A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[rjohns39]

Anyone want to share their turkey pens with me ? I'm starting to make one and just curious as to how high i should put the Dowels or what type of perch i should use . the tom wants to sleep on my roof of my house and the Big owl is watching

I used 2x2s, but if I had it to do over, I'd use 2x3s.

 

[Tammy N]

so should i cut down a 2x4 for that and about how high ? 3 ft or ?

 

[rjohns39]

so should i cut down a 2x4 for that and about how high ? 3 ft or ?

Lumber yards will often sell 2x3s for fencing and they're a little cheaper than 2x4. If you have the latter they work well, I'm just a cheap skate. I have a 4'wide, 8' tall X and I place them every two feet. I put a cover over it by bending 10' lengths of 1/2" pvc and mounting them in a piece of 3/4". Looks like a tall covered wagon. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to convince my big butt Tom that he's too heavy to perch on the pvc.

 

[R2elk]

so should i cut down a 2x4 for that and about how high ? 3 ft or ?

A 2"x4" will be fine with the flat side up. You may have to put a support in the middle of the roost as well as the normal ones on each end. I would make it like a staircase with roosts at 2', 4' and 6'.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

but with 2x4s as the roosts

 

[duluthralphie]

2x2 roosts here mean frozen lost toes...

 

[Finnie]

Is this for Elderberry? Do you still have him, or are you talking about a younger tom.

Elderberry is my tom.

Hi guys! I've kinda been AWOL lately. We had a family issue come up around the end of September, and added to my Seasonal Affective Disorder, which always kicks in when the days get shorter, I have really gotten behind the 8 ball. Barely maintaining the status quo here, which isn't saying much. Usually I read and catch up on posts once or twice a week, but I haven't been feeling chatty, so I haven't posted much.

Elderberry had a lucky save last night. Most of my turkeys roost on a 6' dog kennel fence that makes up my chicken run. (The others roost in a tree.) Elderberry was moving from one panel to another when he slipped between them and got his leg caught. I saw it happen through the kitchen window and ran out quick and got him free. I'll have to keep an eye on that leg. He was favoring it a bit. Lucky thing for him I was here. Otherwise who knows how long he might have hung there. I liked the photo of the turkey roost someone posted. I need to try to find the energy and time to build one of those so my turkeys will be safer. I need to pen them up, too. They've been going over to the neighbors' and "helping" their landscape workers with the fall cleanup.

If I can't pen them up, I should probably sell the ones who won't stay in my yard. I don't like to see them penned.

 

[Finnie]

. I liked the photo of the turkey roost someone posted.

Short term memory loss.. it was DwaynenLiz.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Anyone want to share their turkey pens with me ? I'm starting to make one and just curious as to how high i should put the Dowels or what type of perch i should use . the tom wants to sleep on my roof of my house and the Big owl is watching

I use a 2 x 4 on it's side for my chickens and 2 x 6 on its side for the turkeys. That way all toes stay flat and covered over the winter and don't get frostbite. I have them mounted over poop boards. If you go to the link and scroll about 2/3 of the way down, you'll be able to find my roost setup for the chickens. Turkeys are set up pretty much the same way but with 2 x 6 instead. There is a small picture of the turkey coop setup about 1/4 of the way down too but it's harder to see.

http://onemountainacres.weebly.com/adventures-with-chickens

 

[rjohns39]

Finnie, He's a really pretty bird.