clipping wings

[KellyandKatie]

me again, worrying about if my birds will stay in my yard when they get turned loose in a few days
they are like 4 months old, calm turkeys I would say, right now they are in the coop, we have only had them a few days
their yard area that i want them to stay in is 2/3 an acre, not huge, but it has a lot of trees and cover area
It is surronded by a 6 foot fence- I want them to not go visit my neighbors or get eaten by raccoons
if I clip one wing like I might with a light chicken, will it help keep them grounded in a 6 foot fence? Or can they still jump that high even with a wing clipped?
They will be cooped at night and while we are away

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

At 4 months they may still be able to clear the fence it really depends on the turkey. Once they get some weight on them they will stay on the ground with wing clipping. One other thing, unless they are chased and go straight over they like to have something to roost on. For some reason they don't normally do and up and over. They will jump/fly up and look around first. If your fence doesn't have anything at the top to roost on that will help. Watch for the bolder turkeys they will go over first and the rest will follow them.

Steve in NC

 

[KellyandKatie]

thank you, explaining typical behavior like that is very helpful. I appreciate you writing back

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
Glad to be able to help but one thing about turkeys or probably poultry in general is once you think you have them figured out they will change tactics on you.

Steve

 

[KellyandKatie]

Well, I let them out this morning for a few minutes- and was amazed- these guys really really fly. I know i read it- but to see them- wow! The hen came out, and was calling to the tom who was still inside the coop. They talked about it, and she fly right up onto my roof. I decided I better keep her close by keeping the tom with me, so I took the tom into an X pen- as I carried him across the yard, she flew behind us to follow. They stood there talking to eachother, and they are such friendly birds. It was cold out, and I lost my nerve, so I grabbed the hen while she was right there, and carried them both back into the coop.
When I had the slates it was darn near impossible to catch the things- in fact I do not think i was able to, I just had to leave gates open and leave one penned up to call the others ones back in
I have not clipped their wings yet, I am hesitant to, just in case it does not work out that I can keep them in, and have to sell them, I would not feel right selling them with their wings clipped in case they run into predators

Speaking of predators... if turkeys are roosting at night up in trees- will they wake up in time to fly away from raccoons, or do they sleep soundly like my ducks and chickens and are just easy pickings for anything that finds them?

My husband is shaking his head at me for getting them before i knew if I could keep them in. In hindsight I may have been better off starting with younger birds. We will see yet though

 

[chseeads]

I have a 6ft fence around the pasture area that I let mine out into and I clipped a wing on them and mine are staying in it.

 

[KellyandKatie]

Okay, I clipped a wing, and opened the coop door. They jumped up on their roost. Their roost is about 8 feet off the ground, and they had to get up on a chair to get on it with their wings clipped- so we will see.
The fence is 6 foot, but there are lots of trees in the yard, I am worried they will hopscotch their way out, and into the suburbs- we will see