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Farming or raising turkey as a pet might require ingenuity and hard work but it’s worth experiencing. It does require a good amount of space, hard work, and ingenuity yet raising turkeys is much easier than chickens.
Since turkeys are docile, intelligent, and capable of forming tight family bonds, you should consider raising turkeys as a pet as well. No, it’s not as expensive to raise and keep as it sounds.
So, How Much Does a Turkey Cost?
To be able to enjoy all the perks of being a pet turkey parent, you first have to bring the right turkey breed home. There are several turkey breeds available throughout the work. Only a few can be raised in a domestic environment.
Heritage Turkeys-Standard Bronze, White Holland, Narragansett, and Royal Palm, etc are the best breeds to raise as pets.
The best pet turkey breeds can cost you around $20 to $80. However, the poults are a bit economical. They can be bought somewhere around $8 to $20.
The strong begins from the day you bring the pet turkey home, now you have to save and spend a few dollars every day, week, month, and year. It is for the one-time and upkeep cost.
Housing Cost for Turkeys
Besides the cost you have to pay to bring a turkey home, there would be some costs that you have to incur once. It involves costs incurred on housing, fencing, feeder, waterer, and nesting box, etc.
Housing
Fortunately, turkeys do not require an equipped luxurious shelter to survive. The turkey’s shelter looks a lot similar to the chicken coop, however, it usually has more room.
Since it’s hard to find a turkey coop, a roomy luxurious chicken coop can easily be altered to perfection.
If you choose to buy and alter a chicken coop, housing might cost you around $40.
However, if you hire a professional to get a specific shelter built. It will cost you somewhere between $30 to $50.
Fencing
Like chickens and ducks, turkeys need a good outdoor time to live a balanced life. They need more space than chickens and ducks to roam around.
Fencing would keep them confined to a secure place. It’s hard to determine how much fencing would cost. However, for a high-quality barbed fence, you might have to pay $1 to $3 per foot.
Feeder
Feeder and waterer are categorized as necessities. They are needed for uninterrupted feed and water supply.
It’s important to mention here that you might need a coop and an outside feeder. Both coop and outside feeders can cost you up to $150.
Waterer
Waterer is the same case as feeder, for uninterrupted water supply two waterers are required.
One for the coop and the other one to be kept outside. A high-quality waterer can make you pay somewhere between $30 to $50 each.
Nesting box
A nesting box is also a necessity but it can be delayed up to the breeding season. In the breeding season, the turkeys lay eggs in the nesting boxes. The nesting box can cost up to $80.Learn can turkeys fly and more.
How Much does it Cost to Raise Turkeys?
Note; upkeep cost involves all the costs you have to incur to keep something in a good condition.
Turkeys need plenty of space, a good nutritionally rich feed, fresh water, bedding, and a routine checkup to stay healthy.
Feed
Turkeys need a variety of foods to live a healthy balanced life. To be more specific, the said large domestic birds need grains, seeds, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and insects. Learn can turkeys bread.
A nutritionally balanced carefully crafted diet plan would require you to set aside $60 every month.
Water
Even though water is available everywhere, yet you are paying for it unknowingly. Since it adds up a few dollars to the budget, it must not go unmentioned.
On average, for continuous water access, you might have to pay $5 to $8 each month.
Bedding
Turkey’s bedding is usually made of straws. You can consider wheat, rye, oat, or barley straw to make comfortable cozy bedding for your pet turkey.
Straw is not that expensive, you might only need to set aside $10 to $20 for this purpose.
Vet bills
Turkeys are a bit harder to raise, they require special care and a regular checkup to stay healthy. So, the vet bill would also be adding a lot to the total monthly or annual upkeep cost.
If the turkey is already in a healthier state, the monthly vet bill might be as low as $20. If for any reason the turkey gets sick, the vet bills can add $50 to $80 to the monthly upkeep cost.
However, the vet bills can be significantly reduced by giving continuous access to fresh pasture, freshwater, and other typical turkey foods. Cleaning the turkey pen regularly will also not only prevent diseases and but reduce the vet bills as well.
Protein supplement
Turkeys and birds like turkeys need more protein than chickens and ducks. So, either the feed has to contain a good amount of protein or the protein supplements are required to be added. The protein supplement would cost up to $30.
Diapers
Ducks, chickens, and turkeys can be kept as a pet but they can not be potty trained at all. If you are planning to keep turkey outdoors, you would not spend even a single dollar on diapers.
However, if the plan is to raise indoors, you have to get diapers. Diapers can add $10 to $30 to the monthly cost.
Conclusion
The first month would go heavy on your budget as you have to build a pen, buy a pair, feeder, waterer.
Moreover, you have to spend on food, water protein supplements, diapers, bedding, etc as well. For the first month, you need to have $800 to $900 in your pocket. Whereas, the upkeep cost for the rest of the month would surely not go above $400.
Lastly, I would likely mention here that this article is entirely based on my experience. If need a better more accurate idea, I suggest you contact a turkey parent in your neighborhood.
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