Raising turkey poults for the first time! Need some info!

[imq707s]

I’ve got half a dozen chickens that I’ve had since last spring, and they have been pretty trouble free for the most part. My wife wants to get a few turkeys this spring, and then butcher them this fall. I’m thinking about picking up a 3 or 4 of the Broad Breasted Bronze turkey poults and seeing how they do. Apparently you need to keep them isolated from the chickens for a few months so that they can grown, and build up their immune system to fight off some chicken born diseases. Then after that, I can just let them free range in ½ acre fenced off area where I have the chicken coop set up. Besides food and water, I don’t think they will need much….right? Any info on raising these guys would be great! Thanks

 

[SIMZ]

We raised our first turkeys last year, so I'm no expert.

We brooded them (BBB & Midget Whites) separately until they were probably 12 weeks or so. They had their own coop and fence, but their fence was attached to the chickens so they could get used to seeing one another. Around 12 weeks I opened up the fence and they free ranged together. Our area was probably 1/4 to 1/3 of an acre and contained full grown chickens, various juvenile chickens, a rabbit, and the turkeys.

They did fine with all of that space. They always had their own coop, although the turkeys and chickens spent more time in the others' coop then they did their own. Lots of people keep them in the same coop and it works out fine. Although, the BBB get really big, really fast.