Vermont

[CombNWattles]

Smoke going up from the tractor pull at Addison County Fair and Field Days.

 

[CastielH]

Glad to see more Vermonters being active on here! I recently cut my flock down and only have 9 birds going into the winter, a lot more manageable then 15! Is anybody planning to go to congress in January?

 

[Chive]

Well, wish me luck!
I am going to process turkeys today! There are 15 total, and I’m hoping I can get to all of them but we will have to see .

 

[StinkyAcres]

Well, wish me luck!
I am going to process turkeys today! There are 15 total, and I’m hoping I can get to all of them but we will have to see .

Nice! Do you sell them?

 

[Chive]

Nice! Do you sell them?

We sell them to friends and some neighbors. This was the first year I have raised turkeys though.
Almost all of them are already spoken for!
I absolutely loved raising them! They are just hilarious. They are much more affectionate than most birds, and are VERY curious as well.

 

[StinkyAcres]

We sell them to friends and some neighbors. This was the first year I have raised turkeys though.
Almost all of them are already spoken for!
I absolutely loved raising them! They are just hilarious. They are much more affectionate than most birds, and are VERY curious as well.

Awesome! Do you keep them separate from the chickens? I want turkeys but I decided not to get them after I read about blackhead disease.

 

[CombNWattles]

I would love a couple pet turkeys someday. Not sure how the logistics would work out though.

 

[Chive]

Awesome! Do you keep them separate from the chickens? I want turkeys but I decided not to get them after I read about blackhead disease.

I have read about that too and at first I was really worried because I have chickens and I would be walking back and forth between the 2 different birds and that it might possibly cause the disease.
I did have them separate from the chickens, but there was still a possibility them getting it (such as me walking in the chicken pen, picking up chicken manure on my boots, then walking in the turkey pen). Thankfully that didn’t happen!
It seems that they are just really susceptible to the disease when they are younger, but once they reach a certain age they should be fine with chickens. I have two 6 year old pet turkeys in with my flock of chickens right now, and the one is basically queen of the roost! They actually do a lot better than I thought they would do with the chickens. But you should probably not raise them along with chickens for the first few months of their life.
I just still am not sure how terrible it is. They make it sound really bad, and it makes me really nervous. I know people who have raised all of their turkeys with chicks, and some even say that you should raise them with chicks because the turkeys just won’t be able to figure out how to eat and drink without them (which wasn’t the case with mine). I noticed that TSC also mixes their turkey poults in with their chicks when they are in the brooders.
If you have room and you are willing to take care of them, then you should go for it!
Just a warning: they will eat a lot of food.

 

[CombNWattles]

I’ve heard that it’s important for turkeys to NOT imprint on either humans or chickens, because if they do they will treat humans/chickens like turkeys and be aggressive. What say you??

*Edit*
How can you raise turkeys to be friendly but not imprinted?