where should i put my turkey?(ducks or chickens)

[Flock Runner]

i'm building a new coop but i only have enough money to build one. i'm going to divide it into two parts(one for water fowl and the other for my chickens) and have a small section for chicks. since i have a turkey, 7 ducks, 7 chickens, and am getting 2 geese,(im putting them with the ducks) would it be best to put the turkey with the chickens, the ducks, or let it free range? i let him free range when he was younger so he knows the property pretty well and hes big enough so i don't have to worry about predators, but i don't want him getting lonely. so if i were to get a female turkey to keep him company would she be broody if they had eggs together?

 

[Frosty]

That's a really tough call... I don't like putting 'land' type birds in with waterfowl because waterfowl are slobs and make a big mess. I don't like putting tom turkeys in with chickens because once breeding season hits they could try to breed with the chickens and that doesn't go well for the chickens (I lost a few hens that way). They are never big enough that I wouldn't worry about predators. Stray dogs, coyotes, a raccoon, all can take a turkey down. And we had some wild turkeys roosting in a tree by our house before they started getting picked off by a Great Horned Owl.

The big disease associated with keeping chickens and turkeys on the same property is Blackhead (Histomoniasis). If it's on your property, it will be a problem, If it isn't there, you are good to go. Chickens don't just 'have it', they have to pick it up from somewhere before they can pass it to turkeys. If you had the turkey and chickens for a while with no problems, you probably don't have it there.

As far as if a hen would go broody, a lot of them will but some don't. Just like with chickens, there is no way to tell in advance.

A hoop house type set up can be built fairly cheaply, maybe you could do something like that for your turkeys?

 

[GoldenSparrow]

I am pretty sure that it not good to keep turkeys with chickens. something about many diseases. one that I know of is black head.

I could be wrong, so people if I am, PLEASE CORRECT ME.


thanks all