Here we go, starting to release my turkeys to yard

[jasonm11]

I think it is time. I have had my turkeys in the run for a few weeks now The boubon red hens are pretty calm, in fact I have a new girlfriend. My dominant boubon red hen Hanna, has started laying down for me the past few days. She seems quite smitten with me, I am now able to walk up, pet and talk with her. I took advantage of the budding romance by releasing her from the pen this morning. She was immediately challenged by Bossie the chicken, what a sight to see. My buff hen fluffing up and kicking both her feet at poor Hanna. It did not last long, Hanna fluffed out and showed Bossie who the real boss of the sauce was. She seemed quite happy the rest of the afternoon exploring her new yard and checking out the chicken flock. She came back to her run many times to converse with the other turkeys and tell them alll about her adventures. I waited till she came close to me and walked over to the door to her run. Hanna came within a few feet and sat down for me. I opened the pen door and tried to convince her to get up and walk in, she would not I hade to pick her up and set her inside the door. after a few minutes she got back up and went to gossip with the other ladies.

Tomorrow morning I will go out and have a cup of coffee with the turkeys while they are having breakfast. If all goes well I will release Hanna and her little friend Barbera and see how it goes. I am concerned about being able to get them all back in the run at night, I have 4 hens and one jake and together they are very skittish. I am hoping that by releasing the calm aproachable birds, I might teach them and have the others follow. I will post tomorrow to let you know how it goes.

Any opinions would be appreciated on what has worked for you. My biggest concern is my jake. He is very easily startled and there is no way I can catch him if he gets loose. I am kinda thinking I would be best served by working up to having all the girls out in the yard and leave the jake penned up for now at least.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

The males almost ALWAYS go wherever the hens go. They're followers, not leaders.

 

[KOTurkeyRanch]

Feed them INSIDE the run only. They need to learn its their home. I bought a hen last year and she wouldnt go in at night she was very skittish. Now any time shes scared i just have to keep the door open a crack and she sprints in, quite comical. I recommend starting them off feeding them inside your setup and let them out and watch them for as long as you can (HEY TAKE SOME MORE PICTURES FOR US YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL BIRDS DD ) And when you tire of watching them heard them in. The jake will follow the hens, they know that there is safety in numbers. When you put them away give them a guilty pleasure treat.

 

[jasonm11]

Quote:
I have their feed and water inside the run but the chickens water and feed in out under the tree. I have been putting scratch and BOSS in the pen to give them something to hunt for during the day. I just throw it in the coastal so they have to look for it. Thank you for the compliment, I think they are beautiful.

 

[jasonm11]

Plans went awry today. My dog scared the tom in the run and before we knew it he was out in the yard. We said the heck with it and released the hens. We had a very good time for about an hour or two. The turkeys mingled with the chicks and rooster and had no problems. Got a few pictures and thought you might enjoy. Still working with them, but it seems like the run will start to be left open so they have access to the yard while I am not here.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

what a nice yard for them! I am so jealous when I see no snow!

 

[crtrlovr]

very nice! What a pretty turkey hen! She does seem rather fond of you, doesn't she?

Nice set up, nice birds!

 

[jasonm11]

I guess it was too good to last. Today right before heading to work I went outside to find my jake out in the street trying to get back in the yard. I finally got him rounded up and into the yard, but could not get him or the hens into the pen. Not sure what i will find when I get home tonight at 10pm.

 

[crj]

Hopefully you will find them home in bed. I have 2 six month old hens. They are dumber then a post. I got them several weeks ago and had them in a separate pen for almost 2 weeks so they would get use to all the other birds. Besides I wanted to quarantine them. They've done wonderfully but they won't go back into the pen. They would much rather sit on top of one of the chicken pens. They won't even come out of the rain. So, tonight since it's suppose to rain I managed to grab the two and brought them to a different pen where they could roost fairly high. I have no idea what I will find tomorrow. Hopefully they will go in that coop at night. I hate leaving them out.

 

[jasonm11]

I can't agree more. I put two perches in the run to get tehm off the ground but I think I will find tehm al in the trees tonight. Well almost all, i pulled most of the tail feathers out of one of the hens today. she was runnig away and i grabbed what i could. She ended up airborn with me holding onto her tail. Until she twisted and most came out. I figure she won't be able to fly well for a littel shile.