Poultry Housing Question

[jaku]

This spring, I'd like to get a few turkeys, and possibly a couple of ducks. I already have a layer coop and a meat bird tractor, so my wife's patience for me building bird housing isn't going to allow for much more. I'm thinking of building a good sized fenced in area with some sort of shelter at one end, and putting the turkeys, ducks, and whatever other non-chicken type bird I decide to get in it. Not considering space requirements, can these birds be housed together? Will they all do alright on the same feed? How about predators? Are they a problem for adult sized turkeys, or do critters leave them alone?

 

[jhm47]

You can certainly raise ducks and turkeys together, and they can all eat the same feed. However, the area around the waterer will be constantly wet because of the ducks and their messy splashing in the water. The ducks love a messy area around their waterer, and the more polluted they can get the water, the better they like it. The turkeys might not like to drink polluted water, so you might want to provide them with an alternate source of water.

 

[sweetshoplady]

If you're going to fence in one area, I would put the shelter in the middle and divide it so there is say an "east" end and a "west" end. The turkeys have one side and the ducks get the other, which would also separate the fenced area so that the turkeys got the west end and the ducks get the east end. Make sense? The kiddy pool or what you're using could be on the ducks side too.

This way the ducks could be messy and the turkeys clean.

I'm doing something similar so I can have two breeds of turkeys. I'm dividing the coop into 2 parts, so its like a duplex and each side gets a run.

 

[Bossroo]

The bigger bird will give the predator a bigger meal !!! You will have to make the pens and housing predator proof if you want to compete with it for that tasty fare.

 

[lilchick]

Ducks roost on the ground and turkeys up as high as they can.... Most wild turkeys roost high up in the trees and can take the rain and snow. Me I do not like mine out in this so I provide a barn with rafters and platforms for the turkeys...
The ducks have a lean to shelter to sleep under if they want to. I give ducks a pan of warm water with their feed in a.m. and rest of time they drink out of heated horse trough...
I would not put them in same sleeping/drinking area because they are not compatible....