Putting Turkey Poults outside…

[PolloGal]

I have four 5 week old turkey poults (one Bourbon Red and three Narragansetts) that have outgrown the brooder. They are doing ok, but the space is getting a bit tight for them. I am in TN…so right now it is in the 80s during the day and goes down to the high 50s low 60s at night. I have a really nice, safe outside pen set up for them… They would be inside a new shed that is about 24 sq ft in the shape of a triangle…about 7’ tall…and have an outside area of about 4 sq ft. (We will be building a larger outside area for them onto that beginning of July). The outside area now is a super large dog cage that has been 1/4” hardware cloth completely around it…and their floor in the outside cage is a plastic pan (like the dog cages have) that I will put pine chips in. The outside cage also has a large piece of wood over it to help with rain ( it does get a bit wet in the cage but not really bad), and I shut the door to the outside cage at night…so they wouldn’t have access to outside unless it is daytime. This entire shelter is protected by an electric fence plus we have hardware cloth along the ground all the way around. The inside of the shelter is separated into 2 areas (another 30 sq ft side houses my chickens) by chicken wire and a door…so no bird can get to the other side (unless they learn to open a door)
I also have a heat lamp on the inside area of the pen so they can get warm at night and will be putting some hay along the edges at the other end of the inside pen/roost. I think I would leave the heat lamp there until they reach 8 weeks old.

Everything I read says to wait until 6-8 weeks to put them outside. But they will be really overcrowded in this brooder if I wait that long and I am worried they could start hurting each other...plus they seem uncomfortable. Are they smart enough at 5 weeks of age to know they are cold, and go under that heat lamp to avoid getting any chill if it is 55 degrees at night or if it rains at night? I don’t want to take any chances of losing them. Has anyone put 5 week old turkey poults safely outside with heat and had everything go well?
Thanks for any advice. This is my first experience with them and it has been taxing. They require a lot of attention…and I have really bonded to one of them. I have been letting the 4 of them run/fly practice around my small foyer area just to stretch while I clean the brooder everyday. I just want them to have a happy, healthy life. Right now it appears they could be getting a bit stressed at the lack of space.
So what say you experienced turkey lovers? Will they be ok? (I attached 2 pics)

 

[R2elk]

I have four 5 week old Bourbon Red turkey poults that have outgrown the brooder. They are doing ok, but the space is getting a bit tight for them. I am in TN…so right now it is in the 80s during the day and goes down to the high 50s low 60s at night. I have a really nice pen set up for them… They would be inside a new shed that is about 24 sq ft in the shape of a triangle…about 7’ tall…and have an outside area of about 4 sq ft. (We will be building a larger outside area onto that beginning of July). The outside area is a super large dog cage that has been 1/4” hardware cloth completely around it…and their floor in the outside cage is a plastic pan (like the dog cages have) that I will put pine chips in. The outside cage also has a large piece of wood over it to help with rain ( it does get a bit wet in the cage but not really bad). This entire shelter is protected by an electric fence and hardware cloth along the ground all the way around. The inside of the shelter is separated into 2 areas (another 30 sq ft side houses my chickens) by chicken wire and a door…so no bird can get to the other side (unless they learn to open a door)
Everything I read says to wait until 6-8 weeks to put them outside. But they will be really overcrowded in this brooder if I wait that long and could start hurting each other. I also have a heat lamp on the inside area of the pen so they can get warm at night and will be putting some hay along the edges at the other end of the inside pen/roost. Are they smart enough at that age to know they are cold, and go under that heat lamp and to avoid getting any chill if it rains… Another words to come inside before they get chilled?? I don’t want to take any chances of losing them. Has anyone put 5 week old turkey poults outside in the same temperatures and had everything go well?
Thanks for any advice. This is my first experience with them and it has been taxing. They require a lot of attention…and I have really bonded to one of them. I have been letting the 4 of them run/fly practice around my small foyer area just to stretch while I clean the brooder everyday. I just want them to have a happy, healthy life. Right now it appears they could be getting a bit stressed at the lack of space.

My poults are out of the brooder by the time they are 2 weeks old. At that time they are flying out on their own so I move them to a grow out pen. My grow out pen is approximately 8' x 8'.

24 sq. ft. isn't a very big space for 5 growing poults. Having it in a triangle shape presents tight corners that could be problematic. 4 sq. ft. as outside space is essentially nothing.

At 4 weeks old my poults are off of heat and sleeping on roosts.

Your main problem appears to be confining them to too small of spaces.

As adults they will need a minimum of 10 sq. ft. of clear floor area per turkey in a coop. They will need much more run space such as a minimum of 50 sq. ft. per adult turkey.

Once they are fully feathered, getting wet will not hurt them.

 

[PolloGal]

My poults are out of the brooder by the time they are 2 weeks old. At that time they are flying out on their own so I move them to a grow out pen. My grow out pen is approximately 8' x 8'.

24 sq. ft. isn't a very big space for 5 growing poults. Having it in a triangle shape presents tight corners that could be problematic. 4 sq. ft. as outside space is essentially nothing.

At 4 weeks old my poults are off of heat and sleeping on roosts.

Your main problem appears to be confining them to too small of spaces.

As adults they will need a minimum of 10 sq. ft. of clear floor area per turkey in a coop. They will need much more run space such as a minimum of 50 sq. ft. per adult turkey.

Once they are fully feathered, getting wet will not hurt them.

The entire area I will put them in at this age is just until they are about 12 weeks old. Like I mentioned…in July we are expanding the area. And…we are not keep all 5 of these little ones. I just need to know that the space I have right now for them will be sufficient until they are a bit older.
What do you mean by ‘tight corners’? Did you see the photos? I don’t think there are tight corners…but let me know what you see. And what temps do you have them in at 4 weeks old? Thanks.

 

[PolloGal]

Does anyone else have them outside at night with a heat lamp at this age?.Just want to be sure they will be warm enough if it gets to the 50’s at night.

 

[kfelton0002]

Does anyone else have them outside at night with a heat lamp at this age?.Just want to be sure they will be warm enough if it gets to the 50’s at night.

I put mine outside at around 5 or so weeks with no heat lamp. They are fully feathered at that age and no longer need a heat lamp. They can huddle or pile for warmth if its cold and smother each other and corners is where they usually do that. I think that is what r2elk meant. You can remedy this by adding roosts and checking on them at dark and making sure they are all on roosts. Turkeys instinctively want to roost so you may not have any problem, just watch them. It has been as low as 40 at night since I've had mine outside and they've done fine. They have a covered pen and it stays dry.

 

[kfelton0002]

As they grow you are going to want to increase their outdoor space significantly. Right now they are still small but they don't stay small long. I would be working on building a bigger run and coop to accommodate how many turkeys you have now so they aren't overcrowded as they grow.

 

[PolloGal]

I put mine outside at around 5 or so weeks with no heat lamp. They are fully feathered at that age and no longer need a heat lamp. They can huddle or pile for warmth if its cold and smother each other and corners is where they usually do that. I think that is what r2elk meant. You can remedy this by adding roosts and checking on them at dark and making sure they are all on roosts. Turkeys instinctively want to roost so you may not have any problem, just watch them. It has been as low as 40 at night since I've had mine outside and they've done fine. They have a covered pen and it stays dry.

Ok. Thanks. I just wanted to be sure the temps would be safe for them. They do not look fully feathered yet…so I am putting the heat lamp for nighttime only right now...maybe just for a week. I will keep checking on them.

 

[PolloGal]

As they grow you are going to want to increase their outdoor space significantly. Right now they are still small but they don't stay small long. I would be working on building a bigger run and coop to accommodate how many turkeys you have now so they aren't overcrowded as they grow.

Yes…we are expanding the outside run to about 200 sq ft of enclosed pen next week and trying to figure a way to put poultry netting outside of that for daytime only (when we are home…which is ALOT) so that they will be inside the electric fencing with a covering over top so they can’t fly out. That would give them a very huge area of pasture…acreage even….if we can figure a fairly inexpensive way to hold up the poultry net and protect the turkeys from hitting the elec. fence. We are hoping to work on that part next month. I would love for them to have acreage to fly. I really only want to have about 6 of them…giving them tons of space to avoid issues. My only problem right now is the inside roost…it will probably only comfortably fit 3-4 adults….I will have to take a look at how I can extend that without ‘rebuilding‘ it. Maybe adding a taller ‘foyer‘ type of structure large enough for 2 or 3 Right against the doorway where the cage currently is. The cage will be removed next week when we start the outside area. I also have a large calf hutch I can use in a pinch if I need to.

 

[R2elk]

My only problem right now is the inside roost…it will probably only comfortably fit 3-4 adults…

Adult turkeys need much more roosting space than chickens. As adults they do not like roosting next to each other.

Another thing to consider when building turkey roosts is the amount of space they require to get down from the roost. My adults often land 30' away from their 6' roosts.

 

[kfelton0002]

Yes…we are expanding the outside run to about 200 sq ft of enclosed pen next week and trying to figure a way to put poultry netting outside of that for daytime only (when we are home…which is ALOT) so that they will be inside the electric fencing with a covering over top so they can’t fly out. That would give them a very huge area of pasture…acreage even….if we can figure a fairly inexpensive way to hold up the poultry net and protect the turkeys from hitting the elec. fence. We are hoping to work on that part next month. I would love for them to have acreage to fly. I really only want to have about 6 of them…giving them tons of space to avoid issues. My only problem right now is the inside roost…it will probably only comfortably fit 3-4 adults….I will have to take a look at how I can extend that without ‘rebuilding‘ it. Maybe adding a taller ‘foyer‘ type of structure large enough for 2 or 3 Right against the doorway where the cage currently is. The cage will be removed next week when we start the outside area. I also have a large calf hutch I can use in a pinch if I need to.

That sounds like plenty of room! I'm about to put my babies in a larger run also as soon as my husband puts the netting over the run to keep them from flying out. There is a huge rose of Sharon in the middle of the run that's about 7-8 feet tall that will act as a center support for the netting. I planted the rose of Sharon in the run for extra shade several years ago but I think it will work out. You can clip the primaries of one wing and that will help keep them from flying the fence. I know for a fact it will keep heavier gobblers in because I kept my wild turkey gobbler's wing clipped and he stayed in our backyard while I had him. The fence was only 4 feet but he was too heavy to fly over with one wing clipped.

Eventually most of mine will free range in my goat lot. I have quite a few more males than I will need so I plan on butchering the extra ones when they are old enough.