I'm confused. Can I have my Turkey with chickens or not?

[Chiko]

My turkey grew up with chickens and is super nice to them. They treat him like a chicken

No fights nothing.

 

[luckyclucker]

Sure you can. I've introduced new toms (2) and new hens (3) to my chickens who have been with me for 3 years. They pretty much ignore each other, except for a couple of my hens who just love the toms and roost close to them. As far as disease goes, the big worry is Black Head in turkeys-- a disease which is relatively harmless in chickens but very severe for turkeys. This will come with wild birds if the disease is in the area, anyhow, so I'd say go for it.

 

[crj]

I have a bunch of chickens, 4 ducks, 2 geese, 3 turkeys and 3 dogs. They all roam around my yard together. My geese think the tom is daddy.... go figure. The only thing is my turkeys don't spend the night in the pens. The tom spends the night on top of one pen and the girls stay in a tree near the pen. Otherwise they are together all the time with no problems. I never have a problem with the roosters and the tom either. The two hens are sitting on eggs right now and all it calm in bird land. They even spend time with a couple of horses.

 

[fowlsessed]

I would like to know the turkey breeds that are generally the friendliest, with humans and animals.

 

[Hideaway Haven]

I have both turkeys and chickens. I keep them seperated because my chickens do carry the blackhead. I have lost a few turkeys from the horrible disease. It is the most horrible thing to watch your turkeys go through. You never want to see it. If you do keep your turkeys and chickens together with no problems you are very lucky. But it is not worth the chance.

 

[PatS]

My bourbon red hens bullied my buff orpingtons. They especially had it in for the roosters. Whenever a roo would mount a chicken, the bourbon reds would attack him. I have heard that Narragansetts are pretty mellow, so maybe I'll try them next season.

 

[cluckygal4]

We have a mixed flock of 14 chickens,2 ducks, 4 turkeys (until yesterday we had 4 others - Thanksgiving casualties) and they have all always had free run of the yard. They all eat together, forage in the yard together and occasionally sleep together in the coop or in the trees.....yes, we have "tree chickens".....and we have never had a problem. Every once in a while the toms and roos show off to each other and we have a roo that likes to tease the turkey hens and they let him know when they no longer think he's being funny.

 

[Elizabeth13]

hi, i am going to do meat chickens and turkeys this year, and was wondering should i raise them together as chicks or not? this is my first time to do turkeys dose anyone have any advice?

thanks!