so, they're 4 weeks old. Now what?

[2pinkmom]

I've been raising chickens for awhile now, but this is my first shot at turkeys. I have 5 Bronze Breasted poults that hatched 6/6/11. They've been doing well in a 150 gallon Rubbermaid trough brooder in my tack room. I've kept them in there perhaps longer than I should have because I found a nest of baby rats in the barn, and wanted to protect them from mamma and daddy rat. They're now fully feathered and I worry about them overheating in the brooder.

Are they old enough to safely mix with my Cornish X chicks? (also hatched 6/6/11)? If I put them in an empty horse stall, are they going to fly over the half door? We already had a tragedy where the 6th poult jumped out of a smaller brooder, hopped across the room, and somehow got into a 5 gallon horse bucket and drowned

. They're smart but really curious, and I don't want to lose another one because the place isn't turkey-proofed! My aim is for them to range in the barn yard by day and stay in the barn at night. They do seem to be pretty decent fliers - do most people have tops on their turkey pens?

Help! I feel like a dodo with all these questions, but I've come to like the little buggers even though they have this evil glint in their eyes when they look at me. They're apparently plotting to get me before Thanksgiving!

 

[ColbyNTX]

Yes, most people have a top on their pen. Turkeys fly very well, even the broad breasted youngsters. The top is also to keep predators out as well as the poults in! Coons & opossums love them!

 

[Arielle]

My poults are a few days older, so I'm having to relocate mine too.

A friend of a friend lets her poultry roost in the barn on the rafters. Not sure I would like poo dropped on my horses!

Perhaps a dropped ceiling, of sorts, made from poultry wire or poultry netting to keep the birds in. Not so effective at keeping hungry predators out. Maybe put a grill over the top half of the door, set low to the half door to keep out climbers like raccoons. A lot depends on the style of the barn as to how to create a secured space for the poults.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Yes, my poults are always in a secure brooder with a top when they are moved outside. When I have to brood them on the inside, they are in a rubbermaid container in a room with nothing in it that they can get into. It is child proof. They would literally have to fly into a wall for something to happen to them. It's 100% safe.

So, if you put them outside, make sure that there is a top on the brooder.