Give me the dirt on turkeys

[siletz]

It took me a while, but I just finished the entire thread. Thank you to each of you for your helpful information. I'm looking at getting some Bourbon Red turkeys soon and this was excellent info for me! One quick question I have is can I just feed them what I feed the chickens, but add more soy and peas to make it have the higher protein percentage they need? And can they use the same grit as the chickens? Thanks!

 

[ivan3]

siletz wrote: It took me a while, but I just finished the entire thread. Thank you to each of you for your helpful information. I'm looking at getting some Bourbon Red turkeys soon and this was excellent info for me! One quick question I have is can I just feed them what I feed the chickens, but add more soy and peas to make it have the higher protein percentage they need? And can they use the same grit as the chickens? Thanks!

The `exact' grit size is covered in Chap. 7 of the ALBC TURKEY MANUAL (a very good reference to download and `thumb through'): http://www.albc-usa.org/downloads.html

Insofoar as feed formulation? So long as the poults (up to three months) are getting about 28-30% protein from whatever formulation:

To be exact, the Nutrient Requirements of Poultry (ninth edition) is free to read/search online: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=2114

 

[chknoodles]

OK..I have looked and looked for the answer to this question. I know what to do about introducing younger chickens to the older chicken pen but is it the same for turkey? We have 4 baby turkey's in the garage who will be ready to move outside in 2 or 3 more weeks. They are to go into a turkey pen that currently has two Toms and one Hen, all three are less than a year old and not full grown but were raised together since hatch. Will these older birds attack the younger birds?

 

[EddieLee]

I've been flirting with the idea of adding three or four midget whites to my backyard chicken flock. I have read lots of great info on the thread about mixing chickens and turkeys. My question is about noise levels. I'm in a densly populated neighborhood and have to be careful with noise levels. How noisy do turkeys get? Any one breed better than the other? Thanks!!

 

[chknoodles]

I have bronze and they started gobbling at 12 weeks . Not to loud but we can hear them in the house.

 

[Lorien]

I've been flirting with the idea of adding three or four midget whites to my backyard chicken flock. I have read lots of great info on the thread about mixing chickens and turkeys. My question is about noise levels. I'm in a densly populated neighborhood and have to be careful with noise levels. How noisy do turkeys get? Any one breed better than the other? Thanks!!

I wonder this too...

 

[GotCoop]

Although I can hear mine from a couple hundred feet away it's not an anoying sound like the crowing of the rooster. The loudest sound is the chorus of gobbles when they hear a noise. MIne are quiet at night, no disturbing the wife or nieghbors...mostly during the day they make a low volume churp to communicate with the flock when foraging. They are generally quiet in the pen.

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

Very Informative.

 

[cracked egg]

We have Sweetgrass, a couple palm hens, and a Eastern and RioGrande Tom. All my birds free range,but I have neighbors who love seeing them roam in their yards. They mingle with the chickens,guineas and peafowl without any problems. The turkeys will roam pretty far at times. The hens nests up to 1/2 mile away and return in late summer where they combine all the broods. My birds are probably more like wild birds than tame and often fly. I can walk close to them,but touching or handling is rarely done without the use of a fishnet while they ar roosting. I penned and separated them this spring to provide Sweetgrass eggs to people and the birds hated it. I don't think I have ever seen them so depressed or so happy to finally be set free. Needless to say the young birds have a high predation rate until they come back in late summer.

 

[nanclapper]

Although I can hear mine from a couple hundred feet away it's not an anoying sound like the crowing of the rooster. The loudest sound is the chorus of gobbles when they hear a noise. MIne are quiet at night, no disturbing the wife or nieghbors...mostly during the day they make a low volume churp to communicate with the flock when foraging. They are generally quiet in the pen.

What a beautiful picture of your flock and horse! Lots of green grass!