Did not have to teach my turkeys to free range

[Mo_fawaazzz]

I wanted to pen up my 6 week old bronze heritage turkeys until their adults before letting them free range but they had other plans...

They stayed in the pen for a few weeks and then they began flying out of the pen and wandering my garden. I gave up trying to contain them and I just leave the pen door open. The turkeys live with chickens and ducks. The ducks stay in the pen regardless of the open door and the 6 week old chickens are free range trained as they already come back home at evening The turkey return back to the pen for food but I still gotta catch them to put them back in their coop.

I was afraid that it would be difficult to teach the poults how to free range because they are so skittish. I heard that turkey hens will run away to lay their eggs in a secluded location or something..

Will they run away and never come back or are they now free-ranging? Are they too young to be free ranging like this?

 

[Evadig]

Hello!

I'll just tell you my experience and you can use it as you want .

I didn't let my turkeys free range until about two months old. I didn't trust them to come back, because they hadn't learned to come and I didn't want to have to chase them back to the coop all the time.

Once they were allowed to free range, I still had to chase them back into the coop every night. They are now a year old and have finally learned to put themselves to bed. Even then they still need encouragement sometimes.

One of my hens likes to lay in the goose house; the other one does enjoy laying in a secluded area (surrounded by thorn bushes!), though she will lay in her coop if forced to.

As an aside, both of them regularly hop the fence but can't figure out how to get back on the right side, which is frustrating. They also love perching on the rim of the pool.

I hope this helps some!

 

[Molpet]

Mine refuse to go in and sleep in the trees feeding the GH owls. I loose about half every year. They hatch enough for replacements and half a jake for dinner a month. The extra are sold.

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

Hello!

I'll just tell you my experience and you can use it as you want .

I didn't let my turkeys free range until about two months old. I didn't trust them to come back, because they hadn't learned to come and I didn't want to have to chase them back to the coop all the time.

Once they were allowed to free range, I still had to chase them back into the coop every night. They are now a year old and have finally learned to put themselves to bed. Even then they still need encouragement sometimes.

One of my hens likes to lay in the goose house; the other one does enjoy laying in a secluded area (surrounded by thorn bushes!), though she will lay in her coop if forced to.

As an aside, both of them regularly hop the fence but can't figure out how to get back on the right side, which is frustrating. They also love perching on the rim of the pool.

I hope this helps some!

Mine take quick, 5-10 minute foraging trips around the yard and then they return to their pen to eat food. I do not want to risk leaving them outside past 6pm otherwise I fear that they will start roosting somewhere too high for me to get them down from.

tbh, I am ok with them roosting in trees when they are adults but I just wanna make sure that they will not wander too far and never come back. I live in a suburban neighborhood and there are a lot of cars.

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

Mine refuse to go in and sleep in the trees feeding the GH owls. I loose about half every year. They hatch enough for replacements and half a jake for dinner a month. The extra are sold.

I gotta hand catch each one of mine to get them to go into the coop. Horned owls and raccoons seem to be big-time predators... I have seen images of owls take on adult turkeys. Perhaps it is better to not let them sleep outside until they begin breeding steadily.

Do your hens wander off to lay eggs or do they stay put? I have heard that turkey hens wander off and hide to lay their eggs..

 

[Molpet]

I gotta hand catch each one of mine to get them to go into the coop. Horned owls and raccoons seem to be big-time predators... I have seen images of owls take on adult turkeys. Perhaps it is better to not let them sleep outside until they begin breeding steadily.

Do your hens wander off to lay eggs or do they stay put? I have heard that turkey hens wander off and hide to lay their eggs..

GH owls have taken a 4 year old tom. Ate part of the neck is all. Sunday my original hen was half eaten.

The hens will wander looking for the perfect nest. I tried clipping a wing , but they beat wings as they climb up the fence. I have been selling the wanderers with full disclosure. ..if I can catch them before they get eaten

Yesterday one came flying back from across the road into the poultry yard. Over a thousand feet.

If you find a hidden nest, mark an egg and leave it..or they will find more hard to find spot.

 

[Huntmaster]

Do your hens wander off to lay eggs or do they stay put? I have heard that turkey hens wander off and hide to lay their eggs..

They like to lay where they feel safe and secluded. So, wherever that may be is where it will be if they are free ranged. Hens can get good at hiding their nests from you and from Toms. You can make inviting areas for them to nest in and add dummy eggs to help in getting them to adopt as nesting area. Just make sure where they do nest the toms do not have access as they can injure hen trying to mate her and break eggs in nest.

 

[Huntmaster]

Mine take quick, 5-10 minute foraging trips around the yard and then they return to their pen to eat food. I do not want to risk leaving them outside past 6pm otherwise I fear that they will start roosting somewhere too high for me to get them down from.

tbh, I am ok with them roosting in trees when they are adults but I just wanna make sure that they will not wander too far and never come back. I live in a suburban neighborhood and there are a lot of cars.

How old are your turkeys and how long have you been raising them?

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

How old are your turkeys and how long have you been raising them?

mine are about 8 weeks old and they have been free ranging ever since 5 weeks.

Ive raised many gamebird species before, so I thought that I could have a go with raising turkeys.

 

[Pearlescent]

I have information from a friends experience on the leaving to hatch eggs part.
Her hen leaves in random times in any of the seasons (it doesn’t get cold here) except summer. She flies over the road and makes a nest somewhere in the bushes over there, she then comes back with 10-20 babies in a month. So she leaves, but she comes back. And my own turkeys often fly into trees and onto high places, but they always come down.