Raising poults. Beginner seeks advice.

[Stajemahal]

i just picked up four BB’s and a BS.
I’m roughly guessing they are a week old.
Currently in a tote and hardware cloth on it and pine shavings as the bedding.
A waterer and a food dish with chick starter.

Plan to use sand in near future:
Can I raise them with my chicks?
Would this prevent less problems in the future?
How can I guarantee I get them to live long happy lifes?

 

[mill-j]

If you want to raise them with chickens, start as soon as possible, preferably while both are still young. Once they get used to each other they'll be fine.

We had a Turkey that we hatched with a bunch of other chicks, we had a hard time getting them seperated when they were full grown.

 

[R2elk]

i just picked up four BB’s and a BS.
I’m roughly guessing they are a week old.
Currently in a tote and hardware cloth on it and pine shavings as the bedding.
A waterer and a food dish with chick starter.

Plan to use sand in near future:
Can I raise them with my chicks?
Would this prevent less problems in the future?
How can I guarantee I get them to live long happy lifes?

Chick starter is not appropriate for turkey poults. It does not have the proper amount of protein, lysine, methionine or niacin that turkey poults need for proper development. I feed my poults a 28% protein turkey or gamebird starter that has the increased levels of lysine, methionine and niacin.

Turkey poults imprint very easily. Raising them with chicks can cause problems later on. Poults imprinted with chickens will not recognize a difference between themselves and chickens when they are mature.

I have raised poults with chicks and without them also. It does not make much difference with mine because they have a lot of space. The chickens sleep in the coop and the turkeys sleep outside. The run has between 600 to 700 sq. ft. per turkey.

If you keep them in tight quarters, there will be problems.

 

[Stajemahal]

Chick starter is not appropriate for turkey poults. It does not have the proper amount of protein, lysine, methionine or niacin that turkey poults need for proper development. I feed my poults a 28% protein turkey or gamebird starter that has the increased levels of lysine, methionine and niacin.

Turkey poults imprint very easily. Raising them with chicks can cause problems later on. Poults imprinted with chickens will not recognize a difference between themselves and chickens when they are mature.

I have raised poults with chicks and without them also. It does not make much difference with mine because they have a lot of space. The chickens sleep in the coop and the turkeys sleep outside. The run has between 600 to 700 sq. ft. per turkey.

If you keep them in tight quarters, there will be problems.

I will grab that turkey feed today.
I want the turkeys to kind of help protect my flock in a sense. A friend of mine said one of her Toms did for her.
Currently they are in the same building as the chicks, but in a separate tub because I was worried the poults were too big to have with as many chicks as I have and they are fairly young.
I had two bigger silkies with the poults until the silkies took a bath in the waterer.
I then freaked about the poults getting wet and moved the silkies with the chicks.
I also have a few rouens, and a Swede ducklings I was planning to raise with the chicks so I was worried the ducklings would get everything too wet to incorporate the poults as well.

 

[Stajemahal]

If you want to raise them with chickens, start as soon as possible, preferably while both are still young. Once they get used to each other they'll be fine.

We had a Turkey that we hatched with a bunch of other chicks, we had a hard time getting them seperated when they were full grown.

The building that is my adult coop is divided by chicken wire in three sections. It’s a large building.
I planned on having the turkeys in the coop come the winter time but in their very own section. They would still be able to see the chickens through the wall of chicken wire.

 

[R2elk]

The building that is my adult coop is divided by chicken wire in three sections. It’s a large building.
I planned on having the turkeys in the coop come the winter time but in their very own section. They would still be able to see the chickens through the wall of chicken wire.

My turkeys spend the night on their roosts all year long, in good weather and bad including when it gets down to -30°F. They have access to the coop and will spend the entire day in the coop during a snowstorm but still spend the night out on their roosts.

 

[Stajemahal]

My turkeys spend the night on their roosts all year long, in good weather and bad including when it gets down to -30°F. They have access to the coop and will spend the entire day in the coop during a snowstorm but still spend the night out on their roosts.

We live in the Midwest so I was just worried about them roosting outside during winter but this puts my mind at ease. I plan on keeping them in their coop section until they are big enough to be able to defend themselves if they do decide to roost in a tree. We have a lot of predators and this being my first go with poults I’m not sure how long to wait until this should happen.

 

[R2elk]

We live in the Midwest so I was just worried about them roosting outside during winter but this puts my mind at ease. I plan on keeping them in their coop section until they are big enough to be able to defend themselves if they do decide to roost in a tree. We have a lot of predators and this being my first go with poults I’m not sure how long to wait until this should happen.

I normally keep the poults inside at night until they are either sold or about 6 months old. I do not let my turkeys roost in trees. They have their own roosts in the run under a section that has flight netting over it. Although the rest of the run is not covered it still deters our Great Horned Owls. I only ever saw one owl under the flight netting and it freaked out very badly and never went under it again.

 

[Stajemahal]

Has anyone had issues with a specific breed of turkey poults being... rude? Censoring myself here, obviously.
For instance, my blue slate poult keeps grabbing my chicks feet and dragging them.
I’m not 100% sure, but I believe it has led to some broken legs and death of my chicks.

 

[AyamaMama]

i just picked up four BB’s and a BS.
I’m roughly guessing they are a week old.
Currently in a tote and hardware cloth on it and pine shavings as the bedding.
A waterer and a food dish with chick starter.

Plan to use sand in near future:
Can I raise them with my chicks?
Would this prevent less problems in the future?
How can I guarantee I get them to live long happy lifes?

I raise my chickens and turkeys together just fine, I've yet to have any issues but that's just me. I've been raising them together for a few years.

I feel like my turkeys keep everything in order in the coop, and our tom helps defend the area.

Well sadly there's no guarantee, I've lost many of birds that I loved... In my area it's prone to possums and foxes, thankfully I've been able to remedy the issue. Also some chicks just don't make it, same with baby turkeys. For the ones who do make it, you can feed them starter if they're young, then move up to grower in the teens, and layer when they're adults. Just give them plenty of water, and lots of love.

Oh you can also give cracked corn, veggies, fruits, and even bugs.

Turkeys are my favorites, my favorite tamest breed is the Midget White. You can get turkeys so tame if you raise them hands on, that you can pet them and hold them.

Has anyone had issues with a specific breed of turkey poults being... rude? Censoring myself here, obviously.
For instance, my blue slate poult keeps grabbing my chicks feet and dragging them.
I’m not 100% sure, but I believe it has led to some broken legs and death of my chicks.

I've had no issues with mean turkeys and I've raised the following breeds so far; bourbon red, bronze, narragansett, midget white, grey slate, and royal palm.