Can Turkeys and chickens live together?????

[ivan3]

Pen them seperately (and if you have more than one tom you might consider penning them apart from the hens. The boys do like to spar - particularly if the hens are available to all the toms). Our chooks rule the yard (were raised with 3 BBB's) and were well versed on turkeys when our Slates and Royals arrived in June (BBB's succumbed to spradle leg). The chook hens think it's a fun game to charge the toms. However, some folks have toms that have a bad habit of jumping on chook hens and killing them. Guess it has a lot to do with how they were raised.

Here's another link with good info.

http://www.albc-usa.org/downloads.html

 

[FarmGirl01]

I keep my heritage turkeys with my hens. They have lots of room to forage. There has never been an issue of fighting. The turkeys that I raise to butcher (BBW and BBB) I always keep sepatate. Thats due to the different diets. I am always on the look out for blackhead. But so far no trouble.

 

[hinkjc]

Aside from the blackhead issue, I would be most concerned with the fact that a tom turkey will kill a rooster during breeding season if they dont' have enough room to get away from each other. A tom turkey will also attempt to mate chicken hens and possibly hurt them as mentioned. Turkey hens can be pretty feisty too, especially if they go broody. She will fully attack to protect her nest (whether it has eggs in it or not) and I can tell you from experience those wing slaps are painful and would likely knock a chicken out cold.

I have a rooster who likes to challenge my wild eastern tom turkey. I've seen that turkey run like the dickens to get away from the roo and I've also seen the turkey knock the roo out cold with one slap of his wing. I thought for sure my roo was dead, but nope..he got up and stayed clear of the turkey for the rest of that day. I can say that even with free ranging (which these boys do) it will not always work. If you decide to go with turkeys, be prepared with a backup plan.

You also need to consider the requirements of a turkey versus a chicken as well. Turkey generally like to roost up at least 4 feet, but usually much higher. They need a lot more square footage than a chicken does. They also require much higher protein than a chicken.

Jody

 

[lacyloo]

I have mine together with all my animals.
Never had a problem with them.
When my roos start fighting the 2 tom turkeys will break up a fight.

 

[nadams4]

IS it a problem to keep several toms in the same freerange pen together???

 

[toadfish]

I have a pair of Bronze turkeys living with 10 Blue copper maran chickens . Two of which are Roosters... They all get on well ....They all roam over a large field.. Their Shed is only 8 x 6 But they only use it too lay and roost.... I think its the mix of birds and breeds of birds which helps maintain a balance...

 

[possumblossum]

1) Freerange pen is an oxymoron.

2) I have kept two Narragansett Toms and eight hens together with my 60 laying hens and four roosters for the last three years. Everyone roosts together, feeds together, and lays together. I use 16% layer pellets free choice and everyone free ranges from the time I leave for work (0500) until they go back into the roost together in the evening. During the early Spring, from mid-March through the end of April, everyone is shut up in a 80 x 30 yard with bird netting over the top until I get home in the evening and then turned out for three to four hours. This is because it's coyote breeding season and they are the only daylight predators that we have to deal with.

I have never had a turkey kill a chicken. There is the occasional nip at the feeder or waterer, but it is no different than the behavior displayed chicken to chicken or turkey to turkey. I am in East Tennessee, so the climate is wet and temperate, with August highs near 100 and January lows in the teens. We have slated floors in our roost area (old 4x4 pallets) which we remove every 4-6 weeks depending on weather and scrape the floor clean. I have never lost a turkey to blackhead. The biggest behavior problems I have are between my roosters and my turkey hens. They are the most similar in size and they seem to both get full of piss and vinegar about the same times throughout the year. Neither of my toms pay any mind to anyone else, even during breeding season.

 

[DarthCareBear]

Blackhead will come up out of the ground as well, probably doesnt have anything to do with the chickens

 

[cracked egg]

I have 5 toms and 7 hens running around with a pair of peafowl,3guineas and 12 chickens. 3 of those chickens are roosters. They all roost and forage together and have never had a bird kill one another. Occasionally a rooster will pick on a hen turkey and the hens will chase the offending rooster around for a while. The peacock will cause trouble with the toms once in a while and of course the toms have their dominance issues every spring.
My birds are free ranged though so there is plenty of room for them to roam and have their space.
I do know that some turkeys prefer to be with the chickens while others prefer the guineas and the remaining turkeys wander around not caring who is with them
.

 

[mrbuch]

This my turkey and she raised 8 baby chicks for me I dont have a tom she I gave her chickens I only have 1 turkey and would love another one but you have to buy 15 from the hatchery and I dont have room for that and have not been able to find any at our local feed store I dont know if this will help you decide and we did raise her as a baby with 2 RI Reds