My personal opinion is that i Love my turkeys, they are my favorite birds, an i have a flock of 30!
Your not suposed to keep chicken and turkeys togther because of the blackhead parasite. Chickens can carry it in their guts but its deadly to a turkey. The parasite lives in the ground for up to two years after chickens have inhabited it, And lastly turkeys should not be on the same patch of land two years in a row. It can be a pain if you dont have a minimum of 1/2 an acre of land. I have gottten around all of this by planning for the very back of my property to become my turkey house. I dont let anything back there right now. I currently keep them on the very Front so for these 6-8 months they are on different land and after a yr on the back i will be able to move them back up. I also seperate the quail and chickens who all live in the middle with me
Now, i free range my turkeys during the day and its So Fun lol! I have to alter whos allowed out and where they can go once they are out. They want to always know what ive got for them or what im doin over there. My Bourbon Reds will fly accross my yard. Can u imagine all 5 ft of wingspan 30 lb bird, cruisin up to u in your yard?!
I am very glad for the time and money i invested into mine but i imagine that buying adults would have been alot different. I bought poults, at 9 wks they were fairly past any fear of sudden death, but still young enough for me to train them to our home and us. Theyre super sweet.
I would reccommend putting all of that to the side though and really planning to meet their needs, it can be tough to seperate their pens and tougher still to free range them.
