minimum space and house ideas for turkeys

[teenieborch]

HI!
I'm very excited to have found this site and have been reading quite a bit about turkeys. I currently have 5 chickens and am thinking about raising 2-3 turkeys specifically for dinner!
I would like to create a space just for the turkeys to keep them healthy but am not sure on minimum space (they cannot be free range, I'm in town on a 50x100 lot) and what a simple house could look like. I'd rather not spend a lot on building supplies for an experiment, so your absolute bare bones experiences would be appreciated!
also, how long does it take to raise a turkey from day olds to ready to butcher? I'm not looking for a 38 pound turkey!
thanks so much in advance!
Christine in Portland OR

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

My turkey coop was 4x6 with a 5x8 attached run. that worked fine for 4 Bronze.
I butchered at about 12 weeks old, 1 was 38lbs 2 were 28, and 1 was 24. If you dont want to max out their weight I'd just keep an eye on the birds and the food bin. When you can envision them as a good size for the oven and the food bin is emtpy its time to butcher.

 

[MissPrissy]

I raised 2 hens last fall, bourbon reds. My coop house was 8x10. They grew out real nice with minimal effort of my part.

 

[teenieborch]

thanks for the information! So they need a set-up similar to chickens? I assume no nest box but how about a perch to roost on? Can they sleep on the ground?
I'm getting excited, my daughter thinks the whole idea is barbaric. We'll see what happens!
Christine

 

[ivan3]

Welcome, teenieborch! American Livestock Breeds Conservancy has a thirteen chapter guide that can be read online and/or downloaded (if you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, guide is in Adobe PDF format, that is a free download as well). It covers everything but processing. I've included a link to that, as well, from the U.Florida.

http://www.albc-usa.org/

(click on downloads)

And, as your daughter would say: the `barbaric' info.:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AA188

Just don't name them or spend much time around them. What they are missing in `raw smarts', they more than make up for in sociability.

I'd suggest either all hens or all toms. A same sex flock will get along just fine - less work than chooks. After they navigate the risks of`poulthood' (have to be careful with keeping them warm enough and making sure they learn to drink and eat), they are rather low maintenance.

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

We used a couple of 2x4's on their side for roosts. I have heard if you dont provide a roost that laying on the ground can bruise/damage their breasts.

 

[cgjsmith]

We are going to be housing our turkeys in a hoop house. it was fairly easy to make. They are inn the barn right now till it warms up a little Next year we will wrap the hoophouse in plastic. Crystal

 

[teenieborch]

Crystal,

What is a hoop house? What experience caused you to decide to wrap it in plastic this year? Thanks in advance,
Christine

 

[patandchickens]

(they cannot be free range, I'm in town on a 50x100 lot)

When I was a kid in the 70s, a family around the corner from us (the burbs of Philly) raised at least one big white turkey and several guinea fowl. The reason I know is that they got out. At my parents' house I still have an old photo of a "low speed chase" as the escaped turkey was herded back down the street towards home. Very comical. I recommend preventing escapes unless you want to massively entertain the neighbors

(They never did get the guinea fowl back -- the rotten things haunted the neighborhood for the better part of a year, getting stuck in peoples' garages and making unexpected earsplitting noises outside peoples' bedrooms at 6 a.m. All in all I'd suggest sticking with turkeys, in town <g>)


Pat​