Today we become first time owners of adult turkeys. We really know nothing about raising them, but we feel confident we'll pick up do's and dont's rather quickly.
We have raised chickens and currently do. We have a large chicken pen/coop and have 24 mixed breed chickens.
After picking up the turkeys today (male and female) we thought they'd be best suited to go in our Pygmy Goats pen. It's a fenced in area....large area to fun around in. I added a dog igloo, which is large enough for both of them. I added hay inside of it and introduced the female to it, but she didn't care for it. The fenced in area is 5-feet tall, which isn't tall enough to keep the turkeys in. She made her way out and he flew on top of the goats house and could easily fly out at that point.
This is a new home for them and we feared the foxes, racoons and or possums would feast on them. I don't know that they would, but they have attacked our chickens before.
Should we worry about the foxes, racoons and possums attacking our turkeys? The turkeys are large.
For fear that the turkeys may get attacked, we moved them in the chicken coop and they were fine. No problems. The female found a cozy spot with hay and laid down. The male accompanied her. The chickens were fine. In fact, one of the hens cozied up next to the female turkey and all was fine.
The chicken coop is certainly large for all of them and then some...
Should I worry about the varmints? Largest varmints we have here are the red foxes.
Any other information about turkeys any of you would like to pass on to us new owners is appreciated.
We have raised chickens and currently do. We have a large chicken pen/coop and have 24 mixed breed chickens.
After picking up the turkeys today (male and female) we thought they'd be best suited to go in our Pygmy Goats pen. It's a fenced in area....large area to fun around in. I added a dog igloo, which is large enough for both of them. I added hay inside of it and introduced the female to it, but she didn't care for it. The fenced in area is 5-feet tall, which isn't tall enough to keep the turkeys in. She made her way out and he flew on top of the goats house and could easily fly out at that point.
This is a new home for them and we feared the foxes, racoons and or possums would feast on them. I don't know that they would, but they have attacked our chickens before.
Should we worry about the foxes, racoons and possums attacking our turkeys? The turkeys are large.
For fear that the turkeys may get attacked, we moved them in the chicken coop and they were fine. No problems. The female found a cozy spot with hay and laid down. The male accompanied her. The chickens were fine. In fact, one of the hens cozied up next to the female turkey and all was fine.
The chicken coop is certainly large for all of them and then some...
Should I worry about the varmints? Largest varmints we have here are the red foxes.
Any other information about turkeys any of you would like to pass on to us new owners is appreciated.
