Should Turkeys and Chickens be separated?

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I just wanted to say Thank You to all of those who gave advice, information and shared stories! It is very much appreciated! 

My Tom Turkey, "Turka-Turk", has been making weird noises toward my dominant roo, almost as if to egg him on to a fight. Towering over him and trying to push him around. Whatever he is doing, it has got to stop! Red, my roo, is so lax when it comes to newcomers, male or female, I want to keep it this way. Even though my turkeys aren't newcomers, I don't need an aggressive roo. Red is a Wydonett and a ladies man. Anyway's, I also noticed that my hen Turkey, no name yet, has also been scolding my chicken ladies when they get mated.

I guess in the end I am just going to have to separate the 2 turkey's from the rest of the flock, which hurts. I just don't want to take any chances with them hurting any chickens. It is hard to accept, especially since my chicken's and turkey's grew up together. 

My other thought is that since I have a new roo that is coming to age, maybe this is part of the problem? Or it could be that I inherited my mom's Delaware roo? What do you think? I really don't want to separate the turkey's from their flock. I think that I may separate the new roo's from the flock, or better yet, get rid of the new roo's. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Your main problem is that you raised your turkeys with chickens. It seems to make them even more aggressive with the chickens because I think the turkeys think they are both the same as the chickens and will fight for dominance. Definitely separate them before they kill your chickens.

 

[Farmer Jonathan]

I was watching a webinar called Small Flock Turkey Care and Management by David D. Frame, DVM, DACPV. Utah State University Extension Poultry Specialist.
And he said that if you are raising Chickens , and have decided to start raising Turkeys that to start you need to get rid of all your chickens and any thing that you used to feed or water the chickens in . This sounds like overkill to me , but I would like to get the opinion of some one that has raised turkeys and chickens together for a real life opinion. I have seen a lot of farms that had both turkeys and chickens living together .

 

[Molpet]

I was watching a webinar called Small Flock Turkey Care and Management by David D. Frame, DVM, DACPV. Utah State University Extension Poultry Specialist.
And he said that if you are raising Chickens , and have decided to start raising Turkeys that to start you need to get rid of all your chickens and any thing that you used to feed or water the chickens in . This sounds like overkill to me , but I would like to get the opinion of some one that has raised turkeys and chickens together for a real life opinion. I have seen a lot of farms that had both turkeys and chickens living together .

if the disease called 'blackhead' is in your area that MAY be a good idea... it doesn't effect chickens too much , but if a turkey gets blackhead it is hard to cure
It's not in my area

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It does all come down to whether you has the protozoan parasite Histomonas meleagridis in your soil. Chickens can act as an intermediate host, so that's why it's recommended not to keep both species together if its on you farm. I don't have a problem thankfully.

I believe you can keep both species together with the parasite present but they should never mingle and should be kept apart.

 

[Farmer Jonathan]

thank you

 

[Farmer Jonathan]

thank you

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You generally don't if you have blackhead until you try keeping turkeys. I believe some agriculture extension offices can say whether it's present in an area or not.

And your welcome.