Chicken bald back

[Jules.]

Hubby is hankering after a pet turkey, to be got springtime next year.

He wants a blue slate one, & we'll fatten it up & then eat it for next Christmas

 

Really, really daft question- does anyone think that is is possible to keep this turkey with my girls in both the run & the cube? My run is 6x9 feet, & my girls free range for some part of everyday.

[Egluntyne]

Have a look **here**

[tom123]

Well apparently chickens carry 'blackhead' disease which they are immune to but turkeys can catch it. But I have read somewhere that you just need to put some apple cider vinegar in their water and spray them and the enclosure with a parasite spray for birds???

 

Hope it helps...

 

P.S love the pic egluntine!

 

 

Tom

[Jules.]

Thanks for the link Egluntine

I had already read that thread, which was what gave us the idea of getting a turkey to live in the cube.

[SAB]

Hi - lovely to hear that you have been inspired to have a turkey after reading about my wayward turkey hen! Here is what I have learned from keeping turkeys so far:

 

Turkeys need a bit more space than chickens, both to wander around and to spread their wings - a cube with a few extensions would be fine with respect to the run, but the house would not be any good as turkeys grow soooo fast and quickly would not fit in house due to long legs and tails (mine has always stopped short of trying to get into house). They also like to perch up high to sleep and their feet need bigger bar to perch on than chickens. I would also worry that, due to size, they could squash chickens even if did get into cube!

 

As my turkeys are pets only they have not been fattened for Christmas - despite this they are pretty big (the one that breaks into the chicken run is the smallest by far) and they are only about 5 months old, so one fattened up for Christmas would be even bigger. I will warn you that they are such interactive birds that many who get them "for Christmas" never manage to do the deed and keep them on as pets!!!!

 

I was paranoid about blackhead before getting my turkeys as the chickens do get out to play in the meshed off area of the garden where the turkeys live. I found that it was advised to use Flubenvet every 6 weeks to break the lifecycle of the worm which causes blackhead (having to work out different dose for the chickens from the turkeys) and we have had no trouble. They are no more difficult to look after than chickens I think.

[Jules.]

Thanks- that's lots of food for thought

 

What do you keep your turkeys in at night? Could a small shed be converted?

[SAB]

Hi - at the moment they have an old wendy house as a shelter, but only tend to go in if particularly rainy as they prefer to perch on back of old garden bench in their run or on top of the Cube - as we have weldmesh over the top of the run they are safe enough from predators so we have given up trying to put them inside shelter at night (though this is more important when they are small, but I found them more likely to shelter then). We had intended upgrading to larger shed as they grow, but will wait and see - no point on expense if they are not going to use it! I have read that when female turkeys start to lay or become broody, they like to be able to nest somewhere.

 

I suspect you will end up getting a turkey - you are asking all the sort of questions I did when I was "not seriously thinking about it, just interested"!!!!

[Jules.]