Can Turkeys be raised with Chickens?

[BeccaRecca13]

Good Morning -

I decided this year to start raising chickens. Most of my birds were “dual purpose” with the intention of processing in the fall or spring of following year. I did process one chicken 3 nights ago, and well, it didn’t go horribly wrong and was a rather quick process besides the plucking by hand. I only processed this one because she was being aggressive to the rest of the flock. Even though she wasn’t fat and plump, she was delicious!
I saw a post about someone who had turkeys and chickens but I didn’t know if they could live together? Or if they should have separate enclosures? I would be interested in getting a few turkeys next year to process.

Any suggestions?

Picture of “Blue” - Our dinner the other night (;

 

[JustCallMeMaple]

They can live together but personally I wouldnt. I'm have a turkey tractor for that reason. Chickens can carry histomoniasis, also known as blackhead with no symptoms but this will kill turkeys. It's not worth the risk imo. Yes it can be done, yes people have done it but when you add new chickens it could bring this deadly disease in because chickens are silent carriers. I 100% understand wanting to raise something to eat as I've grown and harvested some tasty birds. The decision is yours though overall if you want to just roll with the chances of blackehead. Personally I do chicken/turkey tractor as my keep them separate option.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I raise turkeys with chickens with no issues. Except for sometimes the big fat turkeys don't watch where they put their feet, & walk on the birds.

Had to put a pullet down this year, because she was trampled, & was in such severe pain that she refused to feed herself, or stand up. I suspected a lower back/pelvic injury. When I kept her skull, there's a small fracture on the bone that encircles the nasal cavity. That confirms being trampled.

 

[MysteryChicken]

They can live together but personally I wouldnt. I'm have a turkey tractor for that reason. Chickens can carry histomoniasis, also known as blackhead with no symptoms but this will kill turkeys. It's not worth the risk imo. Yes it can be done, yes people have done it but when you add new chickens it could bring this deadly disease in because chickens are silent carriers. I 100% understand wanting to raise something to eat as I've grown and harvested some tasty birds. The decision is yours though overall if you want to just roll with the chances of blackehead. Personally I do chicken/turkey tractor as my keep them separate option.

From what I've learned, Black Head Disease is more rare in chickens.

 

[Molpet]

I have turkeys with my chickens.... and wish I didn't. Blackhead isn't in my area. The problem are killed and injured chickens.... toms squashing hens trying to breed them when I didn't have enough turkey hens. Turkey hens beating up chickens. Fighting jakes and roos. The chickens loose.
So far 3 dead and 3 injured chickens

 

[MysteryChicken]

I have turkeys with my chickens.... and wish I didn't. Blackhead isn't in my area. The problem are killed and injured chickens.... toms squashing hens trying to breed them when I didn't have enough turkey hens. Turkey hens beating up chickens. Fighting jakes and roos. The chickens loose.
So far 3 dead and 3 injured chickens

I've had 4 guineas a year ago get squished by turkeys over the course of a day, or two apart. I think that was like our 3rd year raising turkeys.

I only lost 2 chickens total due to turkeys. One rooster, & a pullet.

 

[Acre4Me]

We raised turkeys for the first time this year. We raised Bourbon Red heritage breed turkeys.

We bought 6 poults along with 6 Black Jersey Giant chicks. They were brooded together for a few weeks. Then we separated them and the poults went into a separate enclosure- near, but not next to the chicken run.

Two poults died in the first couple weeks. Poults look for ways to die, we’ve been told. One other one went on a hunger strike when we moved them to a larger brooder, so we had to feed and water it a few times over the course of 12 hours…it got its energy back and decided to live. We raised 4 poults, 3 males and 1 female. We butchered 2 males around August (4 months old) due to fighting among the males. The space was adequate, but not so much with fighting males. The remaining 1 male/1 female got along great.

They were a Mid-March hatch, we butchered mid- November, around 8 months age. The female never laid a single egg. She was much smaller than the male. The male was very frame-y, with quite a bit of fat. The male was served for Thanksgiving. We weighed his prepared carcass just before we began to prep him for the oven. He was just under 15 lbs! His dark meat was very dark, as compared to grocery turkey. He was tasty and moist.

Day of processing

Male, prepped for cooking

Finished roasting

We liked the experience, and will raise them again, but probably not next year, but in 2023 instead.

Good luck

I do not think it would have been successful to raise the turkeys with the chickens with our setup. So, our separate enclosure was a good thing. Turkeys are quite large, snd even our very large BJG chickens cannot compare. But, illness is another factor too. In general, if you can, separate enclosures will likely be more successful.

 

[Folly's place]

All good points above, and the risk of blackhead is very real for turkeys (and peafowl!) mixed with chickens.
Recently I had a fecal run on my healthy chickens, and found a very few coccidia, few tapeworms, and Heterachis, the parasite connected to blackhead. Happily, we don't raise either turkeys or peafowl, and certainly won't, unless not close to the chickens!
I'm right now treating with fenbendazole for the Heterachis, and Dr. Fulton at MSU said to not worry about the very low levels of the other parasites.
Mary

 

[BeccaRecca13]

We raised turkeys for the first time this year. We raised Bourbon Red heritage breed turkeys.

We bought 6 poults along with 6 Black Jersey Giant chicks. They were brooded together for a few weeks. Then we separated them and the poults went into a separate enclosure- near, but not next to the chicken run.

Two poults died in the first couple weeks. Poults look for ways to die, we’ve been told. One other one went on a hunger strike when we moved them to a larger brooder, so we had to feed and water it a few times over the course of 12 hours…it got its energy back and decided to live. We raised 4 poults, 3 males and 1 female. We butchered 2 males around August (4 months old) due to fighting among the males. The space was adequate, but not so much with fighting males. The remaining 1 male/1 female got along great.

They were a Mid-March hatch, we butchered mid- November, around 8 months age. The female never laid a single egg. She was much smaller than the male. The male was very frame-y, with quite a bit of fat. The male was served for Thanksgiving. We weighed his prepared carcass just before we began to prep him for the oven. He was just under 15 lbs! His dark meat was very dark, as compared to grocery turkey. He was tasty and moist.

Day of processing
View attachment 2914064

Male, prepped for cooking
View attachment 2914065

Finished roasting
View attachment 2914066

We liked the experience, and will raise them again, but probably not next year, but in 2023 instead.

Good luck

I do not think it would have been successful to raise the turkeys with the chickens with our setup. So, our separate enclosure was a good thing. Turkeys are quite large, snd even our very large BJG chickens cannot compare. But, illness is another factor too. In general, if you can, separate enclosures will likely be more successful.

Thank you so much for this.
Coming for a new turkey raiser, and hearing the first butchering is nice.
I can certainly build a turkey castle for the birds in the spring (possibly build over winter to be ready for spring).

It sounds like I should buy a few more than I want because of deaths (maybe an extra 4)?
I had a few people tell me that they bought 2 or 3 and they all died, so I’m hoping it doesn’t go that bad….

I’m going to do more research as to “breeds”.

 

[Acre4Me]

Thank you so much for this.
Coming for a new turkey raiser, and hearing the first butchering is nice.
I can certainly build a turkey castle for the birds in the spring (possibly build over winter to be ready for spring).

It sounds like I should buy a few more than I want because of deaths (maybe an extra 4)?
I had a few people tell me that they bought 2 or 3 and they all died, so I’m hoping it doesn’t go that bad….

I’m going to do more research as to “breeds”.

You’re welcome!
Yes, buy more. Make sure they have a covered shelter. Pay very good attention to them and their behavior the first few weeks -that’s how we caught the hunger-strike poult. Make sure they are drinking water. We routinely dipped beaks for the first 3 weeks if we didn’t see them drink (each one) while we were watching over a several min time span. We planned to sell any extra (if they all lived) at a livestock auction near us.