thrown in at the deep end with turkey chicks. what do i need to know?

[spish]

ok ive sussed the chick raising/chicken keeping...ive become an expert in the duckling raising.duck keeping..

now ive just been informed that tomorrow there are 4 x 2 week old turkey chicks coming to live here (along with 4 pheasant chicks but i'll ask about those in the relevant section). doh!

how hard are they to raise?
what do they eat??
is it different from chicken chick raising?
do they need a heat lamp?
how long until they can go outside?
when they are bigger can they live in my chicken field (its big enough) do chickens carry any disease that turkeys can catch and visa versa?
anything else??

also if i was to keep two to raise for 'christmas' would they be ready for this year?

 

[chickenzoo]

Welcome to the world of Turkeys.................. LOL Turkeys are addicting like chickens... but even more so.

I hatch and raise my turkeys with baby chicks. They eat the chick starter with them. I do not let my turkey poults touch the ground until at least 3 months old. They seem to do better that way. Chickens can carry a disease called blackhead that is deadly to turkey and peafowl etc... It is not real common, but I've had it here in warm climates. I just keep a bottle of Fish Zole(a fish medication that kills the disease cause) on hand incase any symptoms appear. Treat turkey poults just like chicks, except to make sure they learn to eat and drink.... some can be slow at this, but the baby chicks normally teach them. Yep, they need a heat lamp until fully feathered too. When older they get a mix of different things, but a turkey chow is good or if you have different fowl, flock raiser.

 

[spish]

when you say you dont let them touch the ground..do you mean dont let them outside until 3 months?

 

[OmaBird]

If they are heritage turkeys here is a turkey manual. http://www.albc-usa.org/EducationalResources/turkeys.html

 

[chickenzoo]

Quote:
I mean I keep them on wire, off the ground until they are at least 3 months old. Often things in the ground will kill a turkey poult quicker than anything......

 

[pdpatch]

how hard are they to raise?
Once you get them past that initial few weeks it get better,


what do they eat??
Generally here it's a wild game starter that is around 28% protein, ad has different minerals in it them chick starter. But if yo do not have wild game starter then chick starter will work. At about 3 to 4 weeks you can add fancy scratch it's corn plus lots of other seeds. At about 8 to 9 weeks you can add grass.

is it different from chicken chick raising?
Some what, they should not be on the ground until about 9 weeks old, vs a chicken chick which is 4 weeks. It takes this long for there immune system to develop.

do they need a heat lamp?
At 2 week they should be at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit , then drop the temp but 5 degrees each week. Let them tell you how they fell, if they are hundled under the heat lamp then move it down a bit. if they stay away from the heat lamp them move up a bit.

how long until they can go outside?
Actually if you have to right away, But its best to wait for 9 weeks,

when they are bigger can they live in my chicken field (its big enough) do chickens carry any disease that turkeys can catch and visa versa?
anything else??
The main one here in the US is Black head, but it has to be in the ground or brought into you flock. You should quarantine the new birds anyway.
Just about any desiese that is fatal to the turkey may not be so for the Chickens.

also if i was to keep two to raise for 'christmas' would they be ready for this year?

Yes, Big Breasted Bronze and Great white usually are ready at 20 weeks, all other at 30 weeks or so. You can always butcher earlier or later in either case.

Tom

 

[Kansaseq]

I just hatched out my first turkeys 2 weeks ago. I've learned on here that you can give them chick starter, but you need to add in extra protein, as turkey poults have a greater need for it than chicks. I've been feeding scrambled eggs with the chick starter.