That's so funny. A symbiotic relationship between a horse and a turkey. Hey if the horse doesn't mind what could it hurt?
Hawkeye do a test run with the turkey and the chicks. If they don't pick on each other it will be fine. Any picking means that isn't going to work yet.
In answer to the heat questions: Ivy is the one that had the cookie tin heater for her Seramas. I do the same for all my birds. I use a heat lamp in each of the buildings when the weather gets down to the 10's or lower. I use heated dog water bowls in most of my pens for water. As long as your birds can stay out of the north and west wind and have food and water they should be fine. Avoid having buildings too air tight or you will end up with frost bite on their combs and toes from the humidity the birds themselves produce, particularly if there is no heat.
I have a heat lamp in the Serama house just as a back up but I still have several that sleep outside on the ladder rather than come in where it is warmer. I like to keep the buildings above 30 degrees if I can without getting crazy about heating. I have a group of chickens that slept outside on a metal rail all winter last winter in the bitter cold and none of them seemed worse for the wear. It again was their choice because that is where they wanted to roost.
As far as the GP's go this is my understanding, and it seems to be true. One dog as you say would be the lead dog. In my case it is my female. She is the one that goes out and runs everything off and barks and controls the perimeter. The second dog stays here with the birds and appears to be pretty lazy and worthless. But I understand he stays behind to protect the flock. It's like my DH said: If the female makes a certain sounding bark then the male gets up and runs toward her ready to eat up anything in the path. I think she lets him know when it's time to help. Before I got my male I saw coyotes circle my female when she was young. She was smart enough to retreat back toward the house and hide in the garage for a minute before resuming her bark and bluff to chase them away. She did fine on her own but I'm sure as a team they are more effective. Also I've noticed they patrol a larger area around the house and yard than just my female alone used to do. My daughter explained that they form a zone. Most of the time they use the bark, fluff and bluff to keep predators far outside their zone. But any animal that comes inside that zone is going to be in big trouble if he doesn't get out quick. She sent me a video a couple years ago of a couple pyrenees that used their barking, tail over their back, face and shoulders fluffed out and backed down a bear until it ran it off. My other daughter who lives in the mountains outside of Denver where there are lots of bear and foxes etc, says that everyone on the ranches in the mountains use pyrenees to protect their horses, sheep or whatever.
Trish, my female was and is the shy one and much less sociable than my male. But she is definitely the alpha dog and the true protector. Any of you who have been here can attest that the male is the lover and the female more standoffish.
Also it is a large working dog trait to be very protective over their food, beds, houses. My female always gets to eat first and my male stands and watches unless I fix two bowls and separate them. My female will chase anything away from her food bowl even if she has no intention of eating. She is the same way about her dog house and her bed. When we had pups there were always a couple who would take over the food bowl and growl at the other pups.
Hawkeye do a test run with the turkey and the chicks. If they don't pick on each other it will be fine. Any picking means that isn't going to work yet.
In answer to the heat questions: Ivy is the one that had the cookie tin heater for her Seramas. I do the same for all my birds. I use a heat lamp in each of the buildings when the weather gets down to the 10's or lower. I use heated dog water bowls in most of my pens for water. As long as your birds can stay out of the north and west wind and have food and water they should be fine. Avoid having buildings too air tight or you will end up with frost bite on their combs and toes from the humidity the birds themselves produce, particularly if there is no heat.
I have a heat lamp in the Serama house just as a back up but I still have several that sleep outside on the ladder rather than come in where it is warmer. I like to keep the buildings above 30 degrees if I can without getting crazy about heating. I have a group of chickens that slept outside on a metal rail all winter last winter in the bitter cold and none of them seemed worse for the wear. It again was their choice because that is where they wanted to roost.
As far as the GP's go this is my understanding, and it seems to be true. One dog as you say would be the lead dog. In my case it is my female. She is the one that goes out and runs everything off and barks and controls the perimeter. The second dog stays here with the birds and appears to be pretty lazy and worthless. But I understand he stays behind to protect the flock. It's like my DH said: If the female makes a certain sounding bark then the male gets up and runs toward her ready to eat up anything in the path. I think she lets him know when it's time to help. Before I got my male I saw coyotes circle my female when she was young. She was smart enough to retreat back toward the house and hide in the garage for a minute before resuming her bark and bluff to chase them away. She did fine on her own but I'm sure as a team they are more effective. Also I've noticed they patrol a larger area around the house and yard than just my female alone used to do. My daughter explained that they form a zone. Most of the time they use the bark, fluff and bluff to keep predators far outside their zone. But any animal that comes inside that zone is going to be in big trouble if he doesn't get out quick. She sent me a video a couple years ago of a couple pyrenees that used their barking, tail over their back, face and shoulders fluffed out and backed down a bear until it ran it off. My other daughter who lives in the mountains outside of Denver where there are lots of bear and foxes etc, says that everyone on the ranches in the mountains use pyrenees to protect their horses, sheep or whatever.
Trish, my female was and is the shy one and much less sociable than my male. But she is definitely the alpha dog and the true protector. Any of you who have been here can attest that the male is the lover and the female more standoffish.
Also it is a large working dog trait to be very protective over their food, beds, houses. My female always gets to eat first and my male stands and watches unless I fix two bowls and separate them. My female will chase anything away from her food bowl even if she has no intention of eating. She is the same way about her dog house and her bed. When we had pups there were always a couple who would take over the food bowl and growl at the other pups.
