Making plans to raise turkeys

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We are debating the option of letting them range. I know it's best for them, they are great foragers and insect controllers, but I worry about blackhead disease. I've had chickens on the pastures and farmyard for several years now, and had never wormed them until this summer. I might have to wait a few years and keep up the worming program before I risk it.

I'm leaning toward getting a heavier yet smaller variety that's not so likely to be flighty, like the Beltsville Small White, Midget White, Bourbon - or perhaps White Holland. And plan to snip wing feathers to keep them in, if needed.

It depends if blackhead is in your soil. I have no problems here letting turkeys range where chickens have been. I don't worm my poultry here.

I got some midget whites. They weren't that small. Bourbon are nice and seem the most friendly. I personally like blacks and blues, and sweetgrass, and.....lots to pick from.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

One tip I wish we knew right away was NOT to use shavings for bedding.. Use peat moss. We lost several in just a couple days because they were eating the shavings.

I have never had a problem with growing poults on shavings, and I have raised 100+.

Just because you have been lucky raising poults on wood chips does not mean it can't be a problem.

When poults are on wood chips, they need to have appropriately sized grit available. Without the grit, they cannot digest the wood chips and can have their digestive tract become blocked at which time they will die.

Let's just put that debate to rest. I don't use wood chips in the first week anyway, as I believe chicks (probably poults, too) need to learn to walk well, eat the right food, and drink lots of water in their first day out of the shipping box. Or egg. They get a layer or two of paper towels in the brooder. Easy to see the feed I sprinkle on it, easy cleanup, absorbent, and gives them enough traction to walk on an even surface.

After several days or a week, they get wood chips. But I still keep their feeder and waterer up on a scrap of 2x8 so they don't flick wood chips into it, and they can choose a smooth surface if they want to.

Have you ever walked for a long distance over a freshly plowed field or deep loose gravel? It's tiring and hard on the ankles!

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions! I think we're about to make the plunge sooner than I expected. An acquaintance called up today, looking for a home for his two Bourbon Red turkeys, a tom and a hen, only 14 months old. A breeding pair! Woohoo!
I immediately told him I WANT THEM, just as soon as I can figure out an enclosure and roosting shelter for them. I'll likely throw together a tall hoop coop or A-frame with livestock panels, on wheels. We have far too many predators to let them wander around. I'll post pics when we're ready