looking to start raising turkeys...

[AlivianAcres]

I am thinking of raising 2 or 3 turkeys....what do I need to know? What is ideal in terms of shelter? Should they be enclosed? If I let them roam will they run/ fly off???? I have young children (10 months, 3 and 4) so is roaming even a good idea?

 

[coloradojen]

Hi, I was wondering if you were thinking of housing them in an area with the chickens? I would love to add a turkey to my 4 hens who live in a 10' x 10' x 6' high run with a small coop. I am going to have a bigger coop built to add a couple more hens but I would love to have a turkey just as a pet. I have something else that it could house in rather than the coop but I don't know how they inter-mingle with chickens. Let me know if you find out anything more. I'd love to keep in touch about this if you add any to find out how they are doing.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I think everyone's situation will be different. You may want to ask yourself if you will have problems with predators? In my area, we don't have problems. Some of my turkeys fly onto of the 8 foot coop and sleep there, while others fly in the pecan trees, while others just go in the coop and roost with the chickens and some ducks. I have never had a problem with any of mine flying away or leaving the property. The most they will do is fly over the chicken yard fence into the human yard and walk around and be nosey and fly right back over. They are allowed to free range all day every day. I have a great bunch of Bourbon Reds. They are pretty much tame.

 

[frank53061]

I agree with KuntryGirl Sounds like good advice my Bourbon Reds are like Dogs with Feathers LOL.
My Turkeys were raised from Poults and had a good amount of Human contact that helps.
I did do some wing clipping til about 5 months of age then after awhile they dont much try to fly if that becomes a problem and its not that hard to clip the feathers.

I think over all they have been great to raise.

 

[emptynesterMom]

My birds are similar to KuntryGirls in that some roost on my 6' fence, some are on the roof peak of the barn, and a few in with the chickens. The hens are very curious and will investigate everything, including the swimming pool.
By the way, they can swim quite well, just don't tell my DH how I know that!

I have really enjoyed raising my birds. They do follow me around when ever I am outside. They supervise all of my DH's building projects. They will come to the house and look in the french doors. They are quirky and funny, and make me laugh at their antics everyday.

They do have a couple of downsides: They will get on the cars and roof of the house, and must be trained to stay off!!! I wouldn't trust them around a small child unsupervised. They like to peck at anything shiny - buckles, buttons, eyes, etc. My boys are more territorial, not as bad as geese, but they certainly recognize who is a stranger and move in to crowd around the visitor strutting and drumming. They are good sized birds and most of my visitors are rather intimidated by their display. Poor UPS man pulls really close to the porch and slides the package over. I did have a couple of males that grew more aggressive as they matured. They tried to flog me once and I'm afraid they might have hurt a small child - they were yummy.