Coop planning

[chickendude1780]

Hey everyone! I'm thinking of getting 3-4 heritage breed turkeys for a small flock these birds will be able to free range everyday and I have quite a large area for them to explore so I'm not worried about that. What I am worried about is how big my coop needs to be an if when they are older will they even use it or sleep in trees every night. Now my other situation is what kind I am fmdeciding between royal palms, blue slates, and bourbon red. Any help for any of my questions would be greatly appreciated. And also my last thing is any pictures of coops and these breeds would be incredibly helpful!

Thanks_

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have links posted on this thread about turkey housing and a few other topics.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/787208/turkeys-101-new-to-turkeys-what-do-i-need-to-know

Turkeys like to roost high. A few of my turkeys roost int he chicken coops while other fly on top of the chicken coops to roost and they also sleep in the pecan trees. I'm a fan of Bourbon Reds, so I'll always vote for them.

I don't have "turkey" coops per-say. I just have coops and they really don't sleep in the coops.

 

[junkprospector]

Speaking of Turkey's liking to roost high... i have a roosting bar, maybe 3 ft off the ground... My chickens roost up there, but my turkey hasn't ever shown any interest in getting up there. He's a BBB, 11 weeks old, about 13 lbs currently - can he even fly up to this height or does he need a ramp or something to get up there?

 

[frank53061]

Your BB Turkeys grows so fast and puts on so much weight most of the time they cant manage more than 2 to 3 feet off the ground and that's if they could get a run at it.
Is this roost bar out side or inside and if inside is there enough room for him to get to it.
I have a 3 foot roost inside my Coop and a 4 foot roost out side the coop in the pen but my Turkeys are Bourbon Reds they use these roost all the time.
You might try a hurdle bar

put one up at one foot and if he uses it move to two feet what ever makes him comfortable.
Its all trial and error Good Luck.