turkey question

[Gamebirdman]

I thought about getting a couple merriam turkey to raise just for eating purposes.  Is it a bad idea to raise turkey around quail?  I was told that it wasn't a good idea.  Anyone heard of this?

Bria

[Country Quail Boy FL]

If you were wanting turkeys for eating purposes then i would just get the White turkeys...i forget the actual name. But they are much larger and they are suppose to have better meat. And they are going to be much cheaper than Merriams turkey or any other wild turkey breed.
And they are also somewhat easy to domesticate. But i wouldn't keep the turkeys in the pen with the quail, because they have been known to be mean towards other birds. When they get big enough you can just let them roam around the yard. They wont leave.

[Scorpion]

Not trying to discourage you raising turkeys, but you would save a whole lot of money buying one in a store, or even 20 considdereing the costs involved. First off turkey have a high mortality rate when young a dozen would be about right to ensure you get 2 hopefully. They catch diseases easily, which is why most turkey feed is medicated. They eat a heck of a lot of feed. I would say $50 a piece to maturity being conservative. I wouldn't recommend raising them in the same pen or yard with anything else due to them easily catching diseases, They also try to mate with chickens which results to several dead hens due to suffocation. And lastly the taste isn't that much different(eastern not marriam). I have shot several easterns, my mother absolutly loves them over store bought, but to be honest I couldn't tell the difference. If you do want to get into them I would suggest the domestic strains of the broad breasted first then once you get experienced go to the wild ones. I raise royal palms and it is quite a headache compared to other poultry.
 Good luck