poults first winter coop questions

[valewife]

I need advice to prepare for winter although it is still in the 90's everday here in the south.
My 3 poults are 5 months old now and outgrowing their present coop.
We'll be building something larger but would like to get it right the first time.
These are pets; they free range most of the day and follow me to their coop/run in the evening.
I'm wondering if they will continue to use a coop once they find out they can fly into a tree.
Should I trim the flight feathers and keep them on the ground thru this first winter ?
Or do I provide a 3-sided type shelter and let them decide where to roost ?
I'm in the piedmont of NC, very near the Appalachain foothills, lowest temps are usually in the high teens for a few days, rarely down to single digits.
We get a couple of snow 'events', a few inches. We do have blustery winds all winter.
How much cold can 3 young spoiled turkeys handle?
I need advice- husband is getting alittle tired of remodeling and renovating for my pets.
Thanks, Jeanie
Vale, NC

 

[ColbyNTX]

First of all, welcome! I don't like to clip the wings on freerangers because they can't fly from danger. Turkeys are very cold hardy and I think you will find they will roost outside almost all of the time. I'm sure Steve from sands will chime in because he is not too far from you. Turkeys don't reall use much shelter when roosting. The 3 side design would be fine.

 

[ChickenFarmerIStillLoveU]

I'm watching this thread too, as we've now decided that three (1 tom and 2 hens) of our spring turkeys will not be going to freezer camp. We're planning to keep three over the winter with the hopes of hatching our own eggs next spring.
We're in central New England though, and winter can get rather cold. Currently, our turkeys live in a large A frame coop, 16x12 with a tarp over the entire top to keep the rain away. I'm sure we need to do something else for the winter, but not sure what we should do.

 

[OmaBird]

I live in high elevation. I get consant high winds. Our winters are long. Our last frost is late May and we get in the single didgets. For a few years I had a few turkeys that always perched on my patio cover, even in the heavy snow. It took forever to break them of that habbit. But when it snowed they looked so funny. They would have a foot of snow on the backs. They just stayed there, afraid to jump down into the deep snow. I even had to feed them up there. Stupid Turkeys. But I never lost one in the snow. I think they are tuff birds.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

We are in Eastern, NC and ours stay out all winter long. You will be somewhat colder than we are but not a whole lot. The cold they handle just fine but we get that cold rain just above freezing so all of houses are set up with "porch" roofs on them or we use range roosts so they can get out of the rain. The range roost has worked very well for us and probably would for you also. Since this picture was taken we added sides and covered 1/2 the front. We had an owl that was picking the Cochins off one by one, when we closed it in that took care of that. There are 4 nest boxes in the back with a hinged flap so you can get the eggs and a 30 pound size hanging feeder under.

Steve

 

[doubleostud]

My turkeys seem to wait until it is freezing cold and snowing before they start roosting in trees, but I have never had any problem with them due to the cold. They do just fine here.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
I don't see any turkeys? are the under the snow?

Steve

 

[10ducks]

Quote:
I don't see any turkeys? are the under the snow?

Steve

I was looking at that photo and trying to figure out which snow-covered bumps were turkeys! I have a friend who likes to take pictures of her sled dogs sleeping under the snow--all you see is little puffs of steam coming up through their breathing holes. Beautiful place to live, Oma Bird... I'd love to see those mountains out my window!

 

[OmaBird]

Beautiful place to live, Oma Bird... I'd love to see those mountains out my window!

I love my view. Those are my farthest mountain view and smallest mountain. I have mountain on all sides. Just to the left is our ski slopes that are just 5 minutes away. Great hiking all around. Many movies are made right here durring the summer. We have snow in the mountains until July. It is very pretty.​