First poults, could use some advise!

[Sassz]

So after researching the past few months We finally found some turkeys we wanted! But i'm still having a hard time with some of the finer points. We got 7 10 weekish Narag's from a private owner. Very happy healthy lil buggers! We have a old dairy barn we have already partially converted for a horse and our rabbits. We have a boarded up walk out I want to punch a hole threw and add a indoor/outdoor run to at least until spring. I have a 10'x10' area to work with indoors with a little wiggle... My husband is working on making a 4'x10' indoor fenced in area to be able to punch threw.. Ideal size for the opening?. Will this be a good "coop" area? Outside we have quite abit of room but the majority is a cement slab, good/bad? We ultimately plan on keeping any hens (2 or 3 ideally) and finding an unrelated tom for future breeding and butchering out or trading/selling all but 1 tom. Predation doesnt seem to be a major issue here, but I do want them safe until they get abit bigger. Atm they are chicken sized. I am also putting down pine shaving (same I use for my horse) have a 3 gallon heated watered and similar sized feeder... Meat maker crumbles. 21%.. We also live in Wisconsin so we get cold. They are all very well feathered and where with mom until we got them last night. Would love some i put from others a ove and beyond .. What i'm doing right, what i'm doing wrong.., and just any general advise. Also we have two young kids who want to make the keepers pets... Advise on taming, handling and do's and don't in this reguard. I know some turkeys are nice and others no so much ect..

 

[memphis]

Welcome to the turkey world! First, turkeys make GREAT pets. The more time you spend with them the friendlier they get.
I don't quite understand your set up. A few things to keep in mind is that they do fly. They use roosts. Most of us use 2x4's with the 4" side up for roosting. You should have a dust bath area. And of course you need to make it pedator proof. We all hang out over on the Century of Turkey Talk thread. Don't hesitate to ask any questions. Now you must post pictures! We love pictures!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm also in Wisconsin, my turkeys are outside everyday, when we get those -40 wind chills they might go in. I put hay down in their run to stand on and have fence panels for wind blocks.

Turkeys are really hardy and don't require a lot of work. I use sand for the floor and scoop my droppings daily, we tried shavings but it just wasn't working for us. I feed mine an All flock pellet, mines from Fleet farm, when they are younger they can fly up pretty well and can be a bit rambunctious, but settle down after their first year.

I find that they tame down best in the first few weeks, so your hen raised poults probably won't be super tame, but all turkeys are curious and like seeing what you are up to.

I believe my pophole is 14x18, and my roosts are 3, 4 and five foot off the ground, they are 2x4 with the 4 up.

You certainly could mate siblings, especially if you plan to butcher the youngsters.

 

[Sassz]

Thanks for the quick responses! I ended up putting down a layer of sawdust and a layer of grass mix hay for them. Also appreciate the roosting bar size as we wherent sure on a good size. I will def share some pictures the little 4'x8' run my husband built with some 2x4 and pallets is def not going to be big enough long term I can already see that. So we will have to rework it as the weather allows us. I do want to allow some free ranging in the summer. We dont have anyother birds atm but would like to add chickens in the spring.. Have not decided if we will keep them seperate completely or not. Deciding if pros/cons are worth it ect.

 

[313759]

Welcome to the turkey world! First, turkeys make GREAT pets. The more time you spend with them the friendlier they get.
I don't quite understand your set up. A few things to keep in mind is that they do fly. They use roosts. Most of us use 2x4's with the 4" side up for roosting. You should have a dust bath area. And of course you need to make it pedator proof. We all hang out over on the Century of Turkey Talk thread. Don't hesitate to ask any questions. Now you must post pictures! We love pictures!

Yes!!! I completely agree. Turkey's make wonderful pets as long as you spend plenty of time with them. Even Tom's will grow up lovable. To tell you the truth turkeys Mau be better pets than cats.

 

[Sassz]

Thought I would give an update. We are down to 6.. 3/3 the 7th was another tom and I'm guessing and been told by others he was likely gamged up on and killed by the others. He was fine that am and when i did evening choirs he was laying on his side and being pecked at by the others. I set him up his own spot but he did not recover. We also got our first egg today! I've been told to remove the toms once the hen/s decide to settle down to brood as they will likely kill any chicks (we plan on letting our hens raise, not incubate.)

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I haven't had any turkeys kill other turkeys. They do attack dying or dead birds. Your birds could use more room, or free ranging, and some higher roosts. Do they go into the coop?

 

[ravensgait]

Toms will fight. Even Wild Turkeys sometimes kill each other especially when you have a 2 or 3 gang up on another . Two evenly matched gobblers can fight till one dies. Oldhen is correct they will attack a sick or injured bird .
Sassz, it could happen again, Eventually one gobbler will establish himself as boss and take all or most the girls, it depends on if the others will accept that and get along or they may keep fighting. All year except the breeding season gobblers can be the best of buddies but when its spring they will fight for the girls. Turkeys do not pair up the boss gets most the girls . As for gobblers and poults they seem to be indifferent , might step on one in the way but otherwise ignore them . Eggs are a different thing most wont bother a nest but some will destroy the eggs . We keep Osceola and Rio's , one of our gobblers will destroy eggs if he gets the chance . I have had gobblers fight and in spring they are kept separate from each other , had 2 adult gobblers go at it before we broke them up into groups, I went down to feed and from the looks of it they had been fighting for a while, both had a hold of each others face and were exhausted . They would likely have fought till one was dead .
They seem to get along well with other birds except when another bird goes after them , then it can be all over for that bird

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I let mine fight it out, the pecking order changes the year. I have 3 adult toms and 2 that aren't quite a year yet. They do go at it for hours sometimes, and will mob the loser who ends up in the shed on the roosts for a day or two looking pretty beat up. It helps if they can get away. If they can't I certainly could see them killing each other.

None of my toms care about eggs and I brood all my poults so I don't know how they would be, but the oldest Tom will look after them when I start integrating them.