will a turkey get sick if it is mixed with my other fowl?

[obe10]

i have guinea fowl, waterfowl, and chickens. i would love to add a turkey or two to my family but i have heard that they will get "black head disease" if mixed with my other fowl. is this true?

 

[obe10]

bump

 

[whenchickensdream]

Hi I am very new to turkeys. My brother and I have gotten 6 turkeys 4 weeks ago and they are doing great mixed with the chickens. The only thing I've heard is that they shouldn't get wet and chilled. That will make them sick very quickly. We did move them into their own space this past week as they are pooping machines (even though they are not very big yet)! Hope this helps you a little. Love the turkeys - so very cute and they talk to me all the time.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

we need the experts to weigh in.. but yes there is a chance that your turks will get blackhead - which is deadly to them but not to the chickens.

i made the mistake of letting our poults run in the same yard - but not the same coop - as our ducklings and it was disastrous. so i'd say no way on mixing with waterfowl

that being said - we had poults with our chickens with no problem - when they got a couple months old they graduated to the turkey yard.

good luck!

 

[obe10]

ok thanks for the info

 

[pdpatch]

if Black head is not been you your plot of land or in your area
then the chance of you turkeys getting it is slim. But still possible.

Black Head disease if passed through poultry poo, and earth worm caste(poo). So it could be brought into your land and you won't always know it untill it's to late.

As a general rule of thumb, if poultry in your area have not been effect then the chances of it passing from other poultry to your turkeys is slim, but always a possibility. The same it true with other poultry diseases they can have little long term effect on the other poultry but be deadly to Turkeys.

Your local AG office usually knows if there has been any effection in your area.

We generaly have seperate coops and runs for Turkeys and Chickens. Mostly because most of our chickens are layers and they have different feed requirements. But we do free range them together form time to time.


Tom

 

[nop169]

It is best to keep poultry & turkeys seperate. Adult turkeys can be kept with chickens but you must watch for both blackhead, coccidiosis & some types of fowl pox. We keep ours seperate but not necessarily on ground that has never had chickens on it as we use kennel "tractors" & move ours around on grass. I never have issues with my adults but I also deworm twice per year & treat for coccidiosis with Sulmet every 3 months. With poults fresh out of the wire bottomed brooder - we have mixed with similar sized chickens one year when short on space. The poults would get sickly (didn't die) & I would treat them for cocc. but they did pass a type of fowl pox back and forth. Again no one died but it wasn't pretty & when it first manifested we caught it & seperated the poults & treated both. Other than that we have penned some call ducks with our turkeys until I figured out the turkeys were putting their heads into the duck laying boxes & eating their eggs! So now - we simply keep them seperate - although I do let the turkeys out into the poultry yard (about 1/4 acre) to graze every so often while I am moving their "tractor".

 

[pdpatch]

With poults you have the added problem of the time it takes there imune system to develop. Generally about 7 to 9 weeks before it's fully developed.

so it is best to wait this long before putting them on the ground or bringing in wild vegtegation.

As a small flock owner there are many different options you have to protect your flock.

A number of small flock owner do allow there poultry and fowl to mix, and have not had any problems, Others have had constant problems. So no matter which way you choose you have to monitor you flocks health and keep tabs on your local area for any out breaks of poultry deseises.

Tom

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

you have to monitor you flocks health

Very well said there Tom. That is a major major factor. I spend alot of time out with our birds and I am constantly on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. I'm a full time poo inspector, when the hens are sitting or laying I'll pick them up and check for mites etc. After a while when you learn the patterns of the birds it's easy to see if one doesn't look or act right.

Steve in NC​

 

[dc09]

i keep chickens with my turkeys and never have any problems, you can find pictures of my turkeys at www.hadhampoultry.co.uk