how soon can I put turkey poults out with full size turkeys?

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I have 9 3 week old turkey poults, Can I put them in the same pen with 2 hens and a Tom? They are unrelated. Thanks guys.

-- tracy (murf@alltel.net), May 09, 2001

Answers

Three weeks is a little young. I would wait until they are at least six weeks old and can fend pretty much for themselves and are pretty much feathered out. If they will follow you, you can try putting them with the larger birds and if they begin to get harrassed, you can put them by themselves again. I have found that large turkeys are usually gentle with poults; it's as if they realize that they are babies. I had some poults that lost their mother and a wonderful Tom I had literally put them under his wing and took care of them. I love turkeys. Good luck with yours.

-- Mary in East TN (barnwood@preferred.com), May 09, 2001.

I raise about 9 different breeds and when raising the poults, I seperate by age not breed. The adult toms will kill a young girl in a instant just trying to breed her. (bben there~learned hard way) I wait till they are full size (as big as the mother hen) before I let them in with the adult toms. Maybe I wait too long, but I would rather err on the safe side!

-- Susan K. Lyons (slyons@pbtcomm.net), October 21, 2001.

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