Can I use a chicken to raise turkey poults?

[R2elk]

I’ve done it-View attachment 2910461View attachment 2910463

So have I and I will never do it again.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

I’ve done it-View attachment 2910461View attachment 2910463

I hatched one egg under one of my broodies because we had a power outage. She was the only egg that survived the trip here, so she was the only one that got put under the hen. We also ordered 15 poults from a hatchery (because that was the minimum number) for her to live with. The poults came before she hatched, so once she was ready to leave her mom, she joined them. They are almost 6 months old now. (We had to get rid of the other 11) She is the one all the way to the right-

 

[R2elk]

I hatched one egg under one of my broodies because we had a power outage. She was the only egg that survived the trip here, so she was the only one that got put under the hen. We also ordered 15 poults from a hatchery (because that was the minimum number) for her to live with. The poults came before she hatched, so once she was ready to leave her mom, she joined them. They are almost 6 months old now. (We had to get rid of the other 11) She is the one all the way to the right-View attachment 2910468

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.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

So have I and I will never do it again.

It was a sweet experience. Her mama was a very good one, so she didn’t mind that the poult looked different. The turkey adapted to the other turkeys fine also. She was raised in a cage underneath all the other poults, so she saw them a lot and liked to hang out with them. I’m not sure how the OP’s situation would go though because I didn’t raise all of the turkeys under hens...

Yeah, I did it to save her life. If the incubator would have worked and she would have hatched fine in there, she would have been raised with the others right of the bat. Sometimes things don’t work out the way we want them to.

 

[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.

 

[Solanacae]

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.

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?

 

[Solanacae]

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.

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.

 

[SarahGfa]

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?

Turkeys can attack humans, no matter who imprinted on them. They are alot like roosters in that regard. I think you can avoid it by only breeding docile turkeys, but I don't know if any breeders select for nice turkeys.

I have family on the east coast and their neighborhood is terrorized by wild turkeys who will attack people. The wild turkeys were not imprinted on humans as poults.

 

[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.