Raising turkeys in the City?

[junkprospector]

Recently I started thinking about raising turkeys - I live in the city, back yard is fenced and about .25 acres. I was contemplating starting in the spring with something like 2 turkeys - just to see how it goes & do somne research throughout the winter. I guess my first question is - would raising these turkeys be possible in the backyard? When they were poults I was thinking of keeping them in my shop, then just letting them roam the backyard once they were older. Is this a rediculous thing to consider?
Thanks for the advise.
John

 

[monarc23]

I'd ask your city ordinance first, as turkeys are pretty smelly and noisey-- your neighbors may not appreciate that and complain. Otherwise they may be a good idea, however they will roam out of your yard if you dont have a tall enough fence. Ours used to go to our neighbors house and roost on their porch railing they really didnt appreciate that (poo...).

 

[junkprospector]

hmmm - good to know. I never considered the smell. And the fence height... we have only a 4 foot chainlink fence separating our house from the neighbors...I'll check the ordinances as well.

 

[lobb40118]

I live in the city and have 2 peafowl (a cock and a hen) they are not messy really. I have them in a pen though and they can not free range. They have a 4'x10' coop of sorts(a pvc and chicken wire pen wrapped on 3 sides and the top in tarps with a roost made from 2 sawhorses and straw bedding) attached to a 7.5'x13' for a total of 137.5 square feet. I have had them for about 2 months and they are doing fine and have a lot of space so the mess is minor(the apples that fall on my neighbors side of the fence and Rot smell way worse). I would not put anymore in there though because I do not want to take from their space and have read that 140 square feet is about minimum for a breeding pair. So far no real noise issues because it is not mating season and I bought them shortly after, so i will keep you posted. They are roughly the size of turkeys but I am a pure amature when it comes to poultry. I would say