Kaye's free range turkey thread

[GlennLee]

Great pics! They are beautiful. The elders look like they are holding a council meeting. Every stately looking in those photos. It's hard to get a decent picture of a moving target, but you got them.

 

[BantamTurkey]

My Jacob almost 'poses' for the camera. He lets all my pretty turkey talk go to his head. I do tell him everyday that he is, so I may be to blame for his strutting all the time. Lol
My hens are funny. I call them my 'smack-talk clique' bc the one in the picture is ALWAYS wanting to pick a fight with the other animals. The bobcats get it the worst. They all chase my cats. And chasing the little roosters until one chases her back. Then she runs away. I hatched the two poults and I accidentally let one imprint. Now I'm momma. They follow me around like dogs. I have a 1/2 mile driveway and walk it everyday. I am followed by a toddler, a pit bull, and a flock of turkeys. The mailman thinks it great

 

[BantamTurkey]

Why can't I post pictures now??

 

[GabrielBane]

Super relieved to find this thread. We've been wanting to free range our turkeys, the issue is that they're about 12 weeks old, and have never experienced outdoors before, I'm mortified at the thought of birds of prey getting one of our babies. (A *HUGE* osprey took one of our cockerels, and since then, we've been SUPER over-protective of free ranging)



Are full grown turkeys vigilant enough to keep an eye out for birds of prey? or do you find there's a learning curve of time that it takes poults/juveniles raised in a controlled environment to learn to avoid preds?

 

[sarcasm]

Quote:
Hopefully someone else can give you a more definitive/experienced answer, but I currently have 4 poults about the same age as yours. Even though the only real "free range" time they get is with me directly supervising, they're quicker than any of the chickens (including the rooster) to spot large birds overhead (or airplanes, those are apparently also suspicious). When they see one, they make a particular alert noise and run to me, the dog, or under shelter, then stare down the offending flying object until it leaves. They've done this since the first time they got to go out and see the sky (about 2 months old). Whether that behavior would directly translate into effectively avoiding a predatory bird in any particular scenario depends on a whole lot of other factors (desperation of the predator and luck being large contributors).

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Turkeys are sharp eyed and can see birds way up high, I often have to really look to see what they are seeing. We don't have osprey so I can't comment on them, but I haven't had troubles with birds taking my birds.

 

[GabrielBane]

Makes sense. We also have bald eagles and some hawks. We're very attached to our turkey specifically. But we'll give them more freedom as they grow.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I think the bigger problem is sometimes turkeys will range too far and not return sometimes. I don't free range mine full time, just as long as I can take their shenanigans, than back to their big run.

 

[GlennLee]

I hatched the two poults and I accidentally let one imprint. Now I'm momma. They follow me around like dogs. I have a 1/2 mile driveway and walk it everyday. I am followed by a toddler, a pit bull, and a flock of turkeys. The mailman thinks it great

I would love to see that parade!

 

[GlennLee]

That's interesting that your turkeys pick up on airplanes. My guineas do the same thing - they cock their heads to the side, whistle and stare up. I don't hear anything and then about 10 seconds later, there's a plane overhead.

How far do turkeys usually free range? Do you have trouble with them wanting to cross roads? Just trying to get a handle on potential roaming and mixing between my flock of guineas who do cross the road and have a range of about a quarter of a mile and my neighbor's future turkey flock.