new to turkeys - have a few questions

[kylee2katie]

A friend of my husband called us last night - he knows that we have pet ducks - 1 male & 1 female mallard and their brand new 8 babies! I keep them in a 10 x10 x 6 covered kennel at night and they free range during the day. This friend has 4 baby turkeys - not sure how old they are, he just said they are about 9 - 10 inches tall....He needs to get rid of them and we would love to have them. My questions:
what do I feed them? my ducks eat wild game bird crumbles
can they be housed with the ducks till they are bigger? or do I need a seperate housing for them for now? We have a numerous amount of large trees that they can roost in when big enough...

My duck pen has a plastic wading pool for the ducks - how would this affect the turkeys if I put them together?

Does anyone have a picture of their turkey housing that I can see?

Thanks so much - we are supposed to get them Thursday afternoon.

 

[Stingrayg4]

The local feed store where I get my feed has turkey/ game bird starter. I think this is the correct feed for poults.

-S

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Turkeys are very poor swimmers but just dumb enough to try. Best to keep them clear of the open water.

If they are only 9-10 inches tall and not fully feathered they might do well with a little extra heat at night at least for the next week or two.

 

[jasonm11]

yes you can keep them together. they need high protein feed like the stuff you are feeding youre ducks. You might want to watch the pool though. if it is hot they might try to stand in it to cool off, mine do. they can't swim well but as long as the water is not too deep they will be able to stand up and get out.

 

[kylee2katie]

Thank you so much! The wading pool has several concrete paver stones in the bottom for steps out....
I have called and our local store has turkey starter.
I have a large, portable dog kennel that I can put in the house with a heat lamp if I need to - just need to know for how long....

Also, at what point do they start roosting? I have 2 plastic dog houses in the duck pen - they only use 1 or they sleep in their pool!
Will the turkeys use the house or do I need to build some sort of roost for them?



I really would like to see pictures of other people's "turkey housing"

 

[jasonm11]

Just put a low roost about 8 to 10" off the ground and give them shelter from the rain and wind. If your weather is like mine in TX it is plenty warm for them without a heat lamp, unless of course tehy decide to take a midnight swim in the wading pool.