New to ducks and turkeys

[HarmonyHeart]

Okay, here goes....this is my first time joining ANYTHING on the internet, but I sent my daughter to the feed store to buy a (meaning one) turkey poult and she comes home with two AND two ducks. The next day she goes again and comes home with three more ducks. HELP! I have been voraciously reading about these animals on websites and hearing many different ways things MUST be done.

We have a small acreage and house 5 horses, 18 chickens, five dogs (one of which just had puppies!) and five cats. Now we also have five ducks and two turkeys. We built the chickens a 10 x 10 coop for laying and roosting, but they free range during the day. Now I have to figure out housing for the newcomers. I am intending to build a structure for the ducks. I'm using the chicken coop plans but making it shorter since they don't need the space to roost. Right now we've been keeping the little ones in wire cages and letting them out on the lawn for a few hours during the day surrounded by wire dog fencing. We put the turkeys with the ducks and everyone gets along fine.

I guess I'm just checking in to see if I'm doing the right thing. I read that the turkeys can't eat chick starter (which is what I'm feeding the ducks). So I don't put food out when they are on the lawn. I would love to leave them out longer, but I know they need to eat. Can I let the turkeys eat the chick starter with the ducks during the day and then let them have their turkey starter when they are in their cage?

Now, when we get the duck pen built...can the turkeys live with them? i read where BBW's don't need to roost so the lower pen should work, right? And if everyone's free ranging during the day, will they all get along?

Thanks!!!

 

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

I can help a little bit.

Ducks do not need a lot of space inside. They love to be outside pretty much all the time. We make sure ours have shade and water and access to a pen at night to get locked in from predators. Ducks are VERY VERY VERY messy. We do not have any straw (which is their bedding) in the area where we have the water and food. And we have to muck out the pen daily. Our ducks also have access to a pond or a stock tank to swim.

I would not recommend feeding ducks and turkeys the same food. Their nutritional needs are completely different. Ducks do well on Flock Raiser (or some equivalent feed) with added Niacin for a few weeks. We added brewers yeast or crushed niacin tablets to their water. Before we did that we almost lost a duck who just flipped over one day and couldn't get back up. They forage a lot in the spring and summer but we also supplement with greens in the winter.

We feed our turkey poults (and I'm new to turkeys) medicated game starter. We also are including vitamins in their water for now. Ours are fighting some illness and we are now adding antibiotics to their water (just switched today from oral meds). Because ducks drink a LOT more water than chickens or turkeys we always keep our medicated water away from the ducks to make sure the don't ingest too much. We are building a tractor for our turkeys (they are meat birds) and will send them to freezer camp in August or September. Eventually we are putting the turkeys on grower feed to fatten them up.

Good luck with your new babies.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have a suggestion. Stop sending your daughter to the feed store to make purchases. Sorry I couldn't resist that one.

 

[Lurkeygirl2011]

From my experience turkeys will roam... A LOT, and far, if given the chance. We have 100 acres and started our turkeys out free-range, but it got to be too much work looking after them, and trying to keep them on our property, and off the road. We ended up making a netted enclosure for them because they can fly, HIGH... They were roosting on the peak of the roof no problem. You could try clipping their wings, but then they are more susceptible to predators.

Turkeys also seem to be more prone to diseases, they need clean house that is dry and draft-free.

During breeding season I have heard of some Toms becoming VERY aggressive, but I personally have never had that problem.

Turkeys are a lot of fun! Enjoy them.

 

[Lurkeygirl2011]

Oh, one more thing... it is probably good that your daughter got 2 turkeys, they don't like to live alone

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

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Just to add, our *adult* mixed flock (ducks, turkeys, chickens and guineas) do great all eating Flock Raiser and free ranging, but totally agree that as babies/juveniles you do have to treat them differently. Our ducks do well with just a smallish rubber tub with fresh water for swim and splash time - we try to be "water wise" here in the desert. Our ducks spend the night in the chicken run and the turkeys and guineas roost on top of it.

Welcome to BYC HarmonyHeart!!!

Bryan

 

[HarmonyHeart]

Thank you all for your help! Kuntrygirl....love your suggestion. But I'm beginning to think it was the boys that work there that were so cute and not the ducks!

Smiles-N-Sunshine....we are in Arizona too! I was worried how they would handle the heat in the summer, but I guess with enough water and shade, they'll be okay.

Thanks for all your support.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Well, howdy fellow Zonie! Please join us on the BYC Arizona thread!!! https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=31227&p=1

Lots of good info on dealing with the heat, where to buy stuff locally - and just a good friendly group overall

Oh, and poetry. "Downside" is as soon as you post anything about baby critters, you get hounded to post photos immediately

And it's a chatty bunch, so if you don't check in for a while, you have a dozen pages to scan through.

Edited to add: And we'll enable your poultry-collecting activities! Chicken math becomes chicken quantum physics!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
LOL @ the boys that work there that were so cute.

I can't blame her. I would have done the same thing and probably got more. That's why I try to stay away from the feed stores.

You are going to love all of those babies.

 

[jimmythechicken]

if the turkeys are bb whites that is what they sell at most feed stores then you will not have to worry about there housing for to long before you eat them.they are not really meant to be pets just get real big real fast.now the duck on the other hand will be a blast have fun i would put your ducks on a non med chick starter an the turkeys on a gamebird or turkey starter