chicken to raise turkey poults?

[JustBabyMargo]

There is nothing wrong with using a broody chicken to hatch turkey eggs. When I was doing it, as soon as the poults were dry, I would immediately move them to the brooder.

Yeah, I just would not be able to take the baby away from the mama. They work so hard. Mine got super sick and then decided she wanted to go broody. We thought she was going to die, but she pulled through. The look on her face when the turkey hatched was so precious.

 

[R2elk]

I assumed that the wild turkeys were naturally jerks, because you gotta be tough to survive on the mean streets of Boston.

Which part of the "irresponsible interaction" teaches the wild turkeys to be aggressive? The feeding part? People who raise domesticated turkeys will feed them and make the turkeys comfortable, without the turkeys turning around and attacking every five seconds. So I think nature plays a bigger roll than nurture in this case.

The feeding them got them accustomed to and comfortable with people. This was followed by people attacking them at the same time other people were feeding them along with the dummies that were terrified of them and ran from them as soon as they started approaching them.

A lot of mixed signals were sent to the turkeys. They may have some natural aggression bred in, in the form of protection of their nests by the wild hens that is more enhanced than you will find in most domestic turkeys.

 

[Solanacae]

I don't recommend it because of the problems that can be caused by imprinting. When I was first starting with turkeys I let a banty hen hatch and raise a Bourbon Red poult. It can be done. Provide the poults and the hen the same high protein feed that poults need.

What sorts of problems with imprinting?

 

[Solanacae]

If my plan is to raise them for meat, would that change the equation at all?

 

[R2elk]

If my plan is to raise them for meat, would that change the equation at all?

There is a current thread where a person is raising BB turkeys for processing and has had to separate the turkeys from the chickens. Now that the 8 week old turkeys are bigger than the chickens they are attacking the chickens.

 

[R2elk]

Would it be better to have them imprint on a human then? Since a person is larger, the turkey is less likely to try bullying them? Would that create problems for the little humans I have running around here?

I go out of my way to make sure my poults do not imprint on me. Human imprinted turkeys have caused serious problems once the turkeys are adults. An adult tom has no respect for a person that is bigger than him if he thinks that person is just a strange looking turkey that he has to defeat in order to move up in the pecking order.

My turkeys that are not imprinted will not even approach people.

 

[R2elk]

So how do I ensure that the turkeys don’t imprint on anyone? If you’re the one bringing food/water and checking on them, won’t they imprint on you?

I look at the brooder on a daily basis. I fill the feeder when necessary which may not happen for several days at first and is never required more than once a day. I replace the water when necessary. I never pick the poults up and hold them. Since the brooder is low and their natural instinct is to fear anything approaching from above they do not see me as a mother figure but instead see me as a danger.

 

[R2elk]

I was thinking I’d have to separate the chickens from the turkeys anyway because my coop has an automatic door and the turkeys wouldn’t be able fit through the door once they reach a certain size. My hope was just to avoid having to brood them inside the house. Kids will want to hold them, and I dislike the mess and dust.

I have a separate area of my coop where my brooder is located. I do not brood poultry in the house. I have a 4'x4' brooder that uses a thermostatically controlled GQF brooder heater as the source of heat.

 

[SarahGfa]

You do realize that this is learned behavior due to years if not decades of irresponsible interaction between the people and the turkeys. First a few turkeys show up. The people are thrilled and start feeding them and doing their best to make the turkeys comfortable with them. Once the turkey population starts exploding to lack of any predator control and have become accustomed to the free hand outs their leavings are not appreciated.

People start trying to chase them away while others keep feeding sending conflicting messages. Then the turkeys also get to deal with the people who are terrified of them and start running from them. Once the flock has learned the bad behavior it quickly teaches all the new poults the same behavior.

I assumed that the wild turkeys were naturally jerks, because you gotta be tough to survive on the mean streets of Boston.

Which part of the "irresponsible interaction" teaches the wild turkeys to be aggressive? The feeding part? People who raise domesticated turkeys will feed them and make the turkeys comfortable, without the turkeys turning around and attacking every five seconds. So I think nature plays a bigger roll than nurture in this case.

 

[Solanacae]

Poults imprint very easily. Once they are grown up they have lost the ability to understand that whatever they were imprinted by is not the same as them. Because of this they will treat in this case, chickens the same as they would other turkeys. Because of the size difference and their tenacity, this can end up badly for the chickens.

Once a turkey gets an idea in its mind, it will not stop until it completes what it is trying to do.

Would it be better to have them imprint on a human then? Since a person is larger, the turkey is less likely to try bullying them? Would that create problems for the little humans I have running around here?