Turkeys: Pros and Cons

[CascadiaRiver]

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.

I live in the Pacific Northwest, where its usually rainy , but I've never had problems with earthworms (though we have plenty for the garden) nor with earthworms being eaten, I will watch out for that now.

 

[copper2]

Turkeys never peck at each other, unless sparing. Hens are also very sweet, and lay big eggs for baking. They will forage far and wide for grasshoppers. I prefer heritage! Hope this helps

 

[teria]

I have a Bourbon Red pair, and they are the most social birds I have in my flock. Of the 16 chickens and two turkeys, by far, the turkeys come up to us more, eat more readily out of our hands, and are incredibly curious about everything we do. They will follow us around the yard, and try to get a close look at any tools we are using. We have had more fun watching these little comics and their endless curiosity. They are very closely bonded with each other, and have also bonded with the four younger chickens in our flock. We had initially had the brooder for the turkeys in the same garage as the one with the younger chicks, and they could hear them cheeping. It seemed to comfort them.

Now, when they lose track of where those chicks are, they freak out until they find them.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Turkeys never peck at each other, unless sparing. Hens are also very sweet, and lay big eggs for baking. They will forage far and wide for grasshoppers. I prefer heritage! Hope this helps

Apparently I have rowdy birds, my toms fight, my hens fight occasionally, mostly in the spring, my hens don't like chickens, they chase them, I personally don't raise them together, a turkey will not know it's not a chicken, and could harm them. Heritage will live longer than bb, they seem to be about the same except bourbon reds seem more curious. They are big strong birds, give them as much room as possible. Either you have blackhead in your soil or you don't, won't really know until you try.

 

[QueenMisha]

Apparently I have rowdy birds, my toms fight, my hens fight occasionally, mostly in the spring, my hens don't like chickens, they chase them, I personally don't raise them together, a turkey will not know it's not a chicken, and could harm them. Heritage will live longer than bb, they seem to be about the same except bourbon reds seem more curious. They are big strong birds, give them as much room as possible. Either you have blackhead in your soil or you don't, won't really know until you try.

Interesting, what varieties do you keep? All my toms and hens are very friendly to each other, either they hang out or just go their own ways, except the dominant Royal Palm tom who will kick HARD if the other guys get in his space.

My birds don't usually chase my chickens, unless it's a new one. Sometimes I'll see one of the hens run after a chicken for about 10 feet or so, it looks more like they're playing than anything. I raise my poults and chicks together, though, so maybe that's why they don't get aggressive towards them. But even the turkeys who were raised as a single turkey with only chickens around it acts like a turkey and knows it's a turkey, that I'm sure of. I have a poult who was the only survivor of a hatch of three, he was grown and raised as the only turkey in the brooder then in the growing pen, and he always acted like a turkey, not a chicken.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have a mix of different heritage varieties, bourbon reds, sweetgrass, mottled, blue, black, most fighting and bickering goes on in spring and summer, they have a large pen and free range most days. I have talked about raising two Tom bronze with a batch of chicks, when they all reached sexual maturity the turkeys fought with the roosters and harassed the hens, eventually they ganged up on a leghorns rooster and pecked his scalp open and were working on pecking his brains out. My husband ate those. I later had a bantam hen hatch some turkey eggs, I let the hen raise them, the bigger they got the more frightened the bantam chickens became, these were three hens, they were bullies, chasing, pushing, I eventually moved them to the turkey pen, was hard to keep them in there. I guess I have healthy rowdy birds.

 

[copper2]

I have a mix of different heritage varieties, bourbon reds, sweetgrass, mottled, blue, black, most fighting and bickering goes on in spring and summer, they have a large pen and free range most days. I have talked about raising two Tom bronze with a batch of chicks, when they all reached sexual maturity the turkeys fought with the roosters and harassed the hens, eventually they ganged up on a leghorns rooster and pecked his scalp open and were working on pecking his brains out. My husband ate those. I later had a bantam hen hatch some turkey eggs, I let the hen raise them, the bigger they got the more frightened the bantam chickens became, these were three hens, they were bullies, chasing, pushing, I eventually moved them to the turkey pen, was hard to keep them in there. I guess I have healthy rowdy birds.

Uh, sure you don't want new birds? That's the last thing I want, aggressive turkeys!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They are not aggressive with me, they are just healthy trouble makers, I would find yours much too boring.

 

[ivan3]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/986606/pros-and-cons-of-getting-a-turkey-with-my-chickens