Free ranging turkeys

[LRH97]

I've had my four heritage breed turkeys for about two years now and I'd like to start free ranging them. They have been in a good sized fence and I've never had any trouble with them hopping over etc. We've always used pens with our meat turks so it will be my first time free ranging with turkeys obviously, so I'm a little nervous and just want to make sure they stick around. (I know how well they can potentially fly) They're coop trained, so it would just be like letting the chickens free range right?

 

[ivan3]

Start them out as you would chickens. Out for a stroll a couple hours before sundown, with someone around to monitor their whereabouts. As dusk approaches keep an eye on them as the first sign they are going to roost is their cocking their heads to one side and "sizing up" roosting locations (one's roof, for instance), at that point herd them back into run (helps to put out some treats in run beforehand). They are easy to herd back in if using a couple of long bamboo garden stakes held out to one's sides and then SLOWLY move them along.

If you have neighbors close enough for the turkeys to see, or a road nearby, then more monitoring than the "free range" might be worth, will probably be in order. We trained ours early on (return to run - into shed on their own) and it took about a month. If you have a well trained group, they'll train their poults to do the same. We have no interesting "humans" just down the road to wander off to investigate, and the road itself is quite a distance from their usual haunts (tend to forage around edges of woods and down by pond - have never wandered off to any great distance).

We do keep an eye out for ours, not because they'll run off, owing to high pred load in the area (don't want them to get scared, fly-off and get lost).

You could always leave one in the run, the others will tend to stick around outside the fence with their buddy.

 

[LRH97]

Start them out as you would chickens. Out for a stroll a couple hours before sundown, with someone around to monitor their whereabouts. As dusk approaches keep an eye on them as the first sign they are going to roost is their cocking their heads to one side and "sizing up" roosting locations (one's roof, for instance), at that point herd them back into run (helps to put out some treats in run beforehand). They are easy to herd back in if using a couple of long bamboo garden stakes held out to one's sides and then SLOWLY move them along.

If you have neighbors close enough for the turkeys to see, or a road nearby, then more monitoring than the "free range" might be worth, will probably be in order. We trained ours early on (return to run - into shed on their own) and it took about a month. If you have a well trained group, they'll train their poults to do the same. We have no interesting "humans" just down the road to wander off to investigate, and the road itself is quite a distance from their usual haunts (tend to forage around edges of woods and down by pond - have never wandered off to any great distance).

We do keep an eye out for ours, not because they'll run off, owing to high pred load in the area (don't want them to get scared, fly-off and get lost).

You could always leave one in the run, the others will tend to stick around outside the fence with their buddy.

Thanks for your response! They pretty well stick to their coop for roosting (they haven't even attempted to fly out of their fence or roost on the roof), so hopefully they won't be too tempted when I let them out. Our neighbors aren't too close, but I will keep a close eye on them for sure. We will see what happens and hopefully everything goes smoothly.

 

[AthenasOwl]

We have 3 adult Toms and a hen. We let them free range all the time, although we are 1/4 mile from the road, they don't seem to wonder at all. There was only one time which they did so..it was a neighbor who was doing some renovations across the road...the sound drew them away from home to search out the other humans..at least mine all seem to include us in their flock and will hang around being a 'peeping Tom' at us through the windows. They are so funny. 2 of the Toms were suppose to be Thanksgiving and New Years dinner...yes, we still have all 4 as my husband said, "But I LIKE them and they are funny"..Got to love an animal lover!

Colette

 

[LRH97]

We have 3 adult Toms and a hen. We let them free range all the time, although we are 1/4 mile from the road, they don't seem to wonder at all. There was only one time which they did so..it was a neighbor who was doing some renovations across the road...the sound drew them away from home to search out the other humans..at least mine all seem to include us in their flock and will hang around being a 'peeping Tom' at us through the windows. They are so funny. 2 of the Toms were suppose to be Thanksgiving and New Years dinner...yes, we still have all 4 as my husband said, "But I LIKE them and they are funny"..Got to love an animal lover!

Colette

Thanks for your reply! We're in the process of getting a gate up to let them out. Hopefully their curiosity won't get the better of them.

 

[ivan3]

 
We have 3 adult Toms and a hen.  We let them free range all the time, although we are 1/4 mile from the road, they don't seem to wonder at all.  There was only one time which they did so..it was a neighbor who was doing some renovations across the road...the sound drew them away from home to search out the other humans..at least mine all seem to include us in their flock and will hang around being a 'peeping Tom' at us through the windows.  They are so funny.  2 of the Toms were suppose to be Thanksgiving and New Years dinner...yes, we still have all 4 as my husband said, "But I LIKE them and they are funny"..Got to love an animal lover!

Colette

Thanks for your reply! We're in the process of getting a gate up to let them out. Hopefully their curiosity won't get the better of them.

As I mentioned, in previous post, keep an eye on them until you've "vetted" them. Ours, as three/four month olds would line up single file and follow Box turtles into the woods (sat on the back deck and watched them disappear and then chased them back).

How far can they go? Wrote a thread on our neighbor's flock, years ago:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/40700/ah-heck-wheres-the-lek

 

[LRH97]

As I mentioned, in previous post, keep an eye on them until you've "vetted" them. Ours, as three/four month olds would line up single file and follow Box turtles into the woods (sat on the back deck and watched them disappear and then chased them back).

How far can they go? Wrote a thread on our neighbor's flock, years ago:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/40700/ah-heck-wheres-the-lek

I will definitely keep a close eye on them. While I think about it, have you ever treated your turks for bumblefoot? One of my toms seems to be showing symptoms. No discomfort or limping yet. I know we'll end up doing the surgery which doesn't look too hard. However, treating 30 pound toms would obviously be more difficult than treating chickens and I'm not really sure how to go about it. (I posted a thread in diseases/cures but got no responses)

 

[ivan3]

As I mentioned, in previous post, keep an eye on them until you've "vetted" them. Ours, as three/four month olds would line up single file and follow Box turtles into the woods (sat on the back deck and watched them disappear and then chased them back).


How far can they go? Wrote a thread on our neighbor's flock, years ago:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/40700/ah-heck-wheres-the-lek

I will definitely keep a close eye on them. While I think about it, have you ever treated your turks for bumblefoot? One of my toms seems to be showing symptoms. No discomfort or limping yet. I know we'll end up doing the surgery which doesn't look too hard. However, treating 30 pound toms would obviously be more difficult than treating chickens and I'm not really sure how to go about it. (I posted a thread in diseases/cures but got no responses)

Probably because treatment of Pododermatis in turkeys is more mechanically challenging...
Same general treatment - keep on clean, soft bedding. Before going further, if you could post a shot of BOTH feet for comparison it would probably be useful.

However, in the interim, download and read up on the condition/treatment from vet's perspective (chapter 16 trauma med) - used to be able to download the entire book with one click - no more - one chapter at a time:
http://avianmedicine.net/publication_cat/avian-medicine/