I'm thinking about keeping turkeys with my chickens- should I?

Should I add turkeys to the flock?


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All4Eggz

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Apr 23, 2021
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Can I house some turkeys (about 5-10) with my flock of around 40+ chickens + chicks?
I'd like to grow some for thanksgiving (maybe next year, since this year it's too late) and maybe sell a few.
I would have to switch to all-flock pellets.

Could I free range the chickens and turkeys at the same time? Will they come back to the coop? do they need separate coops?

Thanks in advance for replying.
 
I'll mention Blackhead. Blackhead is a disease that usually doesn't bother chickens that much, you might not even know they have it, but it is fatal to turkeys. If you have blackhead in your chicken flock your turkeys will die. If you do not have blackhead in your flock then your turkeys will not get blackhead from your chickens. Lots of people keep turkeys and chickens together without any problems with blackhead, but it can be a problem.

Could I free range the chickens and turkeys at the same time? Will they come back to the coop? do they need separate coops?
Lots of people do. You have to train them to go back to the coop to sleep just like you do chickens but I've kept them in the same coop.

Are you considering the smaller heritage breeds or a broad breasted variety? The heritage fly extremely well. Sometimes they like to sleep in trees or on the coop instead of inside. I trained my Midget White to sleep in the coop with the chickens but I could not keep him penned during the day, he could fly out.

I have never raised broad breasted. People on the forum that have say the young ones can fly really well but once they get bigger not that much. Which ones you raise might make a difference in some of that.
 
I raised BB whites one year. That year I lost a lot of chicks. Most of them I found in my water buckets and tubs outside (have ducks so need deep water). I thought they were accidently drowning after falling in and a new cat that had been visiting had gotten the others. I've lost a couple to drowning before but never at this scale. Then one day I witnessed the turkeys pecking one of my chicken hens so much her head was bleeding. I separated the turkeys. After that, no more drowned or dead chicks. That's when I realized the turkeys had been killing them and putting them in the water. If I ever do turkeys again, I'll keep them away from the chickens.
 
I have turkeys, chickens, guineas, emu, peafowl and ducks all free ranging together. They are perfectly fine as long as they have a good amount of space. If you want meat turkeys a broad breasted breed is best BUT if you want to be able to breed your own you will need a heritage breed. Broad breasted breeds can't hatch their own chicks as they are to heavy.
They are not always fine even with plenty of space. Mine had over 10 sq ft of coop space per bird and about 4 acres to free range. It wasn't a space problem. It was a dominance problem.

But could a broody hen hatch and raise turkeys?
I assume you mean a broody chicken hen. She may or may not be able to hatch the eggs. Turkey eggs take longer to brood so a chicken hen may give up and abandon the nest before the eggs are ready. Also, turkey poults grow pretty fast so she wouldn't be able to keep more than two or three warm for long. They'd quickly outgrow her.
 
This is my 6 week old BBB back on July 18th. Hes almost double that size already in just 2 weeks.
 

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