Can you keep a lone turkey hen with chickens?

[KWSRetMSgt]

You have been very lucky. Normally a lone tom with chickens means dead chickens when breeding season rolls around. Most chickens end up as flat chickens when a tom tries to breed them.

OK so I was thinking of allowing my turkeys to share a coop with my chickens, but from this post my seeing it's not really a good idea.

 

[R2elk]

OK so I was thinking of allowing my turkeys to share a coop with my chickens, but from this post my seeing it's not really a good idea.

Having multiple turkeys with chickens is not the same as having a lone tom with chickens. If the turkeys don't get imprinted by chickens at a young age, they will be able to understand that there is a difference between them and the chickens when they are adults.

The key thing to remember is that turkeys require much more space than do chickens. My adult turkeys have access to the chicken coop because that is where I keep the food. The chickens and turkeys both have access to the run which is where the turkey roosts are and where the turkeys spend their nights. My run is big enough that their is approximately 600 sq. ft. of space for each adult turkey. In addition both the chickens and turkeys get to free range on approximately 2 acres every day.

It is best to raise chickens and turkeys separately but under the right conditions, they can coexist. If Blackhead is a concern in your area, do not keep turkeys and chickens together. The chickens can be carriers of Blackhead and it can be a death sentence to turkeys.

 

[duluthralphie]

OK so I was thinking of allowing my turkeys to share a coop with my chickens, but from this post my seeing it's not really a good idea.

I keep my turkeys and chickens together also...

They have a 40x60— 18ft Hugh building. The turkeys roost in the rafters..

They have as much land as they want to wander during the day. They normally stay on the deck to the house, because they know how much my wife loves to have them staring in the windows at her...

The chickens roost lower. There will be occasional disputes.. which normally result in a turkey hen pulling out a few rooster tail feathers. Roosters and Toms seldom fight and when they do neither seems to land a blow that hurts. Toms want to pull snoods, roosters want to fight claw to claw or bump chests... so there is a lot of action with no results.. but it is entertaining to watch.

In addition to blackhead ( which I have never had a problem with) turkeys can host MS easier than chickens and transmitt it to them.. however it is not normally fatal. That I know of..

Sometimes they all flock together. Some times not. It is like pigs and cows.

 

[KWSRetMSgt]

OK, My plan is to cut the chicken run in half. Right now they have (approx) 32x72 (2304sf) giving each about 1150 sf in space. It has 6ft ceilings with some areas going up to about 15 feet. Once the Turks are larger I intend to allow them access to the yard which is only about 1/2 acre with a decent sized pond. That way they can interact with the geese and ducks. They should also be able to interact with the chickens thru the panel wire divider, hoping that will cut down on to many disagreements.

 

[duluthralphie]

When you have a wire between a Tom and any other Tom or rooster..they will fight through the wire..

Toms that are best friends will fight if there is a fence between them.. you would think they could not get injured...but we are talking about turkeys.. they will hit the fence hard with their faces disfiguring them... they will rub the fences so hard all the feathers will come off their chests..

I really like turkeys... I never said they were smart..


I am hoping you give the turkeys little bows and arrows to shoot the waterfowl with!!!

 

[duluthralphie]

When you have a wire between a Tom and any other Tom or rooster..they will fight through the wire..

Toms that are best friends will fight if there is a fence between them.. you would think they could not get injured...but we are talking about turkeys.. they will hit the fence hard with their faces disfiguring them... they will rub the fences so hard all the feathers will come off their chests..

I really like turkeys... I never said they were smart..


I am hoping you give the turkeys little bows and arrows to shoot the waterfowl with!!!

 

[duluthralphie]

Wow A record quadruple post