What turkey woudl you suggest for backyard flock ?

[jasonak]

Hi
Was wondering what turkey you would suggest that would get along with chickens is decent layer and mother just a good backyard turkey that I could let roam around.
Also how hardy are turkeys ? Whats there life span ?
I like the choclate,Narragansett,royal palms, midget white and burbon reds
thanks

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Once the turkeys get older (6 months+) they are very hardy. Turkeys can live a long time 10 years or more. In your neck of the woods I don't know if letting them roam would work or not. Your predators are big enough to eat school buses aren't they? lol We have palm, midget and bourbon.

The palm is more ornamental, midget and bourbon have the best taste, bourbons are very curious, midget since they are small can be fence jumpers

 

[meriruka]

I've found Bourbon Reds to be the calmest & friendliest, but as Steve said above, they sure are curious so if you are trying to paint the barn you'll have to pen them up otherwise your next post will be "How do I get paint off my turkeys?"

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:

Yes, Steve and meriruka are sooo right about Bourbon Reds being very curious. But at the the same time, I think they are cute. I am partial to them because I have them. When we are outside and working, they just have to get close to look at what we are doing. They look at the wood to see what it is, they look at the nails to see if we have the right nails, they look at the trailer to see what materials are on the trailer, they take a seat on the trailer to supervise us pulling nails and cutting wood, they play security guard and ban any other animal from walking into the "work zone", they secure the area when we leave to go to another section of the property, they follow us to that section of the property to remind us about the unfinished project that we left 30 minutes.........Do I need to say anymore?

Their curiousity is what makes me love them.

 

[boxermom]

My BR's help me hang laundry too. Very versatile.

 

[jasonak]

Hi
When I said roam they will be roaming but in a fenced yard

We do have alot of critters up here but mostley its the neighbor dogs that are the problem more than anything.
So seems like 4 votes for the burbons so far

.
Will they raise there own chicks ?
thanks for everyoens replies.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
My girls were excellent mothers. They were very protective of their young ones. You couldn't get close without getting a good thrashing and lashing.

Can your neighbor's dogs harm your turkeys? That's not good if they can.

 

[jasonak]

Well if I actually catch the neighbors dog in my yard he will be no more

I actually dont blame the dog,its just being a dog its the owners fault for not keeping it up,but I lost about 30 birds last year I had put outside in a lawn tractor they were about 3 monthes old and doing great.Came home found them dead all over the yard then found white fur around the entrance to the coop part of the lawn tractor,he had squished himself in there and killed the ones that had been hidning in there as well.Anywyas coudlnt prove that it was the neighbors dog but they have the only white dog in the neighbor hood and they actually admitted that it had gotten of the leash that day.But said it had not jumped there fence(I thougth why is it chained up if it cant jump the fence ?).So yeah rather than get in a huge fight with my neighbors I let it go.But let them know that I woudl have to put down any dog I saw in my yard no matter whos it was.I havent seen the dog over there in awhile so I think they might have gotten rid of it.Im redoing my fencing next year as well so actually shouldnt be a problem.The tractor only had the nylon mesh webbing instead of actual wire like my main bird run does.

 

[beerman]

I have Blue Slates and Narragansetts. They are like dogs they follow me around and love to be petted. The Toms are very friendly and rub against me until I pay attention to them. They live with chickens, ducks and guineas with no problem. They even sneak their heads in to steal pig food sometimes.
Brian

 

[Olive Hill]

I'm partial to Narragansetts myself. Hardy, vigorous, street-smart. AND beautiful.