New Guy -- Going big or going home.

[LeNeveu2]

I am about to finish my first brooder. It is 8 feet long by 4 feet wide with head room of 3 1/2 feet. Today I ordered 15 Cornish cross and 10 turkeys. My initial plan is to put them all in the same brooder. I have 4 weeks till they arrive. Am I setting my self up for failure?

Thanks
Amazing Thomas

 

[ColoradoPip]

Any pics of the brooder?

Hope the doors are above or there are multiple doors, otherwise crawling into it will not be fun. My 4x4 with one door is at my limit to reach the back corners, maintain balance, and complete a task like grab a chic, adjust qater, etc.

If it were me i would divide the brooder or make it into two for those two breeds.

I believe turkeys can carry/spread chickens diseases so you will eventually need to separate them.

 

[LeNeveu2]

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

I would put a divider in it. Turkey poults need high protein. (Don't know about the chicks. As in if 30% protein feed would be good for them or not.) The turkeys might also beat them up since they will get big fast.

 

[Sally PB]

Awesome looking brooder.

 

[LeNeveu2]

The turkey/chicken batch did fabulous. But won't do that again. I have brooded three more batches of chickens since I built it. It works amazing.

 

[LeNeveu2]

In the middle was "little bit" she was my favorite turkey. Upper right and upper left are Cornish cross broilers. Lower right was my turkey big tom. He turned out to be almost 50 lbs cleaned and dressed. It was a very successful grouping of turkeys and chickens. Never had a problem between them. In fact, the chickens often taught the turkeys how to eat/drink, roost, etc. Sometimes I miss Littlebit. We often had coffee in the morning and she would sit on my knee and talk at me. She dressed out at 37 lbs. And tasted marvelous smoked for thanksgiving.