First Time Turkeys

[Welshies]

Hello everyone. So I've had ducks, quail, and currently, chickens. After some thought I am deciding to get turkeys this spring, both for the occasional feast and for eggs and poults.
We would like heritage turkeys, but we want to start with a pair, this February or March. Then they, once settled, can hopefully hatch their poults out and care for them.
We have a 48 sq ft coop area- fairly open, three sided, covered and about 4 feet tall. Lots of hay for the turkeys to bed in (our chickens use shavings though.). Then we have a 100sq ft area for them to run around in (if seperated from the chickens). If with the chickens we have a 450 sq ft area (I plan to expand it this summer too). The run area they will use is under a three sided run-in shed. This shed is also wired so we can use heat lamps if needed.
What do we need, for space? Is there anything I should know beforehand? Can the turkeys eat the same mixed grains I provide my mature chickens (the mature turkeys and chickens, it's corn, wheat, oats, barley, and so on), when they can free range, or do they need their turkey maintenence ration?

 

[casportpony]

You might want to read this:
https://www.nap.edu/read/2114/chapter/5

 

[Molpet]

Turkeys like to roost high.. if they can .. I have a hen that thinks a tree is a good spot, so would the owls and coons... the larger toms have given up on roosting in trees, fences, roofs.. one jake is lighter and roosts on the door to the hoop coop most nights.. I have to get him down... mine are in w/chickens ...except it is cold (-5f) and snowy right now and the chickens are all staying in the coop and the turkey hen is picking on the chicken hens.. so I threw all the turkeys out.
If Blackhead is not in your area they can be w/the chickens. The chickens need somewhere to get away from the turkeys, because turkeys can be jerks.
Poults tend to be tender their first few months of life, they they are very hearty.
They need higher protein that chickens and some other nutrients too, especially when they are young... I have feed them chicken feed but try to get turkey feed.

 

[Welshies]

Turkeys like to roost high.. if they can .. I have a hen that thinks a tree is a good spot, so would the owls and coons... the larger toms have given up on roosting in trees, fences, roofs.. one jake is lighter and roosts on the door to the hoop coop most nights.. I have to get him down... mine are in w/chickens ...except it is cold (-5f) and snowy right now and the chickens are all staying in the coop and the turkey hen is picking on the chicken hens.. so I threw all the turkeys out.
If Blackhead is not in your area they can be w/the chickens. The chickens need somewhere to get away from the turkeys, because turkeys can be jerks.
Poults tend to be tender their first few months of life, they they are very hearty.
They need higher protein that chickens and some other nutrients too, especially when they are young... I have feed them chicken feed but try to get turkey feed.

Haha, you're lucky. It's warm where you are, we have -40°C (-40°F) weather. Is blackhead prevalent in cold climates? I've never heard of it so I doubt we have it.
I was considering building a roost in the three sided run-in shed. It's covered, but still open, so they might like to roost there.
I have a seperate run I can use for turkeys, and they won't be sharing a coop with the chickens.

 

[Molpet]

keep clean though

Haha, you're lucky. It's warm where you are, we have -40°C (-40°F) weather. Is blackhead prevalent in cold climates? I've never heard of it so I doubt we have it.
I was considering building a roost in the three sided run-in shed. It's covered, but still open, so they might like to roost there.
I have a seperate run I can use for turkeys, and they won't be sharing a coop with the chickens.

yes you get much colder...we only get down to -24f once in a while.. they like 2x6 flat roosts so they can cover their toes when they sit on them... actually mine like to sit on top of a flat roof 4x4x4 dog house that is in the hoop coop... bit messy to keep clean though

 

[casportpony]

Is blackhead prevalent in cold climates? I've never heard of it so I doubt we have it.

Don't count on it. People can go years without ever seeing it, then one day they get it.

 

[rjohns39]

When I raise mine (and many people do it differently, this is what works best for me), I'll hatch out chicks the week before the turkey's hatch or arrive in the mail. I'll put five or so week old chicks in with the day old poults. They'll spend their first three weeks in the brooder with 24% turkey feed (higher in vitamins) and get frequent visits through out the day. At 3 weeks they move to a 20-22% protein turkey feed and move into a portable shelter 8x8x4. They live there for 5 more weeks (at week 3, I move them to an 18% turkey grower/broiler mix). Their shelter get's moved at least once a week and more often if they decimate or overload the ground. When they are 8 weeks old, they go into a look/don't touch shelter in the main pasture and stay on the 18% feed for another week, maybe two depending on size and reaction of the adults. Then they move into the main population and eat an 18-16% all flock formula until 30 days prior to breeding.

I would pair one tom with 3-5 hens to start the breeding program.

 

[Molpet]

it seems in turkey farms, Black Head also known as histomoniasis is in Canada
https://www.canadianpoultrymag.com/health/focus-on-bird-health-30011

it is in the USA , but not by me.

 

[Molpet]

good article on what it does to the birds http://fluffybottomsfarm.blogspot.com/2012/07/blackhead-in-turkey.html

 

[Sunshine Flock]

The day we moved into our home, as first time homeowners, a neighbor stopped to say hello and called us "first time turkeys!"