Turkeys and Chickens together...

[Frosty]

Quote:
I keep mine seperate for multiple reasons. The turkeys like to hog the food and peck at my chickens, they need bigger boxs to lay in and blackhead is a concern even though I've never heard of it in Arizona. However, I do know a person who keeps chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese and goats all together in one pen and never has problems. As far as Blackhead goes, it is an organism which lives in the soil (having gotten there through the manure) and is contracted through the soil so there is really no way of knowing which chickens may have it without testing. Blackhead can be dormant in the soil for years. Keeping pens clean and sanitary is the best prevention and always quarantine new stock.

The protozoa that causes blackhead doen't actually live in the soil... It's picked up by earthworms and the turkeys get it from eating infected worms or poop.

Contact your local extension service to see if blackhead (histomoniasis) is a problem in your area and ask around locally if anyone runs turkeys and chickens together.

 

[ziggywiggy]

Actually, for the perfectionist in the forum, the protozoa is found in cecal worms (another parisite) whose eggs(which carry the protozoan) can be dormant in the soil for years. The eggs are digested by earth worms (and other organisms that live in the soil) and then eaten by chickens. The protozoa can also be contracted directly from poop, but it does not live long without the protection of the cecal egg and the odds of fowl eating poop are slim unless other food sources come in contact with the poop. Hence, the need to keep pens and roosts clean and dry.

 

[pips&peeps]

I don't recomment it unless you get your turkeys from a MG free hatchery. Turkeys are one of the major vectors of MG.

 

[cgmccary]

Turkeys are one of the major vectors of MG.

I've been trying to figure out what is MG? I really dislike the abbreviations. I figure if I don't know what MG is, then it must not be a problem for me because I have chickens, Guineas, geese & turkeys. The turkey herpes virus (HVT) is used as the agent for Marek's Disease Virus (MDV) vaccination in chickens. Housing chickens on turkey droppings when they are young can convey immunity to Marek's similar to the Marek's vaccine.

I have 4 Bourbon Reds (BRs), and they free range with my chickens & Guineas (and geese). They get along fine with the them (except the geese -- the geese pick on everything & everything runs from them).

When I first got the turkeys, I had a Jenny come down with blackhead which I noticed immediately. I isolated the Jenny, called the vet, got medicine and begin treatment the same day I noticed it & her. I also wormed all the chickens, Guineas and turkeys all together while treating the sick Jenny. I haven't had any more problems. The Jenny fully recovered. [My first instinct was to get rid of my turkeys with that case of blackhead, but a friend suggested I wait and see after worming and treating to see if it came back on any of them -- so far, it has not].

The chickens and Guineas go in at night to the same coop, and I lock them up when i get home just after dark. Three of the BRs roost high up in the rafters of my tractor shed and the other one (one of the Jennys) roosts with some of my game hens in the goose barn rafters. The turkeys do go in and sit and visit with the chickens when their coop is open during the day and one of the Jennys seems more attached to the chickens as companions than she does the other three BRs. My BRs were raised with chickens.​

 

[Frosty]

MG is Mycoplasma Gallisepticum, one variety of Mycoplasmosis. There are a few different varieties so I don't usually use the abbreviation and just say Mycoplasma to cover all. When you hear folks refer to a turkey with a swollen sinus, there is a chance that is what it is. Once a bird gets it, there is no cure for the disease itself and it can be passed through the egg. You can treat the symptoms, but the bird will remain a carrier.

And ziggywiggy, I am not a perfectionist, I just feel that people should know that Histomoniasis doesn't actually 'live' in the soil like a bacteria (such as anthrax) would. I have heard folks ask about having their soil tested for it and it doesn't work that way.