An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Raising Backyard Turkeys: Varieties, Feeding, Shelter, Care

by Stacy Benjamin

Overview

This is the essential how-to guide for raising turkeys—whether you're raising one bird or a dozen. 

Written by a backyard homesteader with a small flock of charismatic heritage-breed turkeys, An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Raising Backyard Turkeys is all about raising turkeys on a small scale, with a focus on eggs, meat, and personal enjoyment. Learn how to choose the right breed, raise turkeys from poults (chicks), provide proper nutrition and housing, and decipher turkey behavior and breeding habits. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635867572
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook

About the Author

Stacy Benjamin is a poultry enthusiast, a gardener, a beekeeper, and an environmentalist who raises chickens and heritage-breed turkeys at 5R Farm in St. Helens, Oregon. Benjamin writes about raising poultry for Backyard Poultry and Countryside magazines and shares her popular turkeys on Instagram under the handle @5rfarmoregon.  

Table of Contents

 
Preface
 
Chapter 1: Why Raise Turkeys?
Definition of a heritage turkey; history of heritage breeds and broad-breasted varieties; why should you raise turkeys; picking the right breed to raise (either heritage or broad-breasted).
  
Chapter 2: What to Expect when Keeping Turkeys
How many eggs do turkeys lay; comparison with chicken eggs; recipes for enjoying turkey eggs; time to maturity for harvest; keeping turkeys for fun. How many eggs do turkeys lay; comparison with chicken eggs; recipes for enjoying turkey eggs; time to maturity for harvest; keeping turkeys for fun. 
  
Chapter 3: Turkey Behavior
Turkeys are not just big chickens; wild instincts; vocalizations and noise; flock dynamics; tom to hen ratio; dominance and tom turkeys.  
 
Chapter 4: Shelter and Space Requirements
Can turkeys live with chickens; coop design basics and do turkeys need a coop; outdoor roosts and runs; how much space do turkeys need; free ranging and predators.
 
Chapter 5: Nutrition and Care
Nutritional requirements for adolescents and adults; foraging; treats; seasonal care considerations in summer and winter. 
  
Chapter 6: Raising Poults from Day 1
Where to purchase poults; setting up the brooder; nutrition; important differences for brooding poults compared to chicken chicks; poult behavior; when and how to transition poults outside. 
  
Chapter 7: Natural Brooding and Raising the Next Generation
Courtship behavior; broody hens; nesting locations and requirements; broody hen and poult safety; is interspecies hatching (turkeys hatching chickens or vice versa) a good idea; introducing young poults to the rest of the flock. 
 
Chapter 8: Healthcare
Heritage turkeys are generally very hardy with minimal health issues; respiratory issues; leg and feet issues; parasites; reproductive issues. 
 
Glossary