Turkey and guinea fowl with chickens?

[Abriana]

Chickens can transmit blackhead to turkeys.

 

[R2elk]

Chickens can transmit blackhead to turkeys.

This is true if you live in an area where blackhead is present. For those of us that do not have blackhead around it is not a problem. But just because an area is and has been blackhead free does not mean that it will always be blackhead free.

 

[Verl]

That helps. If you have not been through a breeding season yet, you have an experience coming as they chase around as fast as they can go and break feathers off of each other's backs. Their preferred method of attack is from the rear.

It can be funny to watch a grown tom turkey dragging a guinea on a "sled ride" as the guinea hangs on to a tail or wing feather but it really stresses out the turkey. It also gets old having chickens without tail feathers and in worst case scenarios bloody and dead.

Good luck with yours.

Oh my goodness!!
Lol that sounds crazy!
We don't have turkeys...but are you saying the guineas will drag the chickens around? Or try to mate with the chickens?

 

[R2elk]

Oh my goodness!!
Lol that sounds crazy!
We don't have turkeys...but are you saying the guineas will drag the chickens around? Or try to mate with the chickens?

They are not likely to try to mate with the chickens but it is very likely that they may rip out or break off their feathers.

Hopefully you may have enough guineas that they will use their behaviors on their own kind and leave your chickens alone especially if they all have plenty of room to avoid each other.

I don't imprint my guineas on chickens so they don't view my chickens as other guineas and leave them alone. Although I do house mine separately they can free range together in the same areas as my chickens and turkeys and each group keeps to themselves.

If you are lucky yours will do the same.

 

[junkman56]

I have 7 chickens, that get along great with my 6 goats. I was considering on getting some guineas, but I'm not sure about it now. do the guineas need to have their own coop? or will they roost with the chickens? I don't want to upset the apple cart with my chickens

 

[Verl]

Ok. So again I am no expert on this, but our guineas when it's very cold will go inside and roost with the chickens, they did as keets as well. Now they choose to roost outside in the covered run.
Our friends who we got our 6 guineas from have a whole bunch of chickens and guineas and hey all roost together inside the coop every night. No issues except on the days when they do not go out to free range they bug each other. But nothing serious that they have experienced anyway.
Seems like space is a big factor here!

 

[Dawnclucks22]

@Ivy Love

 

[casportpony]

This is true if you live in an area where blackhead is present. For those of us that do not have blackhead around it is not a problem. But just because an area is and has been blackhead free does not mean that it will always be blackhead free.

True... there is a peafowl breeder that went many years without blackhead, then boom, it hit.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

I have Turkeys, Chickens and Guinea fowl all together.
5 Turkeys, 6 Guinea fowl and to many chickens to count. All have enough space to roost and roam, and that isn't even everyone. I have ducks and a pair of female geese in with mine, until I can finish building the water fowl coop. Everyone is getting along fine in fact some nights the chickens who don't roost cuddle up with the ducks and geese.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My turkeys will chase and harass chickens. They can be relentless. I once raised turkeys with some chicks, at sexual maturity the two turkeys which were both jakes killed a leghorn rooster by pecking his skull open in a dominance fight. All were free range so space wasn't an issue.

Turkeys will imprint on other species and will consider them the same as themselves. Raised by themselves they are still bullies and thugs, at least at my place they are, and can do a lot of damage to smaller birds like chickens and slower birds like ducks. I would never trust them to live with other poultry.