Does anyone know about Polands? Turkeys? I've got a poultry conundrum.

[SundaeGirl]

I was sold a box of chicks at 'about 2-3 weeks' on Tuesday - 7 in all, including a turkey (I know, I know) and now I'm paying the price of my impulse buy with sleepless nights on how to do right by them all. Obviously, I'm going to have to assume they are all cockerels.

What I know:
There are three Appenzellers - biggish white one, medium dark one, teeny gold one. There is a very friendly big-for-3-weeks Lohmann Brown (cross?) type. There is a small white pompom headed - heart meltingly sweet - Poland. There is a bronze turkey chick.

What I don't know:
The breed of of the seventh chick - greyish brownish, feathered legs. How old they all really are.

They were sold to me as a 'flock' by a local petting farm place and when I bought them the aviary they were in did have them all snuggled together and looking happy together, I watched them on and off for about three hours. Now I've got them home, I'm less sure and the research seems to suggest I need to get the Poland out of my aviary because it might be pecked to death. Certainly, I've seen the turkey peck it hard several times today and am feeling very uneasy.

In defence of the guy who sold them to me, he does put all his many turkeys/hen breeds/guinea fowl together in coops and lets them free-range about the paddock seemingly without problems. In my defence, I can house them all, I'm just going to need some advice on how best to sort it out.

What to do? I have a spare small coop I have just bought, but who would I put in with the Poland? It surely can't be on it's own? Same for the turkey, I have a shed but can't put a 2-3 week old chick on its own. The aviary they are all in at mo has a divide down the middle and this evening I went to shut the turkey in one side tonight and leave the other chicks together for warmth but DH thought the turkey sounded too distressed to be without its friends and made me put it back in.

How can I protect my Poland? He is my favourite Do I need to ring around for more inevitably male 3 week old Poland chicks? Can I bring him into the kitchen/new coop with the feathered leg one or the 3 appenzellers? Could I put the big Lohman in with the turkey and keep the rest together until 6/7 weeks when I can see what sex they are and maybe get another Poland then?

oh dear.

If the chicks are different sizes then the little ones run the risk of getting crushed/stampeded/pecked by the bigger ones, so I would separate them.
There's a big difference between a Poland and a turkey

They do prefer company but will do OK on their own so don't worry about that. But presumably s/he is only just off heat so will need to be kept warmish and if there are no other chicks to huddle together then will need to be inside. I take my chicks off heat at 2/3 weeksand put them with a hen at this time of year because they do still need a bit of warmth.

Once they're a bit bigger and you can see whether you have males/females you can decide what you going to do on a more permanent basis. I wouldn't get any more chicks atm as you will end up with some more cockerals.

Thanks for the reply. I'm really quite stressed about this!

DH has fallen for the turkey, I have fallen for the Poland and my fab laid back neighbour rolled her eyes about the cockerels...

Oh, Sundae - don't get stressed, tis only chickens . Get through the next few days and it will be easier.

tis only chicken

Oh, but they are lovely...

You could get another turkey?

I have a Poland hen in my run of mixed layers. She is fab, and lays the best eggs! But she is at the very bottom of the pecking order, and her hairdo is often pulled out by her friends. (Her run companions include Marans, Legbars, Sussex and Sabelpoots, and occasionally some Pekins. Even the poots and pekins pick on her!)

Turkeys grow flipping massive - have you actually thought out how you are going to keep them all together? I would reckon a 7 week old turkey would be about the same size as an adult Poland. Personally, I would get another and keep them separately if you want to keep them as pets. Or eat it for Christmas - which is what I do with my turkeys! Yum.

Another turkey does make sense. I've got to work out what sex the one I've got is - if it's a girl she can stay til Christmas. Is it mean to house her on her own (with pigs?) if she's going to free range with the others during the day? I don't want her in with the Poland who I've seen her battering but she could go in with the layer flock of older birds as there's plenty of room in the hen coop.

My little chick flock are growing up fast and I'm still not sure what the dark mottled feathered leg one is - looks like more feathering than a langshan but less than Cochin or brahma. It's very big and chunky breasted and I'm pretty sure is some sort of fighting breed as he's so strong. He gave me a wriggle/kick yesterday as I was putting him back in the run and his leg was very powerful given how young he is. And I'm pretty certain he's a he as he's got quite a red comb at only 4 weeks. Not completely sure I know what to do about him but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for another couple of weeks. He's very wonderful so I'd like to make an attempt to rehome him if I can't keep him, but I'm nervous about advertising a fighting-type cock.

The Poland is doing well. I'm quite excited as it does seem to be a hen - she's got a full on pompom not the feathery wisps of the cockerel. However, I think I probably will keep her in with the Appenzellers rather than the layers as

A) they are smallish so should all fit in the one 3-hen coop
B) I want to keep the Appenzellers together in case I want to breed them or sell the eggs
C) the smaller run means I could roof the whole run and on rainy days keep the Poland in as I've read Polands can't take the rain
(Is that true about the rain btw?!)

This could all go awry if the three Appenzellers turn out to be three boys, of course. I was planning to keep one Appenzellers boy and a hen or all if it turns out to be two girls and a boy.

The Lohmann cross has a very red comb and is pretty aggressive. Tbh, he's got the air of lunch about him. He's currently being saved from the gallows by the turkey who he's sharing a separate run with.