Starting the chicken family

[DENISEJONES157]

I am new raising chickens. I bought 9 chicks and they love their coop. then My husband got a 14 week old turkey hen. I have her in a huge brooder but I am wondering how to keep her happy . I feed all of the worms and corn on the cob and they love it. is it too early to free range the turkey if I put a harness on her to keep her from flying off? any advise is appreciated.

 

[R2elk]

I am new raising chickens. I bought 9 chicks and they love their coop. then My husband got a 14 week old turkey hen. I have her in a huge brooder but I am wondering how to keep her happy . I feed all of the worms and corn on the cob and they love it. is it too early to free range the turkey if I put a harness on her to keep her from flying off? any advise is appreciated.

Knock off the treats and get some All Flock feed. At 14 weeks, it is old enough to free range with supervision.

If you live where blackhead is an issue, feeding your turkey worms is a quick way to give it the disease.

If your intent is to keep it long term, get more turkeys. Turkeys are very social birds and need more of their own for companionship.

 

[DENISEJONES157]

Knock off the treats and get some All Flock feed. At 14 weeks, it is old enough to free range with supervision.

If you live where blackhead is an issue, feeding your turkey worms is a quick way to give it the disease.

If your intent is to keep it long term, get more turkeys. Turkeys are very social birds and need more of their own for companionship.

I only have one turkey and 9 4 week old chicks, i feed them dried worms, what would you suggest I feed them cut corn on the cob for treats. the farms around here have no turkeys. how can I free rangee her with out flying away.

 

[R2elk]

I only have one turkey and 9 4 week old chicks, i feed them dried worms, what would you suggest I feed them cut corn on the cob for treats. the farms around here have no turkeys. how can I free range her with out flying away.

I recommend you buy chick starter for the chicks and all flock for the turkey.

If by dried worms, you mean dried mealworms, those should only be fed as treats which means limited to no more than 10% of their total diet for all treats combined. Mealworms are 50% protein. Corn is low protein and high fat and also should be only considered a treat.

Continuing to feed as you are will cause your birds to have a short life span.

If you have had the turkey long enough that it knows where home (food and water) is, it won't be leaving. If you have only had it a few days then you should wait a few weeks for it to get acclimated.