Seed blocks?

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Ok.....those are some good ideas. However, the ground is practically frozen here, so there's not much they can forage. I'll pick up an extra feeder, I have some 18% pellets that I can put up here closer to the house. Our house sits on a hill and the farm /coop/goat yard is just down the hill.

Where do you house your turkeys?

I give mine hay to forage through and stand on. You would be surprised how much they can get from a bale of mixed grass hay. Look for stuff with seed heads and lots of leaf blades. Stuff like clover, alfalfa, and Timothy. Our also contains other various grasses and weeds for variety.

 

[CPT]

I think you can make your own flock block, gotta figure that one out. The mealworm cakes can be pricey. Good idea for the hay / grass bale. I need to go pick up a few bales anyway. I think I have a few of those left in my hay barn. We mostly have alfalfa.

We put our turkeys in the chicken coop right now at night, since there are coyotes about now. There's a nice heat lamp in there, and the turkeys/chickens/rooster all seem to get along. There's plenty of room, so there's no overcrowding. We have guinea fowl too! They are interesting, funny, prehistoric looking birds. We have 9 of them. They're actually good watchdogs; we saw them chase a cat out of our yard. They let out their alarm call if something is wrong.....we don't mind them at all. Our turkeys follow them around the property.

 

[Rubysword]

It's pretty easy to breed mealworms. I've got a setup in my tiny closet that is pretty effective. As to figuring out how to make flock blocks...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/post-your-flock-block-recipies.1210801/

 

[Smuvers Farm]

It's pretty easy to breed mealworms. I've got a setup in my tiny closet that is pretty effective. As to figuring out how to make flock blocks...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/post-your-flock-block-recipies.1210801/

I have a meal worm set up in my dining room... it sits right under our Berkey.... NO ONE knows it's full of worms unless we tell them! Ha!

 

[R2elk]

Ok.....those are some good ideas. However, the ground is practically frozen here, so there's not much they can forage. I'll pick up an extra feeder, I have some 18% pellets that I can put up here closer to the house. Our house sits on a hill and the farm /coop/goat yard is just down the hill.

Where do you house your turkeys?

The ground is frozen here too but they dig through the snow for the Russian Olives. My turkeys have access to the coop during the day but spend the nights outside on their roosts in all kinds of weather and temperatures. Their roosts are in a sheltered corner protected from the prevailing SW wind by the coop.

There's a nice heat lamp in there,

Adult turkeys do not need supplemental heat during the winter. Providing supplemental heat prevents them from properly acclimating to the winter temperatures. I have a roofed area to provide shade for my turkeys. You would be surprised how often they seek out the shade on a sunny day when the temperatures are in the sub zeros.

 

[CPT]

True, but I don't know what else to do, as we have coyotes that roam through this area in the winter time. I've actually heard a pack of them in the field behind my house. I can't risk leaving them out at night to roost, as our property isn't entirely fenced in. I put them in the coop at night, but we have window ventilation in there.

 

[R2elk]

True, but I don't know what else to do, as we have coyotes that roam through this area in the winter time. I've actually heard a pack of them in the field behind my house. I can't risk leaving them out at night to roost, as our property isn't entirely fenced in. I put them in the coop at night, but we have window ventilation in there.

There is nothing wrong with putting them in the coop at night, just don't give supplemental heat.

I can hear coyotes here every night also. I have a well fenced run that the turkeys spend their nights in. The section of the run where their roost are is covered with flight netting which seems to deter the owls. Owls that have gotten under the flight netting have freaked out and never have gotten under it again.

The turkey's free range area is about 2 acres that is enclosed in 6' high 2"x4" welded wire. Since I put that fencing up, I have not found any evidence of deer, coyotes or dogs inside the perimeter fence. I have lost more poultry to people letting their dogs run loose than to anything else.

 

[CPT]

Cool! I hope we get to that point too. Sounds like a really nice setup. Just can't afford a large enclosed turkey area now. Maybe next year. Thanks for the suggestions