Thinking of getting a turkey... need info!!

[The Red Rooster]

Hi everyone!

I'm thinking of getting a turkey. I would like to know more about them.

What are the pro's and con's of owning a turkey?

Do turkeys wander from home? Do I need to keep him/her penned up?

How are they with chickens?

Thank you!

 

[chicmom]

Hello! I just bought my first two turkey poults this year back on May 20th. They were day olds. They've been wonderful. I've raised them with the chickens, and they're fantastic except.........

The tom does not like my roosters, except for the one that he was raised with. So that's a problem. Everything was fine until I bought my trio of Buckeyes.....Now I have to alternate their free ranging days, or the tom attacks the rooster. And I really want to keep the rooster.

I have no problems with the hen at all. She even lays her eggs in the nesting box with the chickens. (My nesting boxes are big...)

I have a bantam Rooster, that I keep in a separate coop and run for all my little banties, and he escaped one day and my husband had to rescue my little guy from the turkey tom! Thank goodness he was there.......

That's my experience.....If I didn't have to worry about my two roosters, all would be perfect.

 

[featherfriendlyinIowa52]

I'm a novice. Don't even have a bird yet, but I'm doing my homework and think Midget White Turkeys would be ideal for me. The meat ranked #1 in a taste testing contest against 7 other heritage turkeys and one Butterball (the Butterball ranked last). They're fairly small (bigger than a chicken but much smaller than production turkeys) and everyone says they're a friendly bird. Hope this is helpful.

 

[The Red Rooster]

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Thank you! I'm selling all of my roosters, but only keeping one. I'm probably going to get a hen turkey. Have you every had the tukeys wander?

 

[The Red Rooster]

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Yes, it is helpful! I'm looking for smaller turkeys. I will research on this breed.

 

[chicmom]

I would recommend getting poults (babies), and they'll grow up nice and friendly. If your rooster is around and you raise the poults up with him being around, they will be fine. It's just getting new ones......

They make the neatest sounds and they follow me around whenever I'm outside. And my tom is just gorgous! The female is rather plain. They don't wander off. I let them range with the chickens. They do fly. Sometimes they sleep on top of the hen house....But mostly, they roost inside at night.

My tom is a Royal Palm, and then hen is a Blue Slate.

 

[kfacres]

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Thank you! I'm selling all of my roosters, but only keeping one. I'm probably going to get a hen turkey. Have you every had the tukeys wander?

yes, stupid birds, only sometimes are smart enough to find their way back home... they get on a one track mind, and gone....

lost a pair this summer for 3 days, ended up finding the two white birds close to 1/4 mile away... happy to see me none the less.. stupid, lucky to be alive

 

[The Red Rooster]

I read that turkeys can get diseases from chickens, is that true?

 

[jasonm11]

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chickens can carry all sorts of stuff and never get sick but turkeys are very likely to get diseases. For the most part make sure to treat the food with cheyenne pepper heavily every month or so and apple cider vinegar wevery now and then. At the first sign of a runny nose or respiratory distress, cough, raspy breathing just shoot tylan 50 at a rate of 1cc for every 10lbs twice a day for a week. The worst thing is CRD or respiratory distress. Turkeys can get it and pass it along and once tehy have it they will get it again. You can treat successfully but never get rid of it in a bird once it gets it. Other than that they are pretty easy to raise. Just remember if raising a poult that a wet (or cold) poult is a dead poult and you wil be fine. Have fun.

 

[kfacres]

it's called blackhead/