Chicken loving tortoises

[Art]

Hi all
I have two Sulcata tortoises , Speedy and Goldie they are both almost two years old . I also am a free range chicken farmer. This means chicken poop and feathers pretty much everywhere outdoors . Speedy and Goldie love chicken , not fried but rather there poop and feathers . It's really an endless struggle prying the feathers out of there mouth . They even turn up there beaks at real food for a chicken feather . The poop I am not overly worried about , it's digestible but the feathers I worry about . I try to clear an area before I take them out , but they always manage to find a feather somewhere . Anyone know what is going on with them ? A vitamin deficiency ?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, Art, and Welcome to the Forum!

It's great that you have such a nice big area for the tortoises to roam, however, as you've found out, it's not so great that they share the space with chickens. Besides what you're experiencing with the feathers, browsing on plants covered in chicken feces isn't healthful for the tortoises. Besides parasites, there's all kinds of other germs and microorganisms they are being bombarded with. I strongly suggest you partition off a section of the yard where the chickens can't get in and let the tortoises have their own space.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Me too, what Yvonne G said. Chicken poop may be digestible, but it has parasites and weird organisms that they can pass on to the tortoises. They are only 2 yrs so that means they are small...and eating poop potentially can cause serious problems...it wouldn't be hard to make the torts a different enclosure...
to answer your question...not a vitamin deficiency...just sulcateficiency...Sulcata will eat most anything that they can get in their mouths (beaks)...do you see feathers in their poop? And welcome...you in Texass?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Just a heads up...
There are documented cases of Sulcata hunting and eating birds.
So, there are a few more issues to consider.

 

[dd33]

We have free range chickens, guineas and peacocks and have struggled to keep them away from our tortoises since they don't obey fences of any reasonable height. Disease transmission from the poop was a concern but long term I think that pecking will be far more dangerous. Chickens can be vicious creatures especially once they create an open wound. Tortoises are pretty well protected but they have the same weak spots that chickens go after in a weak bird, eyes and cloaca.

 

[Tom]

Hi all
I have two Sulcata tortoises , Speedy and Goldie they are both almost two years old . I also am a free range chicken farmer. This means chicken poop and feathers pretty much everywhere outdoors . Speedy and Goldie love chicken , not fried but rather there poop and feathers . It's really an endless struggle prying the feathers out of there mouth . They even turn up there beaks at real food for a chicken feather . The poop I am not overly worried about , it's digestible but the feathers I worry about . I try to clear an area before I take them out , but they always manage to find a feather somewhere . Anyone know what is going on with them ? A vitamin deficiency ?

Tortoises should never be kept in pairs. Groups of juveniles can sometimes work, but not pairs.

I agree with the other posters. Your tortoises need their own area away from the chicken area. I have free range chickens too. Their "range" is not in my tortoise pens.