New to turkeys

[Paco]

I plan on getting some turkey poults and don't know alot about them so if you guys could fill me in on some basic stuff that would be great. Can they be with chickens ? Do thry need special feed ? Do they lay all year round ?

 

[OmaBird]

I plan on getting some turkey poults and don't know alot about them so if you guys could fill me in on some basic stuff that would be great. Can they be with chickens ? Do thry need special feed ? Do they lay all year round ?

What type of turkeys are you thinking about? If what you getting is heritage turkeys then this turkey manual will give the basics. http://www.albc-usa.org/downloads.html

I raise mine with chickens. There is a disease called blackhead that can be spread by chickens to turkeys. From reading about it it sound like it is very common but it is not that common. I don't live in a area where blackhead is not a threat.

I feed 30% turkey/gamebird starter. It is highier in protein than chick starter and has 4 times the calcium. Most people reduce the protein as the turkeys grow. I don't do this.

Mine have two lay seasons. Spring and fall. The amount of eggs depends on how the turkeys have been breed. If they have been highly inbred or line bred, production can be low.​

 

[Paco]

I was thinking royal palm or Bourbon red and I was hoping to get poults but I guess hatching eggs wouldn't be to bad as long as I can get them to hatch. Are turkey eggs harder to hatch ?

 

[OmaBird]

I have had good luck hatching my own turkey eggs but not shipped eggs. It ends up so much cheaper to just buy poults IMO. This time of year it is so hot to be shipping eggs. The heat seems to effect the fertility too.

 

[Paco]

Ok I'll try to get some poults . I know some breeders around my area that might have some . When they get to laying age do they need layer feed ?

 

[OmaBird]

I either feed turkey breeder or turkey starter to my laying hens. Comparing the two, I have better results with turkey starter on my laying turkeys.

If you can't find poults, Porter's might have some. http://www.porterturkeys.com/

 

[Paco]

Wow they have a nice selection of turkeys but I don't have the room for 15 of them so I'll ask some breeders around here to see what they got. Thanks for all the help !