Wild turkeys coming into yard

[Coopcheney]

Hi everyone,
I have four ladies who have an acre to roam when I let them out in the morning. We have wild turkeys that like to visit and sometimes get a little too close to the chickens and as they don’t seem to mind and all keep a very civil relationship they now have babies and my chickens look annoyed. The turkeys have always come yearly and it’s my first time having a flock. Is it ok to just let them co exist? The turkeys only stay about thirty min then head off to the fields.

 

[jpalmatier83]

Hi everyone,
I have four ladies who have an acre to roam when I let them out in the morning. We have wild turkeys that like to visit and sometimes get a little too close to the chickens and as they don’t seem to mind and all keep a very civil relationship they now have babies and my chickens look annoyed. The turkeys have always come yearly and it’s my first time having a flock. Is it ok to just let them co exist? The turkeys only stay about thirty min then head off to the fields.

Following because I’m curious of others opinions.

I would think the chickens would either run them off or hide in the coop if they couldn’t get along. I would keep an eye out and see how it develops.

I’m no professional, but I don’t know of any diseases a turkey could bring in that your chickens wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to based on their range and your birds range.

 

[Coopcheney]

Following because I’m curious of others opinions.

I would think the chickens would either run them off or hide in the coop if they couldn’t get along. I would keep an eye out and see how it develops.

I’m no professional, but I don’t know of any diseases a turkey could bring in that your chickens wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to based on their range and your birds range.

The chickens don’t seem bothered at all and the momma turkey and her babies just graze and rest but I was just curious and wanted to ask if anyone has had this experience too.

 

[jpalmatier83]

The chickens don’t seem bothered at all and the momma turkey and her babies just graze and rest but I was just curious and wanted to ask if anyone has had this experience too.

Unless someone else says something different, I think you’ve got a neat situation.

 

[Red Mangrove]

Chickens don't die merely from existing around other animals. I would recommend trusting their instincts

 

[Coops Dad]

The real danger is to the turkeys; chickens can carry blackhead (histomoniasis, a protozoan infection) which is harmless to chickens but has an 80%+ fatality rate to turkeys.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

We've had wild turkeys "around" our chickens. After the hens do all their initial nervous chatter and clucking they go back to scratching and foraging with the turkeys doing their thing. No close integrating, maybe 15-20 yrds, turkeys move on. Rooster stands upright on the outer edge of the hens with an eye on the bigger turkeys but never have seen any close interaction. Seems to be the ol' "birds of feather".

 

[kimanndurr]

I know this is an older post, but last winter we had a huge flock of wild turkeys that would visit every morning and they would eat scratch mingling with our chicken flock. I was nervous at first, but our chickens would actually chase the turkeys away over the scratch occasionally!

It was a fun activity every morning and I hope they come back this winter!

 

[Coopcheney]

I know this is an older post, but last winter we had a huge flock of wild turkeys that would visit every morning and they would eat scratch mingling with our chicken flock. I was nervous at first, but our chickens would actually chase the turkeys away over the scratch occasionally!

It was a fun activity every morning and I hope they come back this winter!

Hello! I wish we had the turkeys here in winter. They seem to come in early April and leave by September and we don’t see them till next year. I think it’s awesome they come to your home in winter.