Should I get a Turkey poult.

[auburnkurls]

I just recently got into raising chickens. We obtained 5 chicks in the end of May ; 2 sex links, 1 cornish cross "oops" chick, and 2 copper marans. They live in a small coup in my back yard and have a large 20x25 free range area. some of my chickes were hatchery chicks, they were supposed to be Golden Sex Links but the hatchery mixed a Cornish Cross in there. My original intent was backyard chicks for eggs. With this cornish cross about 3x larger than my other hens, we have decided we will harvest her in a few weeks.

Now that hens for food is on the table (so to speak), I am considering obtaining one or two turkey poults. A farm I know has some 5 week poults. My chicks are about 5 weeks now. Would it be ok, should I add 1 or 2 turkey poults to the mix in my backyard?

I have read some of the posts about the pros and cons of keeping them together with the chickens. I have enough space to create a separate run if needed. I also have a single car garage that I am converting to an urban barn where I could conceivably house the turkeys. We would be raising them with the intent of eating them around the holidays.

I also considered moving my coup up next to the garage and creating a "chicken door" so that in the colder winter, the chickens could get into the garage and have a bit more protection from the elements. I live about 50 miles south of Seattle

What are you thoughts/suggestions?

 

[Pyrates4Poultry]

I would suggest that if you get one, you get two instead, simply because they are social creatures and will imprint on you and cry incessantly when ever you are out of view. With that being said, I think you will find them to be hugely entertaining! Chickens are a blast too, don't get me wrong. I love my chicks. In my experience however, I find turkeys to be much more bold. They are like living cartoons. Beautiful and fragile as babies, they soon start losing feathers and their skin turns colorful, they grow wattles, lose feathers, grow extra neck skin and run like nothing I've ever seen before. Legs splayed out to the sides, necks extended, wings flapping wildly, you really wonder if they'll crash and burn or get where they are going. Fun stuff! I've heard plenty about turkeys being stupid, even that if it rains they will stand in it and look up, their noses filling with water til they will drown. It's simply not true. They have pretty good instincts and are pretty cool to have around. Keep in mind though, they poo bigger than chickens and I'd wager that they each poo about every 20 minutes. That's a really lot of poo. Suggest you take up gardening as well. Nothing better than birdy poo for fertilizer! Hit me up for gardening seeds and ideas if you decide to take the plunge. I'll be happy to share