Tell me about Narragansetts

[jandlpoultry]

Recently DH and I added 5 Narragansetts to our flock. We got 4 hens and 1 tom. We built them a coop over the weekend, and I wonder how many nest boxes we need for 4 hens, and how big? Will they be like my chickens and all try to lay in one box? What is the probability of them laying outside of the coop if I free range?

 

[JHorn91180]

I use nest boxes that r shallow and r about 2 feet long by about 18 inches wide. Narris will lay out and hide thier nest if being free ranged. I cant let mine out during the laying season b4 about 5 pm or she will begin a clutch in the nearby woods. A couple months ago I couldnt find her nest and she had decided to go broody that night and didnt return to the hen house. We looked with flashlights for hours for her. The next morning we found her limping with one wing broke and missing many feathers in tha wing and tail. Happy to report she has fully recovered. She preffers her nest in the hen house to be anywhere from 2 to 4 feet off the ground in a corner. The sides only need to b about 4 to 6 inches so that is deep enough to add straw or hay. They will nestle a spot and in the back to lay and after a clutch usaually consisting of 10 to 14 eggs will go broody. Good luck with your Narris. they r beautiful birds and this type of nest has always worked well for all of my turkeys Narris or not.

 

[jandlpoultry]

Thank you for the reply. Guess I will plan on keeping them up during breeding season. Is it common for them to breed in the fall? I've read that some turkeys will, but couldn't find anything about Narragansetts. And you are right they are beautiful birds. Pictures don't do them justice. When we were looking for a turkey breed to raise we didn't even consider them. We were offered these birds in a trade, and couldn't turn them down once we had seem them.

 

[JHorn91180]

Actually I have had several species of Turkeys lay a final clutch in Oct even after takeing a break but after that they r def done for the year. They use length of day like most birds to time thier breeding season. Temp doesnt matter. U can put them under artificial light during the winter months for 12 hours a day and they will think its breeding season and begin laying. Breeding season takes alot outta them tho so if u do that just get a couple clutches and give them a break til thier actual breeding season occurs. Provide them with lots of food and extra protien as its important for them to keep thier weight on during the cold months and some of the nutrients will b going to produceing eggs if u do that.

 

[jandlpoultry]

I won't be adding artificial light for them, or any of my birds. If they do lay it would be great, but I can wait .One hen is still moulting, so I'd rather have them healthy, and let them do it naturally. But dang it, it would be neat if they decided to on their own.

 

[Lagerdogger]

Make sure there are plenty of nesting sites. You don't want them sharing nest boxes. When this happens, one hen will start incubating while others are laying. Then, when some turkeys hatch, all the hens will think they pulled off a clutch and abondon the eggs in the nest to care for the poults running around. This spring, I had two Golden Narragansetts share a nest box. I couldn't get a good count of eggs, but they eventually hatched five and abandoned 27. Over the next month, I managed to hatch 25 of the 27 eggs, one a day...day after day...what a pain.

 

[jandlpoultry]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll tell my husband we defiantly need a box per hen, and make them big.

 

[Lagerdogger]

Actually, if you make them smaller, they are less likely to share.. 18 X 18 is plenty big enough.

 

[jandlpoultry]

Well I think I might need more than 4 boxes now

, or another coop. DH came home from work with 4 Spanish Blacks.They are still to young to sex, so they all may be young Toms, but I don't want to cross them.

 

[JHorn91180]

Actually, if you make them smaller, they are less likely to share.. 18 X 18 is plenty big enough.

This is probably a good idea. We used to have several horses so I just recycled the feed boxes for the horses from the barn stalls and mounted them as turkey nest and they work great. I did use a long milk crate once that was about twice as long as a regular milk crate and altho more then one turkey couldnt fit in it they would try anyways and set on top of each other. Anyways just dont make the nest very deep as I learned the hard way from useing the crate and a deep wooden box that if they have to jump down in the nest they will land on the eggs and break them. Its better to have a little room for them to step in and and have a seat. Congrats on the new spanish poults. They r pretty turkeys. I currently have a narri hen, a royal palm hen and a mix breed hen. My Tom is a blue slate. I dont really breed or raise many each year anymore. I just like haveing some around. This year I will prob hatch some from the RP hen just to see if they come out looking like a blue RP from being crossed to the slate male. Anyways it dont bother me if they r mixed cause I dont sell eggs and like to be suprised with each hatch and have some variation. Good luck with your Turkeys and hope u enjoy yours as much as I like having mine around.