Kaye's free range turkey thread

[BantamTurkey]

Oh, wow. Yes, after seeing your toms, I feel pretty confident that they're hens!! Beautiful birds you have, btw. They're a lot heavier than my birds all around. Thicker legs, longer snood, less feathers on their heads, and a good bit bigger. And only a week older than my birds. Mine are a week apart and don't show that big of a difference size wise. I remember Jacob being a lot bigger at this age, but it's kind of hard to recall because they belonged to my cousin back then

 

[GlennLee]

I would like to join your thread - I don't have any turkeys - only a flock of 12 guinea fowl, but my neighbor is hoping to start with a flock of heritage turkeys in the spring.

She already has Chantecler chickens and is a knowledgeable poultry person, but this is a new venture for both of us. I say BOTH because she will be free ranging and my guineas free range, so we have to look at our situation like ONE big poultry farm.

Although the chickens free range, they are fenced in a very large area - probably at least an acre and she has about 7 coops. They won't be mixing with the turkeys and the guineas don't seem that interested in getting in to visit them. We're not sure about the turkeys and guineas though and I think there are a lot of similarities - we are excited about this project!

So, I don't have any questions just yet, but would love to hang with you in this thread to learn a few things and share some of our experiences.

 

[BantamTurkey]

I would like to join your thread - I don't have any turkeys - only a flock of 12 guinea fowl, but my neighbor is hoping to start with a flock of heritage turkeys in the spring.  

She already has Chantecler chickens and is a knowledgeable poultry person, but this is a new venture for both of us.  I say BOTH because she will be free ranging and my guineas free range, so we have to look at our situation like ONE big poultry farm.  

Although the chickens free range, they are fenced in a very large area - probably at least an acre and she has about 7 coops.  They won't be mixing with the turkeys and the guineas don't seem that interested in getting in to visit them.  We're not sure about the turkeys and guineas though and I think there are a lot of similarities - we are excited about this project!  

So, I don't have any questions just yet, but would love to hang with you in this thread to learn a few things and share some of our experiences.

Welcome

 

[BantamTurkey]

After the storm my poults are going crazy with the bugs that got flooded out of their holes. So I decided to give my older turkeys a treat. Meat. Fish, to be precise. And as I am watching my turks going insane after the meat, I thought back to when I first found out that they eat meat.
Turkeys are omnivorous. You don't think about meat in a turkey's diet, or chicken's for that matter. But in the wild they eat lizards, bugs, occasionally fish (they're not the best fishermen), crawfish, and snails.
This is not really something that has to be consistent with daily diet, but if you ever want to give them a healthy little boost, give them some meat. I treat mine to a little fish about once every month. Tuna is the favorite of mine for now next month I plan on getting some feeder goldfish. Trying fresh and I'm going to put them in a kinda shallow water dish. I feel like this should be interesting

 

[DwayneNLiz]

lol, all birds love meat

and i hope you get pics of them trying to catch goldfish

 

[BantamTurkey]

lol, all birds love meat

and i hope you get pics of them trying to catch goldfish 

I honestly cannot wait. Lol

 

[GlennLee]

I'll have to try some tuna with the guineas. They require a high protein diet as well and they may enjoy that - not sure about goldfish, but if it ends up working for you, Bantam Turkey, I could float some in their water pail and give it a try. Would be fun to watch.

What do you all use for your turkeys to roost on? We have two elevated levels of 2x4's - I read that 2x4's were best for guineas since they don't curl their feet to roost and it prevents bumble foot, but I'm having my doubts about continuing with them. They seem to "skate" on the surface and fall off at times. I would think a wide curved banister might work better, but I'm sure they don't come cheap. Thoughts?

 

[casportpony]

 

[DwayneNLiz]

I'll have to try some tuna with the guineas. They require a high protein diet as well and they may enjoy that - not sure about goldfish, but if it ends up working for you, Bantam Turkey, I could float some in their water pail and give it a try. Would be fun to watch.

What do you all use for your turkeys to roost on? We have two elevated levels of 2x4's - I read that 2x4's were best for guineas since they don't curl their feet to roost and it prevents bumble foot, but I'm having my doubts about continuing with them. They seem to "skate" on the surface and fall off at times. I would think a wide curved banister might work better, but I'm sure they don't come cheap. Thoughts?

i have tree branches for my chickens, just get fatter branches for your guineas

 

[BantamTurkey]

I'll have to try some tuna with the guineas. They require a high protein diet as well and they may enjoy that - not sure about goldfish, but if it ends up working for you, Bantam Turkey, I could float some in their water pail and give it a try. Would be fun to watch. What do you all use for your turkeys to roost on? We have two elevated levels of 2x4's - I read that 2x4's were best for guineas since they don't curl their feet to roost and it prevents bumble foot, but I'm having my doubts about continuing with them. They seem to "skate" on the surface and fall off at times. I would think a wide curved banister might work better, but I'm sure they don't come cheap. Thoughts?

My turks roost at about 5' high and prefer something solid to sleep on. My hens recently started roosting on the banister of our porch, but they were roosting atop a welded wire cage (a very large one. Like a small dog run) and only moved bc of my messing with them the past few nights. I feel like a wider board would do just as good. In my opinion they're going to roost wherever you don't want them to. That what mine do. Crazy birds Bwahahaha!!!