How Long...

[Shady]

Does it take for a turkey to reach full size?
I'm worried about my poults over the winter...

 

[OmaBird]

How old are they? People eat them at 6-9 months but they are not full grown at that age. I have some over 18 months that I think keep getting bigger all the time. At 16 to 18 weeks old they should be able to take the cold without any problem. I would still worry about illness because cold is a stress but not the cause of the illness.

 

[Shady]

8 weeks royal palms... for pets, not food

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[Frosty]

Not sure where you are located, but I had some hatch in late July one year... I left them running loose with mom. October came in with 90 degree weather on the 1st, by the 5th temps dropped below freezing and we had a major blizzard. They got separated from their mom, and it took about 3 days but they did all straggle in from where they were hiding and we didn't lose even one. Then they went through a North Dakota winter in an unheated building with 24/7 access to an outdoor run.

As long as they have somewhere with roosts to get out of the wind and weather, they should do fine.

 

[OmaBird]

Quote:
Most people keep them inside or off the ground, until they have a strong immune system. Some say that is 16-18 weeks. If weather is warm and dry I sometimes have got them outside earlier if things get to crowed and it is healtheir to take them outside.

Over all they are tuff birds and take the cold well.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Turkeys will reach full size at over a year. In warm weather we have put them outside at 2 to 3 months but that is into a totally covered "maturnity" pen. When they are young if they get cold and wet they can chill and die quickly. The biggest thing is keeping them dry when they are young.

Steve

 

[Shady]

Ah alright. They are out at the moment because it's been warm. But the weather where I live is unpredictable. It's been 80 + the past few days, but it could be snowing in a few days. Last year we had 90s in january and then it snowed 30 inches

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