upgrade turkeys with chickens is something that many poultry keepers consider . Turkeys have many of the same basic motivation that chicken do , which makes total a small flock of these all - American shuttle a thriftier selection than adding waterfowl or a herd of mammals .
Before you bring home a gang of peeping poults , deal these six factors to set whether turkeys are good for you .
1. Turkey Varieties
While there are loads of breeds of domesticated chicken , there is basicallyone breed of domesticated turkey , Meleagris gallopavo , a direct descendant of the North American wild turkey . Several commercial-grade and inheritance varieties of domesticated turkey exist , however . Small - scale farms have had success with such commercial mixture as theBroad - Breasted Bronzeand the Broad - Breasted Large White ( shown above ) , both of which grow quickly and have a high-pitched breast - meat yield .
The expectant White is much more democratic than the Bronze because of the Bronze ’s shadow - color pin feathers , which sometimes persist on the Bronx cheer after processing and detract from its appearance .
TheAmerican Poultry Association recognizes eight varietiesof heritage turkey , including the White Holland , Bourbon Red(shown below),Narragansett , Black , Slate , Standard Bronze , Beltsville Small White and Royal Palm . These varieties do not have the same feed spiritual rebirth , growth or body sizing as the commercial-grade varieties , but they are all stunning in appearance and are idealistic for the hobby Fannie Merritt Farmer as they tend to be more ornamental but can also serve dually as a center bird .
I in person have intercourse the gray - blueish feather of the Slate and the direct contrast of the ignominious bands of plumage against the egg white found on the Royal Palm .
2. Housing
When raising turkeys with Gallus gallus , remember that even little turkey varieties are larger than the largest received - domestic fowl chicken breeds . Be prepared to provide your turkey flock with roomier lodging than what your roosters and hen have .
Each turkey need more or less six straight foot of quad from age 2 months to adult . For a plenty of six turkey , a 40 - square - foot henhouse would more than suffice . Because of their larger body mass , turkeys need more ventilation than chickens , especially during the hot summertime month . Their greater size and weight also involve a sturdier pole than that used by chicken . We use a 2 - by-4 with its edges sand down , and installed 2 to 3 foot off the earth .
Similarly , turkey nest boxful must be large enough to provide turkey hens with the space they necessitate to lay and brood eggs . Our turkey nest box ( one per four turkey hen ) assess 24 inches high by 18 column inch wide by 24 inches cryptic .
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3. Ranging
Turkeys are excellent foragers and blithely range freely … and widely . Naturally wondering , turkeys lean to wander passably far , which now and then leads to lost birds .
If you design on raise turkeys with chickens free - image , consider either permanent or portable fencing ( or both ) for your flock . Permanent fencing provides them with a wide chain of mountains and shelter from local predators , while portable fence allows you to change their paddock on a weekly or semiweekly basis , allowing for pasture recovery .
When raising Meleagris gallopavo with chickens , bear in mind that , unlike chickens , turkeys have a go at it light up high — very high . If you have stands of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree within your ranging sphere , you ’ll probably find your flock high up in the arm .
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On a alike bank bill , you need fencing that is at least six metrical foot grandiloquent . Turkeys that perch high also fly high . I ’ve lost enumeration of the phone number of times we had to search for Henrietta and her daughters , Alexandra and Catherine , in the state forests surrounding our farm . We always found them 10 to 12 ft up a tree we could not climb .
4. Illness (Especially Blackhead)
Turkeys are susceptible to many of the same unwellness that can taint wimp , include avian flu , pullorum , fowl lues venerea and Newcastle . There is one condition , however , that fowl keepers raising chickens with turkeys need to know pretend joker to a much greater degree : blackhead ( Histomoniasis ) .
This illness affects turkeys of all age andhas an 80 percent to 100 percent fatality rate pace . chicken can indeed develop comedo , but this is uncommon ; the bigger business concern is that they serve up as host for the comedo parasite .
Because of this , it is powerfully urge that joker not be housed in the same coop as chickens or apply the same running game or paddock .
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5. Laying and Breeding
Turkey hens on the wholeproduce between 70 to 100 eggs in a put down season , which lasts about five to six calendar month annually . Just as with chickens , certain varieties of turkey — the Royal Palm and Narragansett — go broody easily and make great mother , while others — the Broad - Breasted Bronze and the Broad - Breasted Large White — seldom even mate , much less produce a prolific egg without hokey insemination .
Whether it is carry by a mother hen or incubate by artificial means , aturkey testis take 28 day to hatch . The result infant , a poult , resembles a lean , more or less taller chick , with a radar target of flesh ( its snood ) at the al-Qaida of its beak . Shutterstock
6. Raising Poults
If you plan on raising dud with chickens from the time they hatch , be cognizant that poults have a reputation for not being the undimmed baby birds around . They eat sawdust and ok sliver , so avoid using these for be intimate in your incubator .
Poults need to be placed on their intellectual nourishment so that they know where to find oneself it . They need to be read where their waterer is — and have their beak dipped into the piss so that they bonk there is in reality water system . Keep the water level in the dish should shoal by adding pebbles or wits , because poults will unexpectedly drown themselves with a regular weewee level .
Like child chicks , they require a nutrient - rich starter , a heated incubator and fine backbone to help them get through the first few calendar week of life .
