Free ranging turkeys and chickens together?

[mamawolf544]

All of my birds free range together, they always have and I have silkies up to my mini white turkeys. And I have never had a problem with them being together.

 

[RlgNorth]

I have chickens and turkeys together only problem I had was the hens were getting bored and started pecking at the toms rear end (YUCK). I now give them more treats, and other things to keep them occupied.Other then that they live together very peacful!

 

[NakPakChick]

We had our chickens out before we even brought home the turkeys. They free range all together, and seem to do fine. If anything the chickens push around the turkeys, like the turkeys don't realize they are much bigger than the hens! Mostly when it comes to food time. We have a few feeders to that the turkeys can go to another feeder if they are being pushed around too much.
Now that it's just the hen turkey she likes to hang out with the chickens, but they still rule the roost when it comes to feed time. Turkey Girl has the advantage when it comes to treats tho. I throw some on the ground for the chickens and let Turkey girl eat some from a dish I hold.

All in all I think everyone does ok.

 

[brandywine]

Chickens, turkeys, ducks all free-range together. The turkeys keep to a fairly tight flock, as do the ducks, and chickens are everywhere. No conflicts.

Only species I had problems with was guineas, who tortured the hens. Guineas are delicious!

I had the chickens and turkeys cooped separately (except for some pullets and cockerels who rejected their parents' crummy values and moved in with the turkeys) until this week, when I cut a door in the wall between the two stalls so that everyone could use the same automatic waterer.

So far, so good. One of my bourbon red hens was roosting with the chooks last night. The ducks like having the extra floor space provided by the turkey stall.

 

[SSS]

You'll need to be careful of diseases like blackhead.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
Blackhead has to be present in the area for them to get it. Because they share the same area they don't automaticly get it.

Steve in NC

Yep, and in some areas it is not really an issue at all. The poultry sci professor on campus who specializes in turkeys says he's never heard of a case in western WA or OR.

 

[ccrawf]

I raised 5 turkeys, 5 guineas and 10 chickens together last year with no problems. Got them all at the same time as day old chicks and they grew up together. Had 8 hens winter over and this year added 19 turkeys, 2 geese and 45 chickens to the 8 chickens I had. Raised them in the house, them put them in the coop which was divided by wire so they could see each other and interact socially, but not physically. After a week or so, I let them all mix together. Never had any problems, but they do create their own pecking order. The geese were always biggest, but never really pushed their weight around. The old hens pick on the smaller chickens, even still. Mostly pushing them off the top roosts and making them eat last. The turkeys are now the biggest and they push the chickens away from the food until after they eat. But I have never had one kill another, or injure each other. Maybe I’m lucky, who knows. My turkeys have always roosted in the coop, but my experience is they prefer the shelf to a bar roost. Never did figure that one out. And I have never had a problem with diseases, either.

 

[geepy]

My turkeys (6) and chickens (30) and guineas (5) all free range with my horses (3) and sheep (2) , but the guineas are the boss. The only animals that I keep penned are the hogs. (they get into everything).

 

[Oklahoma Lightning]

I have seen a rooster kill a half grown Royal Palm and your turkeys need to be on a strict worm program if they run with chickens to keep Blackhead out of your flocks.

 

[Worn]

Quote:
Blackhead has to be present in the area for them to get it. Because they share the same area they don't automaticly get it.

Steve in NC

Yep, and in some areas it is not really an issue at all. The poultry sci professor on campus who specializes in turkeys says he's never heard of a case in western WA or OR.

When I was a kid our Bronze Tom got blackhead. We lived in Western Washington at the time! I sure took it hard. I loved that turkey. I've heard that cayenne pepper in their feed or water can prevent blackhead.

I've had Eastern Wilds after the Bronze and never had any problems with blackhead. I personally think the more domesticated turkeys are more prone to diseases than the wilds or heritage breeds.