One Big Happy Family
Turkeys. They aren’t nearly as popular as chickens so info on them can be difficult to find. Heritage turkey info is even harder to find because even fewer people raise them and there are differences in raising them compared to the Broad Breasted breeds. Fortunately Backyardchickens.com has a forum for turkeys, which helps immensely. I also have a book called Not Just for Christmas that has some info, though I find it rather lacking. A Storey Guide might be better but I haven’t reviewed the one for turkeys. For us, turkeys have basically been a “learn as you go” experience. What I have learned is the following(this applies to heritage breeds which is what I have experience with):
1. Turkeys are not instinctual. They must learn behaviors. This is especially important when hand raising poults because unlike chicks, they do not automatically know what food is. They will eat their bedding, which can be fatal. To avoid this problem we used feed as bedding. Expensive but kept us from losing them. We also put shiny marbles in their water. If you have a hen raising them this isn’t an issue because mom will teach them. If they don’t have a mom they will imprint on whatever living creature is around them the most. For us, this ended up being our dog.
2. They are attracted to the color red so we used a red heat lamp to avoid cannibalism in case of an injury. Ours had a tendency to rip off their claws so this was helpful.
3. The people at the feed store were wrong. Chicken and turkey feed are not interchangeable. Turkeys need high protein feed or they risk get twisted legs. Chick feed is not high enough for the poults and doesn’t have the right nutrients. Use a turkey starter or a gamebird starter. Same goes for adult birds. They need a higher protein feed as well. Because our turkeys and chickens live together we have everyone on turkey and/or gamebird depending on what is available. I also find that the higher protein feed helps keep our chickens from egg eating. I just make sure to supplement with oystershell. If breeding turkeys, I found that chicken feeds cause deficiency-related deformities in the chicks.
4. Most say not to house chickens and turkeys together because chickens can carry a disease called blackhead that doesn’t affect them but is fatal to turkeys. There is some literature out there that says the benefit of keeping turkeys and chickens together is that it helps naturally vaccinate chickens against Marek’s. The Marek’s vaccine is actually Turkey Mareks which causes no symptoms in turkeys. With the two living together they pass it back and forth, thus making the chickens immune to the chicken version. Or at least that’s the story. You have to make the decision on what you want to do.
5. Coop requirements are 6 sf of floor space per bird, perches 18-30″ off the ground with 10-15″ of perch per bird. I find that turkeys prefer open air housing. Ours like to perch in the fenced chicken run rather than in the coop itself. If you plan to breed you’ll need nest boxes – old tires work well for this.
6. I don’t have any hard numbers on pasture size but I would say probably 3x that for the same number of chickens. Turkeys are really good foragers but much less damaging than chickens. Unless you’re talking about onions. Keep them away from garlic, onion and chives or you won’t have any left.
7. Poults and young birds are LOUD. Louder than you ever thought possible. However, I found hen-raised birds to make hardly any noise at all. The adults only make a lot of noise when new people are around. Makes for great watchdogs.
8.Turkeys fly pretty well. If you don’t keep them in a completely enclosed run you must keep their wings clipped. When they are younger this means clipping once a week as their wing feathers grow pretty fast.
8.Turkeys fly pretty well. If you don’t keep them in a completely enclosed run you must keep their wings clipped. When they are younger this means clipping once a week as their wing feathers grow pretty fast.
9. They don’t necessarily like to sleep where they are supposed to. We have to herd them into their coop nearly every night. By the way, herding turkeys is worse than herding cats. You want them to go left, they look like they’re going to comply and then they fake you out and run between your legs.
10. In the spring your hens will start to lay down and kind of spread out their wings a bit. They won’t get up and run away from you either. When I first saw this I had no idea what was going on and I thought they were sick. Nope, not sick. They were just lookin’ for a bit of lovin’.
11. They do not lay eggs for most of the year. Basically they lay in the spring until they have a clutch. If they successfully hatch the clutch they most likely are done laying for the year. Sometimes, they will try for a second clutch if the first doesn’t hatch successfully.
12. The are ridiculously strong. More than once I’ve wondered if my nose was broken after trying to carry one and they got a wing loose. Also beware the loose, just clipped wing. I’ve had more than a few facial cuts from these.
Do you have turkey advice?
 |
Print 
PDF
We actually haven’t had to wing clip our birds. Our Toms have no interest in flying, and the hens seem content to hang with the Toms. That said, we only range half of our flock at a time. One Tom out with a group of hens, while the remainder are in the pen (we do this because our Toms can’t stand the sight of each other). The birds that are ranging don’t seem to want to leave the rest of the flock, and this way the Toms can’t fight, but everyone gets to be out on range for half the day.
For herding, first and foremost, go slow, as turkeys spook easily, even when they know you. For guiding them I find it’s easier if you have a long object in your hand (or one in each hand if need be). Leaf rake, broom handle, whatever. If the Turkey is about to veer right, hold the handle out to your right behind them. If they’re heading left, hold it out to your left. Early American settlers used to ‘herd’ turkeys similarly. You don’t have to touch them with it, they just need to see it in their peripheral vision. It’s almost as good as a steering wheel
Also, I find if I can first steer the Tom where I want him, the hens usually follow…although sometimes one tries to keep me on my toes!
We use the slow stick method too. Maybe it’s because we’re in a more confined area with more obstacles but they can be quite frustrating most of the time.
Good info. I have copied it to put in my homesteading file. We hope to find midget whites in the spring.
I have always thought turkeys were just lovely and how nice it would be to have a few. Well, not any more. I’ll just look at other people’s lovely turkeys.
Awww, don’t let it get you down. Turkeys are so much fun to have around. They sometimes even laugh at you when you do something stupid like spray yourself in the crotch with water on accident (yeah, it happened). Hank, our big tom, is just the sweetest boy and my favorite character here.
Thanks, Rachel, for the LOL. I LOVE your writing!