Keeping Turkeys in Australia: The Complete Guide

Are turkeys right for you?

Turkeys suit people with space who want a home-raised bird for the table, especially at Christmas. They are often docile, grow large (Bronze toms around 13 kg and hens around 8 kg, according to a Burke’s Backyard fact sheet), and breeding stock can live seven to nine years. Toms gobble loudly and are too noisy for most suburban yards. Commercial birds are killed at about 10 weeks for hens and 18 weeks for toms, but those fast-growing broad-breasted birds are not generally sold to home keepers, and heritage breeds mature more slowly.

Check the rules first: noise, councils and states

Councils increasingly regulate tom turkeys. Armidale Council (NSW) exhibited a proposal in 2023 to treat tom turkeys like roosters, which are banned in residential zones, with a maximum of 20 hens (we could not confirm the outcome). Kempsey Shire classes turkeys and quail as “other poultry” with a 30 m setback from dwellings, compared with 4.5 m for fowl. In WA, the common turkey is on the exempt bird list, so no permit is needed if turkeys are the only species you keep. Find your council with My Council in One Place.

Checked 7 October 2026 from state department pages. Poultry registration rules cover turkeys. See our state-by-state livestock rules. NSW Food Authority licensing covers poultry including turkeys: farms over 100 birds need a licence, and smaller ones notify.

Bird flu. H5N1 reached wild birds on the mainland in June 2026. Turkeys on open runs are exposed to wild-bird droppings: use a roofed, fine-mesh run, cover feed and water, and report sick or dead birds on 1800 675 888. See our bird flu article.

Blackhead: the disease to understand first

Blackhead (Histomonas meleagridis) is the main killer of young turkeys. It spreads through the eggs of caecal worms in soil, chickens can carry and transmit it without being ill, and earthworms can carry it too. There is no effective treatment. Turkey losses are highest between about 3 and 18 weeks. Symptoms include a blackened comb and face, yellow droppings and a stiff gait. Prevention is hygiene: keep turkeys separate from chickens, on well-drained, sunny ground that you rest or move, with feeders moved regularly and hard floors where you can, and use medicated feed for young birds. See Biosecurity Queensland’s blackhead page below. Blackhead is reported to be more common in summer in Queensland.

Space, fencing and predators

Plan for far more space than chickens. NSW Education’s turkey guidelines suggest about 15 m² of pasture per bird, a 2 m fence with an enclosed roof and mesh dug about 20 cm into the ground. Our Turkey Housing Planner uses about 0.5 m² of shelter and 2 m² of run per bird as a working minimum, and our turkey guide suggests 0.3–0.5 m² of shelter and a large run, so treat those as the least you can use and give them more. Foxes are the main loss, especially at night, so shut birds in every dusk. Young turkeys fly well, so clip the flight feathers on one wing. Birds are comfortable at about 20–28°C and stressed below 10°C and above 32°C. Signs of heat stress are panting, drooping and a dark head.

Feed and water

Turkeys need much more protein than chickens when young. NSW Education suggests about 28% protein for weeks one to four, 24% for weeks five to eight and 20% after eight weeks, with water troughs allowing about 15 cm per bird and shallow water for poults. A medicated turkey starter in one Queensland store cost about $1.90/kg in 2026, higher than the $1.45/kg our cost calculator assumes, so adjust the price. Poults need a brooder: start at about 38°C and reduce by 1–2°C every three days to about 21°C at four to six weeks, with about 900 cm² per poult under the brooder (see brooder).

Breeds, breeding and the Christmas bird

Heritage breeds include Bronze, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Slate and Royal Palm. The Rare Breeds Trust of Australia lists ten colour varieties, with Bourbon Red and Bronze on its watch list. Hens lay a clutch of 12 to 18 eggs and incubate for 28 days; the breeding season is roughly September to December, with about one tom to two hens, according to one breeder. Use the Incubation Day-by-Day Planner for the schedule.

For Christmas, count back: commercial hybrids reach 5–11 kg in 10–18 weeks, but heritage birds take 24 weeks or more, so hatch heritage poults by about June or July in warm areas. Our guide says 16–24 weeks and 5–10 kg dressed, which suits heritage birds at the slow end. For processing, see processing a chicken and home slaughter rules, and check your state rules before selling meat.

What it costs

Poults cost about $25–$50 each in one fact sheet, and feed is the biggest ongoing cost. Our calculator assumes 80–120 eggs a season for turkeys, which we could not source: a breeder describes clutches of 12 to 18 eggs, so adjust that in the Backyard Turkey Cost & Payback Calculator.

How turkeys change with your climate zone

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Watch and learn

Every guide, tool and rule page for turkeys

Everything on this site that applies to turkeys, in one place.

Animal guides

• Turkey: animal guide
• Keeping Turkey: deep dive
• All poultry guides

How-to guides

• Processing a Chicken
• Home Slaughter: Process & Regulations
• Fencing Basics

Rules and costs

• Backyard livestock rules by state
• Best states for backyard livestock
• Council permits and livestock fees
• Queensland council livestock rules
• NSW council livestock rules
• Victoria council livestock rules
• South Australia council livestock rules
• Western Australia council livestock rules
• Tasmania council livestock rules
• NT council livestock rules

Related reading

• Bird flu and backyard poultry
• Keeping chickens: the complete guide
• How much land do you need?

Words worth knowing

• Biosecurity
• PIC
• Predator-proofing
• Incubation
• Candling
• Brooder
• Broody
• Deep litter
• Culling
• Moult