Turkey questions

[Burns ducks and chickens]

I have a small back yard farm with 12 chickens and 4 ducks and I am wanting to add turkeys to the mix! I want a male and female pair but I am concerned about having an aggressive male. I have three brothers all under the age of 5 and we free range our chickens and ducks, and I would like to do the same with a pair of turkeys. I am wondering what the odds are of having an aggressive male.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If they imprint on other turkeys, they're less likely to be agressive. I would get a pair of hens and aim for a male next year

 

[R2elk]

I have a small back yard farm with 12 chickens and 4 ducks and I am wanting to add turkeys to the mix! I want a male and female pair but I am concerned about having an aggressive male. I have three brothers all under the age of 5 and we free range our chickens and ducks, and I would like to do the same with a pair of turkeys. I am wondering what the odds are of having an aggressive male.

If you constantly handle the poults, your likelihood of developing a human aggressive turkey is very high.

I go out of my way to avoid imprinting on the turkey poults. None of my turkeys are pets and none of them are people aggressive. If you try to approach my turkeys, they will keep moving away from you.

You cannot buy sexed turkey poults so the odds of starting out with two poults and having them be a pair is not very good.

It is not a good idea to keep a pair of turkeys. It can become harmful to the health of the hen due to over breeding. I try to keep at least 4 to 5 hens for one tom.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Turkeys need a lot of space too. They can fly very high.

 

[Burns ducks and chickens]

Turkeys need a lot of space too. They can fly very high.
I free range

 

[78753]

We had 2 chickens, a bantam rooster, and 4 ducks. In March got 5 more chicks and two turkey poults for pets. Unfortunately one turned out to be a BBB, so, a meat bird. At 8 months he's 30 lbs and has feet like a dinosaur. He has never been a problem with the birds he grew up with, but when I tried to introduce a new hen recently he got fairly aggressive, puffing and "hoo-ti-DOoing."at her through the glass door of our house. She's now outside and he tackled her today. Luckily she wasn't injured. It seems he's defending his flock. Too early to say where things go from here., but he's not yet showed any aggression towards any of the birds he was raised with. He has also not tried, to my knowledge, to mate the female turkey. I've read that BBB can't mate naturally, but not sure of the exact issue. (Except that any hen would be crazy to let him onto her since he's so big.

 

[R2elk]

We had 2 chickens, a bantam rooster, and 4 ducks. In March got 5 more chicks and two turkey poults for pets. Unfortunately one turned out to be a BBB, so, a meat bird. At 8 months he's 30 lbs and has feet like a dinosaur. He has never been a problem with the birds he grew up with, but when I tried to introduce a new hen recently he got fairly aggressive, puffing and "hoo-ti-dooing."at her through the glass door of our house. She's now outside and he tackled her today. Luckily she wasn't injured. It seems he's defending his flock. Too early to say where things go from here., but he's not yet showed any aggression towards any of the birds he was raised with. He has also not tried, to my knowledge, to mate the female turkey. I've read that BBB can't mate naturally, but not sure of the exact issue. (Except that any hen would be crazy to let him onto her since he's so big.

If your turkey is 8 months old and weighs 30 lbs., he is not a broad breasted turkey. A BB at 6 months old will dress out at 30+ lbs. Thirty -two to thirty-four lbs. live weight is about right for the adult weight of a heritage tom.

BBs can naturally mate especially when they are yearlings. They are inefficient at it. Artificial insemination is used by the hatcheries because it is more efficient and prevents mating injuries.

I recommend that you separate your turkeys from your chickens.

 

[Miles92]

hey right now i have about 15 chickens that are a year old we were thinking of adding a turkey breeding pair to the flock would they get along or fight?

 

[R2elk]

hey right now i have about 15 chickens that are a year old we were thinking of adding a turkey breeding pair to the flock would they get along or fight?

If you have enough room for the turkeys they may or may not get along. I do not recommend having a breeding pair of turkeys. I try to keep at least 4 to 5 hens for one tom. It makes it a lot easier on the hens.

 

[Miles92]

If you have enough room for the turkeys they may or may not get along. I do not recommend having a breeding pair of turkeys. I try to keep at least 4 to 5 hens for one tom. It makes it a lot easier

If you have enough room for the turkeys they may or may not get along. I do not recommend having a breeding pair of turkeys. I try to keep at least 4 to 5 hens for one tom. It makes it a lot easier on the hens.

thanks