PICS of Turkeys and their coops please show them

[hereachick]

I too am interested in raising a few turkeys but, would like to know more about them first.Do you need a special permit to raise them?Are they, noisy? Messy? I have heard that if they are near chickens the chickens get a disease called blackhead from the turkeys is there any truth to that? If raised in the chicken pen do they need any special shelter or space other than what the chickens have? Sorry I'm just full of questions. Thanks for any help I think all the pictures of the turkeys are great! I love looking at them and learning more about the different kinds of turkeys.Thankyou sooo much for sharing!

 

[kare21162]

You do not need a special permit to raise turkeys. If you happen to have a wild breed, I believe it is probably illegal to have them in some states if not all. They are noisey, especially when you have toms around. They all seem to gobble at once, lol! They are pretty noisey when you are coming to feed, clean, or collect eggs. They know who you are and they like to talk to you I guess

I heard that turkeys get blackhead from chickens and that it kills turkeys alot faster than it does chickens. I would keep them seperated so that they can't come into any contact with the chickens, to be safe.

 

[pdpatch]

As far as the permit it depends on the state you live in. Here in Nebraska you need one for the eastern turkeys, but not any of the Heritage breeds. Here they are very picky about what you can raise that might be a native species.

As far as anything special, they are larger birds so any openings to a coop needs to be larger. Also usually they have different feed then chickens do. They roost are slightly different also.

Black head is usually picked up from the soil, Chickens will pass it to Turkeys, Black heads is not always that visible in chickens. You can check with you state Ag department or country extension Office to see if it's a problem in your area. There is also a couple of more diseases that Turkeys can pick up more easily from contact with chickens that they would not other wise.

There is a number of people who have raised Chickens and Turkeys together with no problems. But usually they are kept separate because you never really know what can b passed from chicken to turkey.

Although I have been around Turkeys and Know several people who raise them commercially When we got ours this years I realized I did Know that much about them. we found this guide on the Internet.

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/turkeymanual/

The first 5 or 6 chapters where the most helpful.

 

[southernsibe]

Quote:
I'm sorry I didn't see this right away to answer. Pilgrim was jumping up for a treat. I think it was some sort of melon. He also adores grapes.
Rachel

 

[hereachick]

All this info is great I'm learning so much! But what about cold are turkeys hardy or do they need to be kept warm and dry during the winter, do they need so much light like chickens? Is there one breed of turkey that seems to stand above the others as a backyard animal? Thanks