Read on to learn all about raising turkeys in the brooder stage until they are ready for free ranging in a pasture.
Why We Love Raising Turkeys
We raise a lot of poultry on our farm, including chickens, ducks, geese, quail, emu, and turkeys. Each type of bird provides opportunities for us to learn about becoming more self-sustainable.
Building a DIY quail feeder helped cut down on food waste, and we did our research to find the best chicken tractor for free ranging our chickens. Our goal is to be involved in every aspect, from hatching an egg in an incubator to filling our freezer with harvested meat.
Turkeys bring many benefits to our farm. The purebred black Spanish turkey is a beautiful bird and is known for its dark iridescent feathers. They are relatively large birds providing a lot of meat that’s flavorful and juicy.
Turkeys are great foragers, which means they can help keep pests under control and reduce the amount of feed we use.
We turn our turkey flock out to pasture, but we keep our adult turkeys in an enclosure during hunting season to keep an eye on them and to collect the eggs they lay for the incubator. Once we collect the eggs we want, we clip the turkeys’ wings and turn them out to free-range.
Pros and Cons of Raising Turkeys
Before you decide to raise turkeys, you’ll want to weigh the pros and cons. Turkeys are excellent foragers, have quirky personalities, and look good strutting around the farm.
One of the biggest advantages of raising turkeys is the amount of meat they provide. Turkeys grow to weigh 40 pounds, so you’ll have plenty of meat to feed your family and friends.
Black Spanish turkeys are dual-purpose. They begin laying eggs around nine months of age. You can collect their eggs and hatch them in an incubator for another round of turkey poults. This creates a sustainable source of meat and eggs.
Additionally, free-range turkeys are a great source of fertilizer for your garden. You can add turkey droppings to your compost system. It acts as a good source of nitrogen in the soil.
Raising turkeys offers many benefits to the farm, but there are also some challenges to consider. Turkeys require more space than chickens and can be more susceptible to disease.
One of the main challenges is the amount of space they require. Turkeys need room to move around and thrive, with a recommended minimum of 3-4 square feet per bird. They also need fresh air, sunlight, and a clean environment.
Another challenge is the amount of feed they require. Turkeys need feed high in protein, so they need a specialized diet. This can be more expensive than feeding chickens or other poultry. However, you can lower this cost by allowing them to free-range.
Hatching vs. Ordering Turkeys
Once you decide to raise turkeys, you have two options: hatching your own eggs or ordering poults from a hatchery.
Hatching your own eggs can be a rewarding experience, especially for kids, but it requires specialized equipment like an incubator and a brooder box.
We typically use a galvanized stock tank as a brooder box. It works nicely. You can line the tank with pine shavings and attach a heat lamp to the top edge.
Remember to keep all equipment clean. If you are hatching eggs yourself, it is very important to learn how to clean an incubator.
Ordering poults from a hatchery is a more convenient option, but it can be expensive and stressful for the birds during shipping. We recommend purchasing your poults from a reputable farm.
Pro-Tip: Always order one or two more birds than you think you want. Turkey poults are fragile; losing one or two in the first few days is expected.
Once the turkeys arrive at the post office, the postmaster will call you and inform you that your birds have come. Pick them up as soon you hear from the post office, get them home, and set them up in their brooder box.
Raising Turkeys With Chickens
Whether you should raise turkeys with chickens is a debated topic. The long and short of it is, yes, you can raise turkeys with chickens, but it requires some careful planning.
Turkeys and chickens have different needs regarding space, feed, and water. Provide separate areas for eating and drinking to prevent the turkeys from bullying the chickens. And make sure there is enough space for both species to move around comfortably.
Additionally, there is a risk in housing turkeys and chickens together until the turkeys are at least six weeks of age, as the chickens can carry diseases that are harmful to turkeys.
Blackhead disease is a disease that both turkeys and chickens can carry. Chickens do not typically show symptoms and can recover easily from Blackhead disease. In turkey poults, it is deadly.
The good news is that this disease is regional. Call your local vet to see if blackhead disease is an issue in your area. This disease may not even affect you.
If you order chicks and poults, pay attention to where they came from and research whether blackhead disease is present in the area where the chicks or poults hatched.
On the flip side, chicks tend to learn how to eat and drink faster than poults. Chicks can teach the turkeys how to eat and drink! And a broody chicken is also a good candidate for sitting on a clutch of turkey eggs.
Do your research to help you weigh the pros and cons of raising chickens with turkeys.
Caring for Turkey Poults
Watch your poults carefully during the first few weeks. Check on them daily to catch any early signs of disease, and always keep clean, fresh food and water available. Once the turkeys have feathers, you can transfer them from the brooder box to a larger enclosure.
Brooder Size
We use a galvanized steel stock tank as a brooder box for our turkeys. We put about a dozen turkeys in one large stock tank to ensure the poults have enough brooder space.
Whatever container you use for a brooder box, you want it to have an area where the poults can be under the heat lamp or have the option to get away from it if they become too warm.
Poults need enough space to move around to prevent overcrowding. Some recommend 2 square feet per turkey poult, with a minimum of 1 square foot per bird.
Bedding
Use clean, fresh pine shavings for bedding. We layer at least two inches of pine shaving along the bottom of the brooder box (stock tank). Some brooders have wire or mesh flooring. That works if the outside temperature is warm enough.
Plan to change the bedding out when it starts to smell. Keep your birds in a clean, dry environment for the best results.
Some things are not suitable for bedding, like newspapers, hardwood shavings, sawdust, cedar shavings, or hay. These materials can harm your turkey poults.
Heat
Hang a heat lamp 12-18 inches above the floor level of the brooder. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature.
The temperature should stay around 95°F to 100°F for the first week. After that, decrease the temperature by 5°F each week. You can do this by moving the heat lamp farther and farther from the floor of the brooder box.
Feed and Water
Clean and dry all food and water containers before using them, especially if you are reusing equipment from previous flocks. You can use the same types of waterers and feeders that you would use when raising baby chickens.
Turkey poults require specialized feed high in protein – at least 28% protein. Use a high-quality turkey starter for the first 6 to 8 weeks. You may choose to use a medicated feed. But, if you are trying to raise organic meat, avoid medicated feed.
Turkeys need access to clean, fresh water at all times. When you add turkey poults to your brooder box, dip their beaks in the water to encourage drinking.
Once turkeys reach adulthood, you can free-range them. Free-ranging gives variety to their diet and gives the birds access to small rocks that act as grit to help them break down their food.
You must still provide your turkeys access to turkey or game bird feed, just to make sure they’re getting their needs.
If you liked this information, check out some of our other posts below!
Other Articles You May Enjoy
- Hatching Turkey Eggs in an Incubator
- How to Clean an Incubator
- DIY Quail Feeder
- Chicken Tractor Basics
- Soil Testing with Redmond Soil Kit
- DIY Pig Shelter
- How to Butcher a Pig
- What to Know Before Getting Goats
- Birthing a Goat on the Farm
On The Farm
Mojo and Skeeter just living their best life. Happy to see us today and every day… or maybe they’re just hoping I have some treats hidden in my pocket?
