Chicks in an old Turkey pen

[Druvius]

Hi guys,

I'm not going to raise turkeys this year, just chickens.
I have a pen for the chickens but I was thinking on spreading them out between the two pens.
I have heard about Blackhead and other issues of cross contamination between turkeys and chickens.

My question is this.

There hasn't been turkeys in the pen since September 2019.
If I clean it out and maybe spritz with a little 10% bleach water and lay new bedding etc. can I safely put day old chicks in there to raise for the usual 8 weeks (meat chickens)

If I decide to use the turkey waterers and feeders they will be thoroughly cleaned again (they are always cleaned at the end of the season)

If this is a bad idea or if theres something I need to take into account I'd like to know before I go ahead with this.

Drew

 

[aart]

Chickens can carry blackhead without symptoms, it's the turkeys that BH can kill.
Might not be a problem next year if you put turkeys back in that pen if BH is not prevalent in your area.

 

[Druvius]

Hi aart
Thanks for the quick reply.
I haven't heard of blackhead in the area but I can ask around.
So by your answer I'm assuming putting chickens in the coop is fine.

If I decide on turkeys again one year I'll clean out the pen more than usual.
But its unlikely for the near future. Meat chickens are so much more bang for your buck.
8 weeks and done. Cant beat that.

 

[aart]

I haven't heard of blackhead in the area but I can ask around.

Might ask your local county/university/ag extension office.

So by your answer I'm assuming putting chickens in the coop is fine.

As far as I know there's no disease that turkeys might carry that is lethal to chickens, it's the other way around with Black Head.

 

[Druvius]

Thank you again.
I feel good about repurposing the turkey coop for chickens.

As an aside, this forum is great. I'm sure we've all been on forums where its not so great an experience whether its bad advice or good advice desired to you to make you feel dumb.
Not the case here.

Drew