Just brought home baby turkeys(now what?)

[SIMZ]

Impressive!

 

[chicken pickin]

Thank You!!!!!!! I like how its turning out now I wanna collect more scraps and build more little houses for other animals and I should prob build a clubhouse for my kids lol. I have no idea what a turkey house should consist of I just winged it but I think itll get the job done.

 

[SIMZ]

I'm going to move my babies out into their pen this morning. We scraped the top layer out of the run and put sand down. That will hopefully protect them from chicken germs until they're a bit older. Hopefully they can all co-exist on the same area or we probably won't be able to have turkeys.

I sure hope they both survive or we'll most likely have a lifetime pet turkey on our hands.

 

[chicken pickin]

Let me know how the move outside goes. I am thinking of putting mine outside soon maybe next week when the lows will be in the 60s. Do you have a picture of your coop and run area they will be going into? Are these turkeys pets or dinner just curious because I wasnt sure if people raised turkeys different depending on whether they are pets or food. We have never processed anything its new to us. I saw you are doing meat birds also that is next on our list we were thinking maybe sept but im not sure if we are ready for it. Are they hard to raise? And do you process yourself? Sorry for all the questions lol.

 

[SIMZ]

It will depend on what we end up with. The original purpose was dinner, but if we end up with a boy and girl we'll probably keep them for breeding next year (= pets!). Two boys or two girls will probably be dinner. The big problem will be if only one survives. That will probably end up being a pet forever - like our Orpington rooster. We tend to get attached to the "one of a kinds" around here.

This is our 4th batch of meat birds and we like raising them. They are more work than layers, but for a shorter time, and the reward of a freezer full of meat definitely makes it worth while! We're using a cattle panel shelter and electric poultry netting this time and it seems a lot easier then a pen and run.

We now do our own processing, but had the first two batches done for us. It was very helpful for us to be able to help another family process their birds to learn what to do. Our first time was a long and tiring day, but it's gotten easier each time.

Questions are how we all learn!! I'll try to post a picture of the turkeys later today!

 

[chicken pickin]

Thanks for all the answers

Today I finished the turkey house. I had to frame out the door to make it square and then made the actual door and hinged it. Tomorrow we will put it in its final location and build a pen for them. I think tonight I will leave the heat lamp off and put them outside next week. I think I may have them on inappropriate feed also(feed store talked me into it). Its a gamebird grower/finisher 20%protein and that doesnt seem right to me. So today I went to Blue Seal( my usual feed store) and they talked all about the turkey feeds and Im gonna go back to buy new food tomorrow. Cant decide on doing the starter crumbles maybe medicated since they have never been medicated or the grower medicated or unmedicated. I cant make up my mind. They are about 5-6 weeks old and I believe they were started out on an unmedicated starter and never vaccinated. What do you feed your turkeys?

Here are the pics of the turkey house with a door. I did put roosts in also,not shown in pics, though they are only maybe 10 inches off the ground but its something right? I feel bad like I should do something bigger and better for them. But I think it might make me more attached.

 

[SIMZ]

You really did a great job on that! You should teach me how to build because my husband has about had it with chicken projects! LOL

My babies are out tonight but we kept the light on them. They have been eating 20%, but now they're getting 28%. I've got two bags of that and then might drop down from there to get back to 20%. The person I got them from has raised turkeys before and feeds them Flockraiser straight through - so it can be done.

The pictures that I took weren't very good so I'll get new ones tomorrow and post.

 

[SIMZ]

The top picture is looking into the little coop area. The food, water, light, and roost are inside. The second picture shows how it's attached to the main coop and divided off from the attached run. I'm working on sodding and planting the attached grass area so they can be outside as well when they're older.

 

[chicken pickin]

That looks great. Is that their home also for when they are adults? Im glad to see the front of your turkey coop is wire too. I was a little nervous it was too exposed for them with the cold and the wind when I was building. But seeing yours makes me comfortable with the direction Im going in. I love your run also nice and tall mine wont be as tall and done more simple with some fence posts and chicken wire 4 feet tall and probably aviary netting over the top to keep them from flying away(not sure if thatll work though). Im not planning on letting them free range so this week Im going to build multiple planting boxes and grow grass in them and rotate the boxes I put in thier run, that way they get the greens all the time and I also dont have to worry about them eatting grass where the chickens have been roaming.

 

[SIMZ]

I thought I replied to this, but it's gone...........

The wire is a frame that can be taken out so the doors close tight at night. Now that they're more comfortable I've been keeping it open and I see little turkey prints all over the sand in the run!

Not sure how long they'll be there. We can easily adapt the little coop somehow to work when they're bigger, but might also move them into our extra coop (chicks are growing up in there right now). The current plan is to eventually let them out in the fenced area with the chickens and maybe even let them all in the same coop. We'll have to see how it all goes.......... It will be hard for us to keep them out of areas where chickens have been. If blackhead is a problem then we probably just won't be able to have turkeys in the future.