Turkeys? Any general info

[Birdsong 82]

I've been offered some turkeys. My friend has a relative that breeds them and sells them but he's looking to thin out his animals and is giving away up to 20 turkeys. I don't want 20 I'm thinking anywhere between two and five but I know really nothing about turkeys. The only birds I've raised on my chickens. So I just wanted any general info like
What to feed? All flock?
What would be the space requirement for their housing? I have plenty of acres for them to free range but what's the general requirements for the coop?
Can they hang (or share living quarters with my chickens , goats and pigs?
Is male or female recommended?
And this may be odd but was wondering how the eggs taste. Are they edible and how often do they lay?
And I am getting another rooster I think in the spring. Will a male turkey challenge my rooster?
Are they personable?
Really any information would be helpful to me. I always like to do my research before I just jump into a new type of animal. Thanks!

 

[Molpet]

10 sqft per bird in coop
at least 3 hens per tom.
if a turkey takes offense, or decides to mate with a chicken.. well I have ended up with squashed chickens
eggs are richer than chickens and bakers love them. they are seasonal layers, spring to fall if they don't go broody
@memphis can tell you about her divas

eta adults can have allflock

 

[Birdsong 82]

Squashed chickens I was hoping since I like my larger breed of chickens hopefully it would work better but squashed chickens doesn't sound like a very pleasant thing

 

[NatJ]

And this may be odd but was wondering how the eggs taste. Are they edible and how often do they lay?

I'm pretty sure the eggs of all birds are edible to humans.

I'm guessing a turkey fed a grain-based food would lay eggs that taste similar to the eggs of a chicken or duck fed a grain-based food. I'm pretty sure I read that penguin eggs taste fishy...

 

[Birdsong 82]

Would female turkeys be OK around my hens? I would like a Tom but if I feel that's going to be dangerous for my chickens I can do without. I really do want a rooster again. I miss my crow in the morning. I know most people hate that sound but I loved hearing the crow every morning and didn't realize how much I would miss it

 

[Birdsong 82]

I'm pretty sure the eggs of all birds are edible to humans.

I'm guessing a turkey fed a grain-based food would lay eggs that taste similar to the eggs of a chicken or duck fed a grain-based food. I'm pretty sure I read that penguin eggs taste fishy...

Now that I think about it I should've been able to answer that question on my own. I have always read that and egg tastes like what they eat. I've heard of people adding certain things to their chickens food to change the taste of the egg. I've never done it but. And my chickens normally eat all flock at least in the winter with of course free choice oyster shell

 

[R2elk]

Would female turkeys be OK around my hens? I would like a Tom but if I feel that's going to be dangerous for my chickens I can do without. I really do want a rooster again. I miss my crow in the morning. I know most people hate that sound but I loved hearing the crow every morning and didn't realize how much I would miss it

A tom that has sufficient hen turkeys is unlikely to bother your chickens I try to keep a minimum of 4 to 5 hens for each tom. The hens are more likely to have issues with the rooster than the tom will.

The run and coop area need to be much bigger than what you can get by with for chickens. Provide obstacles and hiding places for the chickens or rooster so they can escape any unwanted attention from the turkeys. The bad part about turkeys is that once they get an idea in their heads, they won't let up on it.

Turkeys can be very personable and each can have its own personality. Many people who have both turkeys and chickens prefer the turkeys to the chickens.

 

[Birdsong 82]

They would definitely have a separate coop. Probably about the size of my chicken coop. I have 22 chickens but don't plan on having 22 turkeys. It's a 8 x 12. I was hoping they could free range during the day. I have 17 1/2 acres so that's plenty of room. Probably only three or 4 acres clear. And 1 acre fenced in with my goats pigs and chickens. The chickens leave the fenced area sometimes because they can easily fly over it but they come back at night so I'm OK with it. I do have areas set up for my chickens to run under when there's a hawk nearby. But that makes me think how high can turkeys fly? Even my large chickens can get on top of their 8 foot tall run

 

[Birdsong 82]

My daughter really wants a Tom because the guy were getting them from his name is Tyrone. And she really wants to name one of them Tyrone the turkey. My daughter can be a strange creature sometimes. Ha ha. So far from what I'm reading it sounds like turkeys are definitely something manageable for me but still deciding on if I want to add a Mail into the mix. It would just be one If any

 

[Molpet]

My turkeys are roosting in the trees in the fenced poultry yard. Coons can get in , so far I have been lucky
I used to knock them out of the trees last year before they got out of reach. But I had 13 last year this year I had over 30
Some people feed several times a day and at last feeding lock them in