Winterizing turkey poults?

[kees]

If I can find any eggs and have the luck to hatch them, would I have to keep the poults indoors until the spring? I live in NY.

Suzy

 

[pdpatch]

You have to keep them indoors until they can survive the cold, or winter weather in your area.

Typically poults are indoors until about 9 weeks of age and they have feathers, but young turkeys can't survive harsh winter weather.

Domesticated turkeys can lay eggs in the fall, but Wild Turkeys usually never, If they do non of the poults usually survive.

For the best chance of a turkey surviving a Harsh winter they should be young adults, and they need help with protection from wind chill.

Tom

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Depending on how cold it gets in your area you are looking at keeping them inside for awhile, when we hatch in the early srping here in NC they don't go outside until 4 months+. And then it's to a totaly covered outside pen. A cold, wet poult is a dead poult in pretty short order. So if you got them now you would be looking a mid Dec hatch, so it would be March/April before they could go out, you might be able to put them out sooner but it depends on the weather in your area.

Steve in NC

 

[chickenannie]

I agree withthe above. You'd have to house them indoors in a brooder for most of the winter.
I have some BR poults that were born late (in early August) and they will make it through the winter outside , but I wouldn't have let them stay outdoors any younger. Its down to 35 degrees at night now.

 

[kees]

Thanks to all for answering my question. I'll either have to set up something inside or wait until the springtime.

Suzy

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

If you have a barn or something like that you can raise them in the winter. Once they are fully feathered they can take it. The key thing is keeping them dry at any time of the year.

Steve