My turkey hens are just stupid

[crj]

I don't know what it is with my young turkey hens but they are just stupid. They want to sleep in the cold rain rather then come in where it's dry. All day they will duck under things, go into an open pen with a roof but at night will roost on top of a different pen in the cold rain while everyone else gets cozy in there coops. Crazy birds.

 

[Dogfish]

My tom comes in out of the rain, the hens hang out in the rain.

 

[Breac]

I don't think it's stupidity as much as it is hardiness and bull-headedness. Excluding the BB's, most turkeys aren't that far removed from their wild cousins. They are naturally hardy birds meant to withstand the heat and the freezing cold. I don't think it's that turkeys are too stupid to not come in when it's cold and rainy, it's that the turkeys are perfectly able to hang out in such fowl... er.... FOUL weather without adverse effects.

As far as roosting outside during the night rather than inside where it's dry, it's a combination of hardiness and aversion to cramped quarters. All of the turkeys I own will sleep outside too, even if there's a snowstorm coming. It's been four years for some of them, and so far, no ill effects from the weather. I just think they don't like enclosed spaces during the night.

 

[ColbyNTX]

Yeah, the cold and wet doesn't bother them at all I can see. I always thought mine would roost in the old chicken house I have that is 100X25 yards with rafters all through it or in the many trees but most of them roost on a 10X10 dog pen on the metal rails!

 

[kuntrygirl]

That's normal for my turkeys.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

all of mine insist on sleeping in the open even down to 0 degrees, since the tom is dark you can really see the frost on his feathers in the AM.

 

[turkaholic]

I have never provided a roof and only some barrier from the prevailing winter winds. Wilds or domestics, they all seem to prefer the open space. If you ever get a chance to feel a gobbler's bare head in the frigid cold, you will be amazed how warm it is. They produce a lot of heat themselves!

 

[crj]

All this is very good to know. They do not like being inside at all. During the day they will go in and out of an open pen but that's about it. I will let them stay outside from now on. They like it so much better. Here I thought I was doing them a favor.......... LOL. Maybe it's me that's not so bright.... hahaha.