Royal Palm Turkeys??I m new

[psycoforsilkies]

I got some free Royal Palm Turkey eggs Help Please!
Ok so I am new to chickens of like 3 months, I have silkies and some layers, I ws given some royal palm turkey eggs to incubate,
What do i need to do different?
Can i rise them with my baby chicks?
do they eat the same food?
do I need to put them in a separate pen?
etc??
what about heat? cold? shealter?

I have a hen house? do they need thier own house?
can they free range in the same yard as my hens? with my laying hens I have no roosters my silkies are house separately and free range separate too.
How long to keep them in brooder?

Are royal palms the kind of turkeys you eat?

 

[lotzahenz]

Welcome to the wild world of poultry keeping. I keep 5 turkeys in my back yard, they free-range and if I let them they roost in the hen house, but I prefer they roost outside on top of it. They make big poops. The turkey eggs will take 28 days to hatch and they usually hatch very well if they get started. I raise them right along with chicks, and eventually they go join my small turkey flock, as they fly out of my pens, chicks can't. I love the Royal Palms cause they are just so pretty. You can of course eat them, they are not HUGE, but plenty big, being a Heritage Breed. If you "search" on here, you should be able to find lots of discussions on turkey/RP's. Good luck with your eggs, the chicks hatch yellow and the black does not show up for a while, it will start in the wings first, so don't worry if they seem all white at first. HenZ

 

[ColbyNTX]

This is not the normal laying time for turkeys here in the US. Most that lay now are under extended artifical light. That will make them lay but doesn't always make the tom breed her. So they may be fertile on not. Hatching poults in the winter is a challange to keep them warm as poults. You need a good brooder to keep them in until they are fully feathered. Turkey poults need a 28-30% protien feed, gamebird starter or turkey starter, for the first 12 weeks or so then you can go down to a 20%. RP's are a smaller heritage bird but eat great. The do have a smaller "Y" shaped breast. A RP will need to be 9 months or so to reach slaughter weight.

 

[quailmale]

Quote:
Not to hyjack thread but I was just going to post a similar question about fertility, I have 5 RP's 1 tom and 4 hens, I have noticed him breeding the hens from time to time and yesterday I found an egg which was still warm, question is could it be fertile or should I just incubate it to find out, I hatched the ones I have in March so their just 9 months old. I'm in Florida so it's still in the mid to high 70's.

Thanks

 

[2overeasy]

I have a 5 foot field fence surrounding my property. I want RPs, too. You mentioned flying, so can they fly over that? What about Bourbon Reds?

 

[Stark]

Quote:
Won't hurt to try to incubate it you are really wanting more turkeys, though incubating one alone seems like a lot of work.

I'd probably just have a really big omelet...

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
the Royal Palm was developed as an exhibition fowl, but it is still large enough to eat.
Yes, you can raise with chickens, just read up on Blackhead and beware of its symptons.
Turkeys need a higher protein. Get a turkey/gamebird starter. However, you can feed this to your chicks.
Everything is similiar to chickens.

Check out your local library for Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys. It will answer most of your questions. Several poultry suppliers have it for sale.

Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys, 2nd Edition



Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys covers everything you need to know to raise turkeys successfully, including breed selection, housing, space requirements, breeding and birthing techniques, feeding and nutrition, behavior, and health care. Read more

$ 18.95

http://storey.com/book_detail.php?isbn=9781580172615&cat=Animals&subcat=Livestock&p=20​

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
Yes, they would both be able to fly over the fence if they wanted to. I had 5 month old Broad Breasted turkeys that could still perch on a 6' high fence, even with one wing clipped.