Urban Turkeys?

[AllisonD]

I started trying to convince my sister that we should raise our own Thanksgiving turkeys one of these years. From what I've read, it's not so different from raising chickens... the turkeys are just bigger. So here are some questions that I want to be clear on before I continue to talk her over into turkey husbandry:

Turkeys are social, so raising one on their own would be a bad plan... but could we get away with just two?
What are the noise concerns? Is a tom as much of a neighborhood nuisance as a rooster or less so?
How much space do turkeys need to range? How much indoor space? We live in the pacific northwest so winters are mild; only getting below freezing for a few weeks out of the year.
How much brooder space do the poults need before they're moved outside?
Do toms fight like roosters do? Is it possible to raise two toms together without one killing the other?

Thanks so much for your input; I don't want to involve anyone in a project if it's doomed to failure.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Urban and turkeys are two words that I think should not go together.

If you wouldn't keep a rooster where you are at then chances are toms would not be a good idea either.

 

[Oregon Blues]

If you are on the rainy side, turkeys would need shelter. They don't do rain very well.

They can be loud, but i don't know whether your neighbors would find the noise to be as annoying as rooster crowing.

 

[EeyoreD]

What are the noise concerns? Is a tom as much of a neighborhood nuisance as a rooster or less so?

I can't say for sure the noise of a tom vs a rooster as my chicks haven't quite gotten to the adult stage yet. There's a rooster nearby that crows frequently though intermittently throughout the day. It carries on the wind and cracks me up.

I will say that I have two turkey hens that have gone broody and one tom who is watching them. I'm impressed by his attentiveness to his hens. That said, some days his gobbling gives me a massive headache. Not sure if it's because I have lots of other fowl around that he feels the need to yell at. But some days I do kind of want to throttle him. Sometimes he gobbles every 3-5 minutes or so for about 4 hours. Not sure how far it carries for the neighbors but, again, I love him for his protectiveness of his hens but some days I want to kill him. (if you yell at him to shut up he thinks it's a threat and gobbles more... so you know)