Turkeys: Pros and Cons

[CascadiaRiver]

I am writing a proposal on Turkeys, and why they would make good pets, I need some Pro's and Con's about them. I am more of a chicken person and am fairly experienced with Chooks.

How big can they get? How Small?
Can they be long term pets or just pets then food?
Heritage Vs Big Breasted?
Do they go along with Chickens well?
How much room do they need? (Free range)
Minimum number of poults you need? Or could I get just one and raise it with baby chicks?
Anything else?

 

[QueenMisha]

I am writing a proposal on Turkeys, and why they would make good pets, I need some Pro's and Con's about them. I am more of a chicken person and am fairly experienced with Chooks.

How big can they get? How Small?
Can they be long term pets or just pets then food?
Heritage Vs Big Breasted?
Do they go along with Chickens well?
How much room do they need? (Free range)
Minimum number of poults you need? Or could I get just one and raise it with baby chicks?
Anything else?

Broad Breasted Whites/Bronzes are the largest variety, and toms can reach up to 50 pounds live weight. The smallest varieties include the Beltsville Small White and the Midget White, which are usually 8-15 pounds live weight.

Heritage turkeys can be pets. They don't have as much personality as chickens - they won't come up to you and I have never had one who would willing subject itself to snuggling or petting - but the toms are quite magnificent to watch. Broad Breasted turkeys can be kept as pets, but really shouldn't be; they simply get too large to live healthy lives.

There aren't too many differences between heritage and Broad Breasted turkeys, besides size and health; the Broad-Breasteds are much larger and more docile, whereas the heritage turkeys are more active and can fly quite well. The Broad-Breasteds tend to be less aggressive toward each other and other species, while the heritage breeds can be very, very nasty when they want to. The heritage breeds can live 10 years or so, a Broad-Breasted might live this long but it's doubtful due to their health issues.

Turkeys get along with chickens that they know. Occasionally they will step on chickens who get underfoot, or bite at ones getting too close to them at the feeder. Otherwise they ignore them. But new chickens (or new animals of any species), not so much. Introduction to a flock is twice as hard when you have turkeys in the yard. They'll follow a bird around the yard and stomp on it, while making some decidedly unattractive noises. It's also important to know that not all people can keep chickens and turkeys together. Chickens sometimes carry a disease known as blackhead, which doesn't affect the chicken, but can kill turkeys. In some cases people may keep them together for 25 years with no issues, and in other cases the turkey flock will die off within the first few months. You have to be willing to take a gamble, and know that you may lose, when keeping chickens and turkeys in the same run/coop space.

Turkeys need a pretty decent amount of run space. Coop space, they're pretty unscrupulous, and as long as no lights are on they won't peck or bite at birds sitting beside them. They are a large bird, and so do need to have a roost and coop that can accommodate their size. I currently sleep my 8 adult and 4 juvenile turkeys in a 16x16 coop. There are some chickens and guineas and waterfowl in there too, but assuming they weren't there, I could probably fit 30-35 adult turkeys in the space with no picking or fighting. Run space, they need more of. My run is 4,000 square feet and they roam every inch of it. The dominant male will kick the other males very hard if they get within a few feet of him, so if multiple males are being kept, they need room to get away from each other. If there is only one male, less space is required, but they still won't do well in confinement.

A poult will do fine when raised with chicks (as long as the chicks are blackhead-free). But if you want the turkey for some specific purpose, e.g. meat, rather than just a pet, you should get multiples. Turkeys don't have as good a livability as chickens, and are more fragile as babies. I always suggest buying double the amount you need. For example, if you are raising 2 turkeys for Thanksgiving - 1 for your family, 1 for your friend's family - you should buy 4 poults. Maybe 2-3 of these will live to adulthood, in some cases all 4 might make it. The extras go well to turkey bacon or burgers.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

This is amazing thank you. I am wanting to look for one as a pet but also will have to convince the family tat they aren't extremely aggressive or just meat birds and can be good along side our chickens. We lock them in at night but let them roam our yard the entire day. My Mother especially doesnt think they come smaller than the Turkeys like the ones you see for dinner, I will certainly look into the other breeds and the Blackhead as well ^^ Thank you so very much

 

[CascadiaRiver]

And as far as a pet would concern would you suggest a Tom or Female? Other concern thinking about it now, would a tom ever try to breed a chicken?

 

[QueenMisha]

This is amazing thank you. I am wanting to look for one as a pet but also will have to convince the family tat they aren't extremely aggressive or just meat birds and can be good along side our chickens. We lock them in at night but let them roam our yard the entire day. My Mother especially doesnt think they come smaller than the Turkeys like the ones you see for dinner, I will certainly look into the other breeds and the Blackhead as well ^^ Thank you so very much

If you just want a pet, one of the miniature breeds does well. If you don't mind a larger size (the average heritage breed will be around 20 pounds hens/25-30 pounds toms), Porters sells an incredible range of standard varieties. I particularly love the Red Phoenix, I have a tom of the variety and he is arguably my prettiest birds. In total three of my birds are from Porter's stock, and they are lovely animals. Royal Palms are beautiful too, my dominant tom is a Royal Palm. I'm not sure if Porter's sells them though.

You definitely need to be cautious around Blackhead. Worm your chickens before getting poults (blackhead is carried by chicken's cecal worms), raise the poults on a medicated feed, and be aware that you can lose them if Blackhead is present in the chickens, or even just in the soil (do not let any birds have access to moist ground or earthworms, as earthworms carry blackhead protozoa).

 

[QueenMisha]

And as far as a pet would concern would you suggest a Tom or Female? Other concern thinking about it now, would a tom ever try to breed a chicken?

My toms are more docile than my females, and the females are quite boring, whereas a tom spends about 90% of the day displaying. Of my 13 total turkeys, 7 are pets/breeders, and of those 7, 4 are toms and 3 are hens. I like the hens, but they are replaceable - when they can no longer breed, they will be culled and replaced with either their offspring or fresh outside blood. My toms, on the other hand, are permanent fixtures, save perhaps one Red tom who isn't too interesting.

My toms have never tried to breed with my chickens. They are very non-aggressive breeders. I have never even seen my toms mate turkey hens unless the hen walks over to them and sits down beside them. They have never once chased or been aggressive towards the females of any species.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

If you just want a pet, one of the miniature breeds does well. If you don't mind a larger size (the average heritage breed will be around 20 pounds hens/25-30 pounds toms), Porters sells an incredible range of standard varieties. I particularly love the Red Phoenix, I have a tom of the variety and he is arguably my prettiest birds. In total three of my birds are from Porter's stock, and they are lovely animals. Royal Palms are beautiful too, my dominant tom is a Royal Palm. I'm not sure if Porter's sells them though.

You definitely need to be cautious around Blackhead. Worm your chickens before getting poults (blackhead is carried by chicken's cecal worms), raise the poults on a medicated feed, and be aware that you can lose them if Blackhead is present in the chickens, or even just in the soil (do not let any birds have access to moist ground or earthworms, as earthworms carry blackhead protozoa).

I didn't know about the moist ground part, we have let our chickens out in all weather for over a year and nobody seems to be affected but as you've said blackhead doesn't affect them, would that mean that I would need to find a way to keep the turkey in while letting the chickens out?

 

[CascadiaRiver]

My toms are more docile than my females, and the females are quite boring, whereas a tom spends about 90% of the day displaying. Of my 13 total turkeys, 7 are pets/breeders, and of those 7, 4 are toms and 3 are hens. I like the hens, but they are replaceable - when they can no longer breed, they will be culled and replaced with either their offspring or fresh outside blood. My toms, on the other hand, are permanent fixtures, save perhaps one Red tom who isn't too interesting.

My toms have never tried to breed with my chickens. They are very non-aggressive breeders. I have never even seen my toms mate turkey hens unless the hen walks over to them and sits down beside them. They have never once chased or been aggressive towards the females of any species.

This is very encouraging thank you!

 

[CascadiaRiver]

If you just want a pet, one of the miniature breeds does well. If you don't mind a larger size (the average heritage breed will be around 20 pounds hens/25-30 pounds toms), Porters sells an incredible range of standard varieties. I particularly love the Red Phoenix, I have a tom of the variety and he is arguably my prettiest birds. In total three of my birds are from Porter's stock, and they are lovely animals. Royal Palms are beautiful too, my dominant tom is a Royal Palm. I'm not sure if Porter's sells them though.

You definitely need to be cautious around Blackhead. Worm your chickens before getting poults (blackhead is carried by chicken's cecal worms), raise the poults on a medicated feed, and be aware that you can lose them if Blackhead is present in the chickens, or even just in the soil (do not let any birds have access to moist ground or earthworms, as earthworms carry blackhead protozoa).

And I feel like I would have to propose a miniature first as my family doesn't want to deal with a larger bird since we dont live on too much land (dont know the exact numbers)

 

[QueenMisha]

I didn't know about the moist ground part, we have let our chickens out in all weather for over a year and nobody seems to be affected but as you've said blackhead doesn't affect them, would that mean that I would need to find a way to keep the turkey in while letting the chickens out?

If it's just moist after a regular rain or snow, I wouldn't be too worried, but if it's during a huge storm or the ground is consistently wet due to, for example, a leaking hose, then I would try to keep them away from it, as this provides an ideal ground for earthworms to surface.