Help me design my new turkey coop!

Coop number 4.... dedicated to turkeys, assuming the geese will stay in their hut!

So we currently have juvenile blue slate (6 month old, 2 males) and a toddler burbon red (4 month old, which we thought was a female until slight posturing last night... so am unsure) 3 royal palm (6 weeks, 2 female, one male) and 3 eastern wild (6 weeks, 2 male, one female).

My current thought is to get a female blue slate next year and keep a breeding pair of blue slate and perhaps two others... likely the burbon red if I can get a mate and ??

Anyway, this coming weekend is the start of a week long vacation which I will be spending building their coop. It will be 7' square, 6' high in the center sloping down to 5.5' on each side... center pitch with the entry door to the side so there is a fairly high area for roosts. I haven't yet decided how to go about making the breeding pens, I could build seperate one's similar to the one's the breeder used or I could build them inside... removable when brreding is complete. The feeder will be gravity fed, attached to the wall as all the others are which holds a 25 kilo bag of food...

So, if you were starting from scratch what choices would you make?... if you have pictures of the things you like on your turkey coop can you please post a link or picture? I also have several windows and metal roofing... I will make a man door.

It can get pretty cold here (minus 20-30 celcuis on some nights...) should I insulate?

I am open to adjusting the floor dimentions but want to keep the height about as stated... they will be tucked into a small gently wooded alcove next to the goose hut and close to the chicken run/coop which should be in pictures on my profile page. Geese and turkeys roam several fenced pastures and will not have an enclosed run and the 6 weeks old currently in the meaty enclosed run will not be allowed into the turkey hut until they are around 3 months or so... the eastern wilds tend to wander off... they will also have a roost outside their hut which I will train them to so when we get home in the dark in the winter they will be right there to tuck in ... I hope!

So.... thoughts and suggestions?

Thanks

Shelley

Please... help me... need input!

i think,6' is too low, they will sleep on top of the coop, I've put mine up in the coop for a long time, when I build another one it willhave to be higher

How tall do you think? If I am going to breed some they better be comfy and happy... I feel another over the top coop coming on!

The turkeys like to roost high.. I would be more concerned about height than floor space if they free range and stay out of coop most of the day. And they need plenty of tail room! If their tail touches the wall it will break the feathers off and they look shaggy for several months till hey grow out new feathers..
Also they ones that roost outside still need protection from predators.. I do not know what type you have there but here we have all sorts of things that love to eat turkeys! Even a fox can pull them off the roost at night when they are blind and cannot escape. A big ole coon can kill them... The large owls can take down a turkey hen also...
So maybe you need to build up. My barn has rafters and platforms for them to roost on. I placed a plank for them to walk up to them. Toms can get heavy and find it hard to fly straight up.....

we have everything from bear, foxes, coyote.. right on down the food chain!... turkeys will be in a fenced pasture (welded with and barbed... all the electrics are run and I have hard wired the charger to the back of the chicken coop... though Simon hasn't done the final strokes on that... he is the fencer, I am the carpenter) with +1.5 acres to free range... they generally don't go too far but do like to roost on the gate to the driveway thereby wanting an outdoor roost for daytime use, higher than the gate and close to their coop. They will definately be locked up at night... soon it will be getting darker earlier and I am hoping the higher outdoor roost close to home will make it easier for us to tuck them away at night....

Anything else... nests etc.

When I have the final thoughts in place I will update my ideas for final drawing approval! lol

I also live iin the cold!

My turkeys have two homes. In the summer they live outside in a predator-safe range with 6 ft fence, buried predator guard and electric (our biggest problem is bobcats). Out there they have a beautiful set of covered roosts that they ignore and they sleep on the roof of the shelter or on the roof of the feed station.

In winter, the breeders (only 3 or 4) go into a smaller insulated coop with an attached screen porch. The coop is 4X6 and the porch is 4 X 8. Its a little tight and a little low, but its closer to running water which is important since most heaters that we've tried can't keep the water open at -30 (I may try a fiberglass blanket around teh waterer if I can figure out how to keep the birds from pecking it. The best thing about the coop and porch is that there are doors everywhere for cleaning. One 6 ft side of the coop is almost all door, and there are two doors on the 8 foot side of the porch. Very easy access (I added one of the doors after having to climb in the porch for several roost adjustments). I built a feeder into one end of the porch, but water finds it way in, so I don't always use it.

The adults get kicked out in April for any hatchery poults I might be getting. They can raise their own broods back out on the range.

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pictures....?

My turkeys spend lots of time on the roof of the meatie hut watching their antics... the meaties are under fish netting due to raven attacks so the turkeys can't get in there... I think they can hear the eastern wild and royal palm babies that hang out there until they are big enough to be out with the other monsters

So given some of the feedback.... I will change the configuration to 8'x8' with 8' peak to 7' at each side.... I had planned on putting a 2' "deck" on the front because my layers love their deck.. I built a feeder for all my birds which is inside the various coops and will continue to remain that way.

I work at a spot that is building a very big waterfront housing complex so I pillage about for things all the time (one of my employees actually takes the time to dismantle old buildings so I can get the free stuff ). I have lots of 2x6 and 2x4 and metal roofing so the framework is already taken care of and I have lots of left over slider windows I purchased from a couple who replaced theirs so they will get two windows I think... I will probably fashion some sort of breeding boxes apart from the main coop next year but do the brooder inside the coop.

This will start this weekend so while they are clearing the area I will start the framework.... I can see the turkeys making themselves at home even before the walls are up, nosy bunch!

More suggestions....