raising turkeys under a deck

[irf1983]

Anyone have experience free ranging midget whites? I'm considering fencing in a raised deck for a safe house at night, and free ranging during the day. Are they easy enough to herd into a run at night? do they range far? any help would be great. thanks!

 

[crj]

I'm new at turkeys. I have 3 and no way will mine go in anything at night. They will go ON a pen, a tree but they won't be penned up. Mine just don't like it. I don't know about your type of turkey but I'm going to guess they may be the same way.

 

[birdbrain5]

i just got turkeys too, and the man i got them from said to do the same as you would chickens. lock them in the coop or wherever you want them to stay for a few weeks, then let them out and they will know to go back. at least im hoping they do

 

[crj]

birdbrain5
Today 9:26 pmi just got turkeys too, and the man i got them from said to do the same as you would chickens. lock them in the coop or wherever you want them to stay for a few weeks, then let them out and they will know to go back. at least im hoping they do

Yes, this is true. I had my Tom in the coop for about 3 days. Usually I would keep my new birds in for 2 to 3 weeks. The only reason I let him out is because he was beating himself up in the pen and I didn't want him to hurt himself. He kept smashing his chest into the chainlink fence. I even put the 2 turkey hens in with him but that only made one of the hens act like him. Although, she behaved that way when she was in the pen when she first came. So, I let them out. He stays around but at first he would hide behind the coops. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have the turkey hens. All is good now.

What I have noticed is once they free range they will put themselves up high for the night. They do this earlier then chickens. I even gave up grabbing them from there high perch spot and putting them in a pen. Not worth the hassle. Yikes.​

 

[ColbyNTX]

they won't sleep under a deck!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

steve of sands poultry has a really nic pic of his midget whites in a nest box under a raised deck roof. looks so professional.

 

[Olive Hill]

Most turkeys don't go inside at night like chickens. Not willingly anyway. They prefer to be out and to roost as high as they can possible get. If the roost you install under your deck is as high as they can possibly get, you've got a good chance of it. If not, I wouldn't hold your breath. And keeping them in for weeks, even months doesn't work either, ime. They'll return to that roost spot for a couple days. Maybe a week. Until they get up the guts to try a different one.

The nice thing about turkeys is that they do tend to street smart about it. As someone else said, they choose nice high roosting spots and they put themselves to bed earlier than the chickens which reduces the chance of an attack at dusk.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Did someone say roosting high? How about a nice, tall pecan tree to roost.