Grabbing a turkey by the leg(s)?

[Amos-Moses]

If you plan on free ranging your turkeys, I would never pinion any of them. It really does affect their ability to escape predators.

I never put my adult turkeys in the coop at night. They have roosts outside that are in an area protected from the prevailing winds. They spend the nights out in all sorts of weather from rain to snow to -30°F.

If I was going to put them in the coop for the night, I would not wait until after dark. Poultry do not like entering a dark place so if you are trying to coop them late in the day, the coop needs to have a light on to encourage them to go in.

I hate that she is pinioned now that I see how handicapped she is relative to my other birds, but I bought her like that (she was pinioned at birth by the lady I bought her from). My rationale buying a pinioned hen was that maybe my tom would be less tempted to wander outside of our property line if “his” hen wasn’t able to accompany him over the 4’ fence. Now that I see how attached he is to the couple of acres surrounding the coop, I dont worry about him flying over the fence anymore.

In regards to predators, luckily we have 4 Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs patrolling our property on a 24/7 basis, so hopefully my pinioned hen will not have to test her evasion skills against a predator. Our property is pretty much on lockdown when it comes to non-herd/flock animals crossing the fenceline. I have seen a hawk go after the chickens before, but it seems to be reluctant to go after the turkeys. Anything else that poses a threat to our animals meets a quick demise if the dogs catch wind of it, and thankfully they enjoy hanging out with the birds just as much as the goats!

I’ve been considering letting the turkeys roost outside at night, but as a newbie I am afraid that they will grow less attached to the coop and eventually start roosting further away, possibly outside of the fenceline. Thus I have been returning them to the coop each night hoping that they will identify the coop as home and not wander off. Again, being new to turkeys i dont know if this is necessary, but it made sense to me and usually isnt too much trouble, so i’ve made a habit of it.

I really like your advice to put a light in the coop! I havent done that yet but see how it would help, and plan to do it this evening. I’m sure my birds will appreciate it!

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

 

[R2elk]

I hate that she is pinioned now that I see how handicapped she is relative to my other birds, but I bought her like that (she was pinioned at birth by the lady I bought her from). My rationale buying a pinioned hen was that maybe my tom would be less tempted to wander outside of our property line if “his” hen wasn’t able to accompany him over the 4’ fence. Now that I see how attached he is to the couple of acres surrounding the coop, I dont worry about him flying over the fence anymore.

In regards to predators, luckily we have 4 Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs patrolling our property on a 24/7 basis, so hopefully my pinioned hen will not have to test her evasion skills against a predator. Our property is pretty much on lockdown when it comes to non-herd/flock animals crossing the fenceline. I have seen a hawk go after the chickens before, but it seems to be reluctant to go after the turkeys. Anything else that poses a threat to our animals meets a quick demise if the dogs catch wind of it, and thankfully they enjoy hanging out with the birds just as much as the goats!

I’ve been considering letting the turkeys roost outside at night, but as a newbie I am afraid that they will grow less attached to the coop and eventually start roosting further away, possibly outside of the fenceline. Thus I have been returning them to the coop each night hoping that they will identify the coop as home and not wander off. Again, being new to turkeys i dont know if this is necessary, but it made sense to me and usually isnt too much trouble, so i’ve made a habit of it.

I really like your advice to put a light in the coop! I havent done that yet but see how it would help, and plan to do it this evening. I’m sure my birds will appreciate it!

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

I do not have any trouble with the turkeys getting attached to the coop because the feeder is inside the coop. It keeps the feed dry and helps reduce the amount of feed taken by songbirds.

I have found it helpful to not have a top rail or pipe on the fence. Fences with a top rail are attractive perching sites and inevitably the turkeys will get down on the wrong side of the fence.

 

[Amos-Moses]

I should have knocked on wood...

Of course on the day that I bragged on BYC about my Pyrenees LGDs, I come home to find a chicken dead

Turkeys are all fine, but it looks like my dogs need to spend a little bit more time with the birds