Hi! We recently got several BBB poults and a whole bunch of assorted Cochin Bantam and Polish chicks. We lost two of the poults (and two chicks)
early on and replaced the two we lost with two Rio Grande's. Everyone is housed together and is doing well at 3 weeks even with the obvious size difference. We have an existing coop with Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Cochin Bantams, EE's, and Polish chickens (all 1-2 years old) that we were planning to expand and have all of the birds together in a large enclosed space. We live in an area with too many predators to free range (LOTS of coyotes, owls [known around here to take cats and unattended small dogs quite often], hawks, neighbor dogs that don't stay in their yards, and the possibility of a rare bobcat even) so no matter what we need a safe place for the birds.
Being new to turkeys I want to do everything as best as I possibly can so I have quite a few questions. If anyone can answer ANY of them I'd be grateful for your input!
1. Should we automatically plan to separate the turkeys since we have so many Bantams? I've read of people having issues with their Tom's bossing smaller birds around and since we have the Broad Breasted Bronzes they're going to get pretty big but at this point we have no idea as to the gender of them yet.
2. If not for the reason of size difference should we plan on separating the BBB's so that we can monitor their food? I usually do a great deal of research before I choose my bird breeds but the boyfriend surprised me with a box of babies this year
(a happy surprise!) and neither of us knew that BBB's are prone to terrible weight issues and that their lives are often short. This saddens us very much as we keep all of our birds as companions and for no other purpose. His boss has a turkey and the boyfriend is very fond of it so he was looking forward to having several of his own as pets. I've read that it is possible to keep the BBB's content and healthy as long as you monitor their weight and restrict their feed. I've also heard horror stories of their legs breaking under their own weight, that they attract coyotes, that they are slow and often uncomfortable.
This is all very new to me. We would not have gotten this breed if we knew this although I'm pleased knowing that the two we have will be loved and not end up...well...let's please not discuss that (please!). So this leads me to the next few questions:
3. I read that BBB weight can be managed with limited amounts of turkey feed but that layer feed is also a possibility. Does anyone know anything about this? Has anyone done this?
4. The same article said that all turkey food is designed to pack pounds onto these birds. Is this so; is turkey food designed to make them gain weight with the mindset of a short plump lifespan or is it designed to provide consistent healthy sustenance over a longer lifetime, the way dog and cat food is? Will the Rio Grande's be okay on turkey feed and still have long healthy lives?
5. If we do separate the BBB's from the other birds should we house the Rio Grande's with them? -Or not- because the Rio Grande's won't need to have their food intake monitored? Or should we monitor their food intake too?
I understand that some issues may arise along the way (some birds may not get along, we may end up with a lot more roosters than expected and need to have more than one flock anyway, etc...) that may require us to separate certain birds from one another making some of my questions moot. In addition to wanting to provide the best care for our turkeys (especially considering the needs of the BBB's) we are starting to plan out and budget for the coop expansion so we're trying to figure out how many separated areas we should plan on having so we'd really appreciate any advice, suggestions, and experience you may be able to share with us.
Thank you!!!
Being new to turkeys I want to do everything as best as I possibly can so I have quite a few questions. If anyone can answer ANY of them I'd be grateful for your input!
1. Should we automatically plan to separate the turkeys since we have so many Bantams? I've read of people having issues with their Tom's bossing smaller birds around and since we have the Broad Breasted Bronzes they're going to get pretty big but at this point we have no idea as to the gender of them yet.
2. If not for the reason of size difference should we plan on separating the BBB's so that we can monitor their food? I usually do a great deal of research before I choose my bird breeds but the boyfriend surprised me with a box of babies this year
3. I read that BBB weight can be managed with limited amounts of turkey feed but that layer feed is also a possibility. Does anyone know anything about this? Has anyone done this?
4. The same article said that all turkey food is designed to pack pounds onto these birds. Is this so; is turkey food designed to make them gain weight with the mindset of a short plump lifespan or is it designed to provide consistent healthy sustenance over a longer lifetime, the way dog and cat food is? Will the Rio Grande's be okay on turkey feed and still have long healthy lives?
5. If we do separate the BBB's from the other birds should we house the Rio Grande's with them? -Or not- because the Rio Grande's won't need to have their food intake monitored? Or should we monitor their food intake too?
I understand that some issues may arise along the way (some birds may not get along, we may end up with a lot more roosters than expected and need to have more than one flock anyway, etc...) that may require us to separate certain birds from one another making some of my questions moot. In addition to wanting to provide the best care for our turkeys (especially considering the needs of the BBB's) we are starting to plan out and budget for the coop expansion so we're trying to figure out how many separated areas we should plan on having so we'd really appreciate any advice, suggestions, and experience you may be able to share with us.
Thank you!!!
