Getting a pair of turkeys, need some direction

[riftnreef]

We are moving next week, and my daughter is getting a young pair of Royal Palms. There is no structure in place for the birds yet, and the property is surrounded by trees and sits on a fairly busy highway. The house sits about 40 yards or so from the road, but I fear the birds may wander that way if I don't keep them penned, so I don't think I will be able to let them free range, so I need to put together a pen of sorts. Not to mention, I would hate for us to bring them home, and them to find the trees right away and never be seen again! So, what should I put together to meet their basic needs through the winter? A shelter I'm sure, but will they use it?, what size, and how large of an opening? A covered run, probably a good idea, but I'm afraid if I attach a run, they may not use the shelter....hmmmm. Advice is welcome.

Thanks.

 

[SkyWarrior]

You can keep them in a fairly basic dog kennel pen (6 ft tall). You can top it with field fencing, if you think they'll get over or trim their wings.

Turkeys don't need tons of shelter, but they do need some. A basic place to get out of the rain and wind and a place to roost. Other than that, they're not too hard to keep.

Congrats on the turkeys!!

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

I would be concerned about that highway, also. In my experience, turkeys are better jumpers than chickens. Even with properly (?) clipped wings, my Midget Whites have no problem power-jumping (wing assisted) up > 6' to roost, and occasionally get out of the 8' chain link yard. And my turkeys won't have anything to do with the lovely shelter I built for them, either - they just hang out with the ducks in the worst stormy weather

 

[riftnreef]

Thanks. I will probably use some 8' landscaping timbers covered with sheep fencing burried 2' into the ground to make the pen. My daughter kept broad breasted whites for fair last year and loved them, but she didn't care too much for putting him on the truck, or taking the extras to the butcher, so these guys will be pets, and I just want to make sure they stay as safe as they can. I'm still not sure what the coop will look like though? Will they benefit from wide roost poles like chickens during the cold months to help keep their feet warm?

 

[ivan3]

riftnreef wrote: Will they benefit from wide roost poles like chickens during the cold months to help keep their feet warm?

Don't know how much warmer they'll be but once we switched over to 2"x4"s there's been much less shifting/flapping/barking heard over the monitor at night:

 

[ccrawf]

I think the most important thing is to have a predator proof shelter at night. I let mine roam free around the yard, and the fence just helps limit the area they can get to. But at night, I usually have to chase most of them, the hens especially, into the coop and lock it at night.

Good luck with them.