Turkey housing/coop?

[happydog]

I got a dozen poults because I figured some wouldn't make it. (I have a toddler.) Well they're all thriving in their brooder box and I need to build them some housing. How does turkey housing differ from chicken housing?

I have a 5'x100' run for them, plus I'd like to let them do some free ranging in the cow pasture as well. I was hoping to get by with a small secure coop, but gosh, they're so big already at 2 months! If a chicken needs 4 square feet per bird, I'm scared to ask how much a full grown turkey needs. Do I need to build them some condos or what?

Thanks!

 

[medan]

either cover the top or make it real high my turkey pullits are about 2 months old and they can fly over 8 feet stright up I suppose you can clip the flight feathers but then if they get in danger it may be a bad idea

 

[ccrawf]

I don't remember the exact number. My turkeys live with my chickens, and roost right along side them. I use it as a place for them to lock them up and sleep securely at night and then let them out in the day time. They don't spent much time actually living and roaming around the coop. So if you make it just a little bigger, coops just like those for chickens should be just fine.

 

[thaiturkey]

I've made some mistakes with the two coops that I have. The first was too small and unsuitable in a number of other ways. The second one was fine for five younger poults. Now they are bigger and have four fully grown birds with them and every evening there is jostling for positions on the perches. Three are now sitting on eggs so there's less pushing and shoving at the moment. I also built a floor to the coop and gave myself a daily sweeping and washing job.

Everything I read says that newly hatched chicks need the kind of care that effectively excludes them from the kind of environment in which older birds can be quite happy. When eggs hatch the poults will be moved to a building where we can easily control their environment and that will make the next coop design much easier. It will have a back wall, roof, mesh wire of some type on three sides and a raised earth floor. It will be big and we will be able to extend it should there ever be a need. There will be perches spaced all over it and food and water placed out of pooping range from the perches. Brooding hens will be moved to coop number two until their eggs hatch or are taken to the incubator. The timber posts and wall will be rough tree trunks, the roof will be reeds. I've learned that they need cool ventilation here rather than cozy walls. The floor will be raked over and the poop kept for compost.

Our birds have the run of the land all day so the coop needs to be sized for night time only. We have walls part of the way around the boundary and post and wire with some trees around the remainder. Any height of less than two metres between the boundary trees has been filled recently with stockade type fencing to above that height. Now we have no trouble with wandering or flying turkeys or trespassing dogs.

I would avoid clipping wings too. Our turkeys enjoy a good flap around from time to time and love to fly after our cat as she makes her escape from them. They may also need to fly from danger at some time. Unless they start to fly away from the land, I won't clip.