Turkeys and Roos

[Iva S.]

I have tried to do research on this, but there is such a varying response. Should I get turkeys? I already have chickens (including a roo) and one of my neighbors complained about the crowing. If I get turkeys, not sure if I’ll end up with a tom or not, would it annoy those neighbors too? I’m not getting rid of the roo, but I still want to try to be a bit courteous to those neighbors.

 

[R2elk]

I have tried to do research on this, but there is such a varying response. Should I get turkeys? I already have chickens (including a roo) and one of my neighbors complained about the crowing. If I get turkeys, not sure if I’ll end up with a tom or not, would it annoy those neighbors too? I’m not getting rid of the roo, but I still want to try to be a bit courteous to those neighbors.

Depending on whether or not Blackhead is present in your area will greatly affect whether you should add turkeys to your flock. If it is present it can be carried by the chickens and transmitted to the turkey making it difficult to keep turkeys alive. If it isn't present, the chickens won't have it to transmit it to the turkeys.

Some people are successful running turkeys and chickens together but the turkeys require much more space than do the chickens. Other people have had turkeys kill some of their chickens.

It is best to raise the poults separate from the chickens because it prevents the turkeys from becoming imprinted by the chickens. If they are imprinted when young, as adults they will not be able to realize there is a difference between them and chickens which can be very harmful to the chickens.

My turkey hens are much more likely to go after roosters than are the toms.

As far as noise goes, turkeys can be loud with toms gobbling at any loud sound.

If you do not have lots of room, I would not add turkeys to your chicken flock.

 

[Coopher]

We have chickens and turkeys, but they are separated. There is blackhead present in our area and have had several die from it. The turkeys that had survived are now our mating pair and she has laid two clutches of eggs. Some of those that hatched also died from blackhead.

The protozoa that causes blackhead lives in a worm that is in the earthworm. Once it is in the ground occupied by chickens or other birds carrying the disease, it will take approximately three years for the protozoa to die-off so long as the chickens and other carriers are not present. The disease can be transmitted by shared food or water and by chicken feces.

My chickens and turkeys free range but are separated by a fence. I also treat the turkey water with apple cider vinegar and the turkey food with garlic powder, oregano and ground-up red pepper (cayenne pepper). Does it help? Not positively sure, but I do have turkeys that have had signs of blackhead and have survived and the are already pre-seasoned before baking. LOL they were delicious.

Jim