Turkey and guinea fowl plan, step by step
Interactive lesson: before the first bird — what you want, a hybrid or a heritage turkey, the nature of guinea fowl, how many birds, why turkeys don't go with chickens and what must be ready.
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The whole lesson as text
1. What you want from the birds
First decide what the birds are for, and only then buy.
- Meat or yard — Turkeys are kept mainly for meat, guinea fowl mainly for the yard. With both, eggs are a bonus, not the main reason.
- A turkey for the holidays — Buy poults in April–May and grow them on until autumn or winter. You need housing only for the season.
- A closed loop — A heritage breed, a stag and 3–6 hens: the hen sits well and rears the poults. You need space all year.
- Guinea fowl against ticks — A flock of 6–15 guinea fowl eats ticks, grasshoppers and slugs. Expect noise: they fly and roost in trees.
Why: Turkeys and guinea fowl need a different plan from hens. Turkeys are vulnerable to a disease that chickens carry without any signs, and guinea fowl hate being shut in and wake the neighbours at dawn.
- First time? Start with 4–6 poults grown on from spring to autumn. Add breeding birds in the second year.
- Guinea fowl can also be grown on for gamey meat, 12–16 weeks, but the carcass is small (about 1 kg).
2. Hybrid or heritage turkey
You will find commercial hybrids from hatcheries and heritage breeds from smallholders and breed clubs.
- Commercial hybrid — The broad-breasted white turkey. Hens reach 8–10 kg live weight in 14–16 weeks, stags 15–20 kg in 18–20 weeks.
- A hybrid is not for breeding — The breast is too big for it to mate naturally. On a smallholding it makes sense only for one growing season.
- Heritage breed — It grows more slowly and is killed at 24–28 weeks. It mates naturally, and the hen sits and rears the poults.
- Heritage varieties — The Norfolk Black is one of the oldest British breeds: hen 5–6 kg, stag 8–10 kg. The Bronze is larger, stag 10–13 kg; there are also the Slate (Blue), the Bourbon Red and the Narragansett.
Why: A hybrid gives a lot of white meat in a short time, but needs a full bought ration, and heavy stags later struggle to walk. Heritage breeds grow more slowly, but forage very well, and the meat is darker and tastier.
- A 15 kg (33 lb) carcass won't fit in a home oven: for a season of growing on hybrids, hens are better than stags.
- For pure lines ask the breed clubs: Turkey Club UK and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, in North America The Livestock Conservancy and the American Poultry Association.
3. Guinea fowl and the neighbours · Locked
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4. How many birds · Locked
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5. Turkeys apart from chickens · Locked
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6. Buying and getting ready · Locked
Buy the Turkeys and guinea fowl: breeds and planning module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 24 steps.