Let's talk about them turkeys!

[Gloria]

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Have you checked out his website yet, Zahboo? I love the Royal Palms too, so pretty!

When I found out I was getting two Bourbon Reds I found Steves site. That's where I learned what the heck a bourbon Red looked like. Never even heard of them before.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

ours do the same thing unless it is really raining hard then they will go under the overhang of the chicken house, not go in it just under it. lol We do have one range roost that they will go under. I got the idea from an old turkey book. It has 4 nest boxes in the back, you can see a hen in one of them. We had to put the blocks up in the front so Sharon's fat Cochin hens could get up there. lol

Our climate is pretty mild here in the winter, upper teens and 20 at night is about it. single digits is a once every few years thing. There are quite a few people that have them in colder climates hopefully they will chime in on what works for them.

Steve

 

[Mommi3130]

Are turkeys good free rangers?

I have chickens that have the run of 20+ acres, but I keep my turkeys locked up in a dog kennel type thing during the day, cause I don't want them to run off.

Will the run off? We got them as adults and I don't want to lose them. They are Bourbon reds.

Also have some BBBronze but they stay close to home even when ranging we raised them from day old.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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We are growing out some White Hollands this year, and Standard Bronze. We have some good looking bronze that we hatched from eggs we got from Miss Prissy on here. The hatch was great so we have extra's. Once we figure out how many we are going to keep we will sell off the rest. They would be pick up only though.

Steve

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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It's hard to say if they will stick around or not. Most people that have them on range still have some type of fence around them. a pasture fence or something like that, just enough to give them some sort of boundry.

Steve

 

[Gloria]

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It's hard to say if they will stick around or not. Most people that have them on range still have some type of fence around them. a pasture fence or something like that, just enough to give them some sort of boundry.

Steve

Mine are good free rangers.

I moved them out to the chicken coop at about 9 weeks and kept them inside in the big brooder for 3 weeks so everyone could get used to each other.

I let them out at 12 weeks and they stayed for two nights and I guess that was long enough. They flew up on the roof of the chicken coop one night and right back down in front of the door and have been free rangers since then. lol

They don't go very far, only between the coop and the house. Unless I'm out in the garden or something they stay close.

How long have you had them? Have you quarntined them for a few weeks? Have they had time to know where their new home is?

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

as long as they know where their home is they will stay put. Ours can leave if they want to and never come back but they don't. they range and wait for their feed every AM and we don't lock them up at night so they could just up and leave anytime they see fit but they don't, they know where home is.

 

[Zahboo]

What about turkeys that aren't people friendly. I am hesitant (really hesitant) to let mine out of their pen because they don't like me; at all. I wanted turkeys that were lovey dovey sweet thangs. Anyway, on top of them getting out of my yard, 2 houses down there is a field that wild turkeys stay in, someones white turkey already joined it and they got fined out of the butt and the turkey got killed. I want mine to stay away from the wilds.

 

[Gloria]

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If you want sweet thangs get you some Bourbon Red babies! Oh my gosh, these two are so sweet it's crazy! To the point of being annoying sometimes.

My tom even pick's the flys off the dog for him!

It's so funny to watch. I can't even sit on my swing in the backyard without them joining me.

Since yours seem to be older it's probably not a good idea to let them free range. Probably not worth the fine you would get if they did join the wilds.

 

[Zahboo]

As bad as it sounds, I'm trying to find someone to trade them. If they can't free range here, they will be in a 8x8 which was made for my bantams... I am trying to find a way to cover my 40x30 pen, but I am broke right now. Hopefully I can sell them and get some younger ones.
Quote:
If you want sweet thangs get you some Bourbon Red babies! Oh my gosh, these two are so sweet it's crazy! To the point of being annoying sometimes.

My tom even pick's the flys off the dog for him!

It's so funny to watch. I can't even sit on my swing in the backyard without them joining me.

Since yours seem to be older it's probably not a good idea to let them free range. Probably not worth the fine you would get if they did join the wilds.