turkey novice needs help

[callieisspooky]

Hello BYC.

I've been raising chickens for just over a year, so I'm still newish to poultry. A few days ago my husband surprised me with 5 turkey poults, given to him by a coworker who raises turkeys for fun/meat. He dumped them on me late at night and left early the next morning on a long trip, so I am left pretty much clueless.

I don't know what breed they are. After Googling turkey breed photos, and knowing they are "meat" turkeys, I'm guessing BBB, less likely but still possible Narrangansett. Hopefully you can see the photo inserted below.




I have a few questions, and hope you can bear with me during my learning curve. I have looked at BYC threads on turkeys but am still confused about some things:

1. Lifespan. I have three kids who have already named each turkey and are head over heels. I'd like to keep them as pets, but don't know what to expect. On this site I've read they live anywhere from 6 months to 12 years. Does anyone have long experience with BBBs who can offer some insight?

2. Going outside. They are growing pretty fast, and I say that after less than a week. Local feed store guy told me they can go outside in about 3 weeks without a heat source. Is this true? (it gets into mid 40s at night, and will stay that way until Novemberish)

3. Housing, part one. Could I put them in with our chickens after they outgrow their cage? Or will the chickens attack them? This would just be an interim solution, since the coop/pen is already close to maxed out for our 6 hens (could maybe fit 10 chickens at best)

4. Housing, part two. On BYC I saw a great photo of a DIY turkey roost (http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp29/storypage/Turkeypen.jpg), and I'm wondering two things. One, can BBBs use it or would they only be able to reach the bottom roost? Two, it needs to be in a coop/shelter of some kind, correct? If so, does this shelter need to have its door at ground level? (As for weather, we live on the CA Central Coast, temps go just below freezing in winter but there is never snow)

5. Housing, part three. Once they get to be a certain size, I'd like to avoid building yet another pen by putting the turkeys in our large goat pen, which is approx 40'x80', wire deer fence walls 7' high. However, there is no floor or roof, and there are two small oak trees that would make putting in a roof difficult. We have predators around like owls, foxes, bobcats, coyotes, raccoons. Something has dug halfway under our chicken pen trying to get in (thank goodness we put in the wire floor). Will the turkeys also need a wire floor and roof? Or just floor - if BBB's can't fly then I don't see the need for a roof. Unless they can fly *until* they get to be a certain size. They are already flying pretty well at a week or so old.

6. Hygiene. Are turkeys too dirty to live with goats? They would of course have separate, locking shelters at night.

7. Sex. If there is more than one male, will they fight and need to be separated?

8. Noise. Are males loud? I've heard that the males gobble, but we have many wild turkeys around here trekking through our back yards, so gobbling shouldn't bother anyone if that is the only loud noise they make.

Thank you for reading this novel!

 

[Big Dan]

Did he hatch the eggs himself or not. That can determine the standard bronze or the broad breasted. The BBB cannot reproduce naturally so if they were his eggs he would have had to artificially inseminated. Then standard bronze can do the deed themselves so if he's breeding that might be it. I put my poults out a 3 weeks and at 4 weeks I had the ultimate test. We got 2.5 feet of snow. They did great! If you are planning on pets I would keep a low protein level to limit their growth. They can get to big to walk if fed enough. I have 4 toms housed together and they do fine and they aren't very noisey at all.

 

[callieisspooky]

I'm not sure if the eggs were hatched by a person or turkey. I probably won't get an answer on that for a week or so. Thank you for the advice on when to put out the poults, and on the low protein diet - I was all set to give them higher protein than the chick starter they're on currently.

 

[Big Dan]

Well that is just something to watch. Because normally with turkeys you are right, you want them on a high protein diet. The problem is if they are BBB they pack on the weight. If you want them as pets you dont want them gaining as fast because they are meant to live a short life anyways, before their legs buckle. But you do want a good protein source of 20 - 22% to make sure their legs and everything develop. Just something to keep an eye on. If they are BBB they will grow fast. I have 6 week old BBB poults that weigh well over 4 lbs. Just try to get as much if as you can that will help you a lot to plan ahead.

 

[callieisspooky]

The man who gave us these chicks said our turkeys are Standard Bronze and can reproduce on their own. They are about 3/4 the size of the BBB and therefore don't typically develop leg problems, so I think the high protein diet will be OK. Which is good, considering my kids just dumped in half a container of dried mealworms! They can also fly, and their wings will need to be clipped since we plan to let them free-range. We'll have to separate the males from the females if we don't want fertilized eggs, but I think that we will let them breed at least the first year. They're already fairly large & outgrowing their cage. I've been keeping track of who's who by their head markings, only to realize all these feathers will soon fall out & I'll then have no way to tell them apart.

On Wikipedia I found the following info:

Today, both the Standard and Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys are listed on the ALBC's conservation priority list. The Standard is listed as "Critical", but the exact numbers of Broad Breasted are currently unclear. Standard Bronzes have additionally been included in Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, a catalog of heritage foods in danger of extinction.