Let’s talk turkey! Did you know that this regal commercial grade Tom turkey shown here is unable to breed naturally with a hen due to the size of his breasts? All commercial grade turkey must be artificially inseminated. They are also prone to illness which is why antibiotics are used as a preventative in the confinement houses.
One year I raised 108 broad breasted bronze and white commercial grade turkeys on pasture. Yes, I lost several to accidents but when given the right conditions, they are easy to raise and a great help in the garden.
You can’t herd turkeys but you can teach them to follow you. Wait to feed them their gamebird crumbles until after they have been out in the pasture and its time to get back into the pen. I always felt like the Piped Piper when I called them. I shook the bucket with Buchheit crumbles and they came running.
The song “the Turkey Trot” has it right as they really do trot and sway as they run especially when they put on the pounds!
With their excellent eyesight, turkeys are great to put on bug patrol in the garden. They love to pick Japanese beetles and squash bugs. They will knock over a plant or two on their way to the tomatoes, but they are on the hunt for the tomato caterpillars so it all equals out.
All turkeys are fragile when they are poults (chicks). Some farmers brood some chicks in with the poults to help them learn to drink and figure things out. I find that they do well on their own as long as they don’t get chilled and don’t run out of water. If they would run out of water, you’ll need to watch them close because they don’t know when to stop when they get really thirsty. They can develop a condition known as “water belly”.
Can you raise turkeys mixed in with your chickens? All the experts recommend that you don’t have both chickens and turkeys on the same property due to Blackhead or histomoniasas which is caused by the protozoan parasite Histomonas meleagridis. It lives in a roundworm common to both chickens and turkeys. Chickens can transmit it to turkeys but are unaffected by the organism. While many experts suggest that you do not have them in the same area, many homesteaders do raise both turkeys and chickens on their farms. It is once again a question of your comfort level.
Keeping birds stress free and clean will help to prevent many outbreaks of a host of diseases that can plague your birds. I do house them separately to prevent injury to the chickens once the turkeys mature. Now is a great time to think about adding some turkeys to your menagerie! Talk to you soon!
