Preparing for Winter.

[LadyTurkey]

How to you all prepare for winter with your turkeys?
Just recently we got a heated water feeder so that they wont have frozen water in their coop .
any other tips or anything would be great .

 

[Frosty]

I don't know where you are located, but as long as they have somewhere to get out of the weather, they do ok.

I had one disappear in late Dec/early Jan last winter when we were removing them from a building that collapsed under snow. I finally gave up and figured she either starved or got taken out by a predator. In March when the snow was starting to melt, a neighbor called to tell me that there was a white turkey hen in her yard. I have no idea of where she was or what she was eating, but she made it through several major blizzards and temps down into the -30 range all on her own and looked and felt perfectly healthy when I got her back.

I do usually add a bit of corn to their diet for the winter for the fat and energy... I am in North Dakota.

 

[LadyTurkey]

Im in Montana

We do lock ours up at night so i just wondered what other people do. It gets pretty cold here and my turkeys are sucks and dont fly , the most they have roosted on was the top of their hut lol. Good to know that others turkeys do ok in the really cold weather.

 

[SkyWarrior]

Quote:

Howdy neighbor! I'm in Montana too! What part? I'm near Missoula.

I've never had turkeys through the winter, so this will be interesting. Next year, I'm getting some heritage breeds, so I'm interested in this thread.

 

[LadyTurkey]

Quote:

Howdy neighbor! I'm in Montana too! What part? I'm near Missoula.

I've never had turkeys through the winter, so this will be interesting. Next year, I'm getting some heritage breeds, so I'm interested in this thread.

YAY! A neighbour!!! I never find anyone that lives in montana lol
Im located about 15-20mins outside of great falls

We were actaully in missoula a few weeks back looking at land for sale out there

What kinda of turkeys do you have ?
This will be my first winter here(Originally from canada), and our first winter with turkeys, My husband says its gets pretty cold. So im trying to prepare and make sure they will be comfy and warm in their hut. They are fully feathered so I doubt we would need a heat lamp, so we just got the heated water dish. They have a good strong well bit coop or hut as i call it lol that is pretty free of drafts other then under the door a bit, i want to make sure that little predators cannot get in. Which i dont think they can, but i just want to be sure

 

[SkyWarrior]

Quote:

Howdy neighbor! I'm in Montana too! What part? I'm near Missoula.

I've never had turkeys through the winter, so this will be interesting. Next year, I'm getting some heritage breeds, so I'm interested in this thread.

YAY! A neighbour!!! I never find anyone that lives in montana lol
Im located about 15-20mins outside of great falls

We were actaully in missoula a few weeks back looking at land for sale out there

What kinda of turkeys do you have ?
This will be my first winter here(Originally from canada), and our first winter with turkeys, My husband says its gets pretty cold. So im trying to prepare and make sure they will be comfy and warm in their hut. They are fully feathered so I doubt we would need a heat lamp, so we just got the heated water dish. They have a good strong well bit coop or hut as i call it lol that is pretty free of drafts other then under the door a bit, i want to make sure that little predators cannot get in. Which i dont think they can, but i just want to be sure

Oooh, near Great Falls!

It gets pretty cold there! We're lucky that we have the shelter of the mountains, so we don't get near the cold sink. Last winter was pretty brutal for all of us, but the chickens, ducks and geese weathered it pretty well. I had one Barred Rock roo get a touch of frostbite on his comb, but no other issues. We keep the birds in the barn, mostly. I've got a huge flock of ducks, so they're outside, but I hear they're pretty tough.

Right now I'm down to one broad-breasted white (I butchered the other one on Sunday). The one left is named Thanksgiving Tom, so he won't see the winter. In the spring, I'm getting a whole bunch of turkeys from Porters, so I'll have to come up with a good place for them.

 

[Frosty]

I have a covered run, so my birds are never locked inside the building. They come and go as they please, I just have the doorway to the run downwind from the prevailing wind direction. I am against heat lamps for grown birds, if you decide to use one please make sure it's very secure and where birds can't get to it. More than one barn has burned down because a heat lamp got knocked down. I personally don't feel it's worth the risk but that's just my opinion. I am in north central ND and my birds have seen at least -38 with no problems (other than frost bite on roosters combs, I am going with more of the pea comb varieties because of that).

What part of Canada are you originally from? I am not that familiar with any parts up there, just wondering how the weather will compare to what you are used to.

 

[LadyTurkey]

Im originally from ontario, so im used to very wet damp winters, lots of lake effect snow. I am told there is lots of snow here, but its much more dry.

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
If it's anything like the weather we have here, the wind can be nasty but overall I suffer a lot less than I did in Pennsylvania. 40 degrees and high humidity is bone cold!