turkeys and chickens

[BirchHatchery]

i have had tyrkeys and chickens in the past raised together before i new the deieses they can give echother but my question is if i get turkeys and chicks and ducks? from the same hatchery and dont let either of them come in contact with other poultry can they spread deises to one another seeing as they came from clean flocks right from the start?

 

[BarredBuff]

I would raise my poults and chicks together. Some say the chicks teach the poults. But the ducklings raised separate because of mess and such.

 

[freemotion]

Did some research on this and Steve from Sands Poultry told me to check with my local ag school or extension service to find out if blackhead disease was an issue in my area. If it is, you need to keep young turkeys off the ground, where transmission of the disease takes place (through chickens and earthworms, if I remember?) But if not, you can keep them together with no problems.

 

[Denim Deb]

Every time I hear about blackhead disease, I keep thinking the turks have a bad case of acne.

 

[freemotion]

Me, too! Silly teens!

 

[BirchHatchery]

sounds good im thinkin of ordering 10 roosters 5 turkeys or more and 5 ducks for meat how many months are regualr heritage bred turkeys ready to butcher and how long for mallard ducks ready to butcher i no that my regular rock roosters i butcher in 4 months but what about the rest?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I've had bad results in the past, so now I try to keep them separate at least until they're old enough to all free range together outside. I don't usually have a problem with my poults learning how to drink and eat. I just dip their beaks just like I do with chicks.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

another reason why NOT to raise turks with ducks is because of cocci - we have a terrible problem with this in our soil. the ducks are so wet they cause the cocci to bloom..and then the poults start dropping like flies.

we keep our main turk herd separate.. but Turkey Bob (a young jake who got pummeled by our toms) and Runner (one of our BR hens) lived with our hens for most of the winter and spring. in fact Runner hatched a clutch of chickens for us - she's a great setter.

as far as when to butcher - Turkey Steve (sandspoultry) knows the most about this. we butcher our jakes when they mature. in fact i think they get better if you wait a while (like a year?). the heritage ones grow out slower but they free range and ours prefer to be out looking for their own food than bagged food. the one thing to watch for.. we had three enormous toms that we dressed. they were almost too big to handle and each dressed to over 20 pounds. (they were the ones that beat up Turkey Bob and sealed their fate)

i have it in my head that ducks should be butchered at 4 months...

you might want to consider ordering some of the BBW's in addition. this way you could have turkey available this year and let the heritage birds go on about their business and raise up "free" turkeys next year.

good luck! (and good planning!)

 

[BarredBuff]

ofg, on the coccidia if I have adults chickens and ducks together in the same house are the chooks susceptible to cocci?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

nope - not as much. we've really never had a problem with cocci and the chickens. we treated once for it this whole time and we probably didnt need to.

and i dont think ducks get it at all (WZilla will know better than me).

remember there are different cocci that are specific to different species.. our turks got the short straw around here. its in your soil and there really isnt anything you can do about it. extreme hot and extreme dry kill it -- but when its hot and wet it comes back. its achingly frustrating.

and poults are more tender than chicks or ducklings so you really want to make sure they get extra care. we just lost our 3 - we think the stress from the cold just got to them.
:-(

but once they are past the 4 month "danger zone" they are pretty bombproof - the BR's are incredible cold hardy.

we love our turks!