Give me the dirt on turkeys

[doubleostud]

I have goats as well, and I just built a small little wood fenced area and put a hanging feeder in it, my turkeys just hop in there and help themselves, you might try that.

 

[ametauss]

Thanks.

My pygmy goats are about the same height as the turkeys but much fatter....

I'll try to set something up for them to feed from....

Ann Marie

PS if that roo gets on the duck or turkey, I will get pics....

 

[mamato3]

im also looking into raising turkeys next year so this is very informational. I had planed on about 5 bbw but since this is my first time and alot of you said there a little harder im now looking at heritage breeds i was going to go to my local hatchery estes in Springfield mo to pick up so the ones they have are, Black Spanish, Royal Palm, Bourbon Red, Blue Slate and Narragansett. What im looking for is a turkey that will have a nice amount of breast meat and will develop somewhat quickly. So which one do you think is the best for me I cant find much info on the net about heritage breeds but from what i read Royal palm is not for me The black one sounds good but has anyone raised the black turkey from estes i read where if you dont get good stock the birds are smaller. Thanks again for this great post.

 

[patandchickens]

This thread *really should* be stickied - I haven't seen another that is so comprehensive and has such wide participation.

What about winter housing for turkeys -- it is Too D*mn Cold And Windy here for about 3-4 months of the year or more, and if I wanted to keep like a trio for breeding purposes they'd have to winter indoors. Those who've kept turkeys over the winter, what do you think would be a minimum reasonable (not overly cramped) size for 3 heritage-type turkeys, entirely indoors?

Pat

 

[chickenannie]

Quote:
Since you want a turkey with a lot of breast meat that grows quickly, you will want to get the Broad-Breasted Whites (BBW) or Broad Breasted Bronzes (BBB). The heritage breeds do NOT get much breast meat and they grow very slowly (7-10 months to maturity) and are smaller in size overall. Totally different type of bird. The BBW do not always do well beyond their growing period of 4-5 months because they are bred to fatten quickly.

The reason to buy a heritage bird is because: it has superior flavor and wonderful dark meat, forages on its own (feeds itself on bugs and grass as a supplemental food), can fly and breed naturally (BBW are all artificially inseminated because they have been bred for such large breast meat that they can no longer "do it" because the large breast gets in the way). A heritage turkey is generally healthier and can have a long life if desired and makes a great pet. They are prettier-looking (BBWs are bred only for meat, so their feathering looks terrible and they can barely walk they get so fat so quick and they generally live on the ground). Many people raise heritage turkeys in order to keep the gene pool alive, since 99% of commercial turkeys are BBW.

Hope that helps!

 

[Their Other Mother]

I've read on some of the hatchery sites that you should not raise Turkeys and Chickens together because the Turkeys can get some fatal disease (Blackhead or something like that) from chicken poop. If that's so, How far apart do they need to be housed? From one side of the barn to the other or more like from one side of the property to the other, or acres apart?

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
Shush... don't type that so loud. We raise ours together with chickens, ducks, geese, guineas and peafowl. We have a 100+ turkey breeders and have never had any problems. So please don't tell them they shouldn't be with the rest of the birds.

Seriously, the chickens can pass blackhead to the turkeys but the blackhead has to be there to begin with.

Steve in NC

 

[Their Other Mother]

Quote:
Shush... don't type that so loud. We raise ours together with chickens, ducks, geese, guineas and peafowl. We have a 100+ turkey breeders and have never had any problems. So please don't tell them they shouldn't be with the rest of the birds.

Seriously, the chickens can pass blackhead to the turkeys but the blackhead has to be there to begin with.

Steve in NC

Sorry (in my best whisper typing) what is Blackhead and where does it come from?

 

[chickenannie]

Quote:
Shush... don't type that so loud. We raise ours together with chickens, ducks, geese, guineas and peafowl. We have a 100+ turkey breeders and have never had any problems. So please don't tell them they shouldn't be with the rest of the birds.

Seriously, the chickens can pass blackhead to the turkeys but the blackhead has to be there to begin with.

Steve in NC

Sorry (in my best whisper typing) what is Blackhead and where does it come from?

There's been TONS of blackhead discussions on this forum. Just do a search on BYC for it...

 

[pdpatch]

As far as subject of raising mixed poultry goes. I was born and raised in the Midwest. I have many relation that are framers and ranchers and they have done it for years with no problems. I can remember many visits there farms and ranches and seeing lots of different poultry living together being opened ranged. Mixed flocks have been done for centuries.

The advise you see coming from university web sites is geared towards commercial operations where they have thousand not hundreds of birds. If a poultry diseases was to get into there flock the finical lose would be devastating.

But If you have not raised mixed poultry where you live, it is a good idea to check with your local Ag office to see what poultry diseases that have a record of in your area. If there has been then yes it could be a problem.

In our case the coops are separate, because we could not afford to build one large coop outside., and because our red star pullets pick on the turkeys. So we don't have one large area for all the poultry but smaller separate areas. Also last year layers don't get along with this years layers. But when we let then out to free range they are together. This winter when we move them back inside the will be near each other but in separate pens.

Black head is a poultry disease that is passed between species of poultry. It is passed through the waste of earth worms. If a chicken gets it they can survive, it a turkey gets it most likely they won't.

Tom