Turkey Pen setup and prep…(prev used for ckns)

[R2elk]

And I understand what you are saying about them fighting…but like I said in my post earlier…there are times when it can work too. They are still young right now….10 weeks and some are younger (6 weeks). I am going slowly through the introduction process with them right now so they can stay together until some go to their new homes. They are too different in size to put them all together right now.

You might be surprised and how well different age classes of young turkeys can get along when put together.

Last year's mother of the year raised 27 poults that were as young as one week old through 6 weeks old at the same time. This year I added 2 week old poults to 5 week old poults without any issues.

 

[PolloGal]

You might be surprised and how well different age classes of young turkeys can get along when put together.

Last year's mother of the year raised 27 poults that were as young as one week old through 6 weeks old at the same time. This year I added 2 week old poults to 5 week old poults without any issues.

That’s good to know. I will be putting 7 week olds with about 11/12 week olds. There is such a size difference…so it’s a bit scary…not wanting anything to happen to the little ones. Right now they can see/peck each other through a hardware cloth door adjoining both pens. I am thinking I should let this go on for about a week or 2??

 

[R2elk]

That’s good to know. I will be putting 7 week olds with about 11/12 week olds. There is such a size difference…so it’s a bit scary…not wanting anything to happen to the little ones. Right now they can see/peck each other through a hardware cloth door adjoining both pens. I am thinking I should let this go on for about a week or 2??

You can try letting them together and watch for any aggression from the older birds. They should be fine together. My 2 week olds were only about half the size of the 5 week olds.

 

[HeritageFan]

Listen to @R2elk before you listen to me
I had two turkey hens hatch in late April
(1 Holland white and 1 bourbon red).
I had them with some other poults that hatched about a week after they did. I had someone buy the younger poults w the ducklings that hatched at the same time. Then I had another batch of poults that hatched about 10 days later- so these girls were about 3 weeks old at the time.
My eggs in the ‘bator hatched a day+ early, so I was scrambling to get things set for the new babies. I set a divider in the brooder, put the “older” girls on one side, and was moving babies into the brooder as they were hatching.
I had to leave for just a minute, and when I came back, both of the “older” girls had gotten out of the “pen” in the brooder.
I decided to stand back and just watch.
The older girls took turns pulling the still damp babies out of the pile, with a beak or a wing, took them to the water, showed them how to drink, then took them to the food, and waited until the babies took a bite- then the pushed them back to the hot spot in the brooder, and pulled out another baby- rinse and repeat. It was fascinating to watch.
Needless to say, those girls will be staying here.
They are also being excellent “mamas” to the babies that came in- about 5 weeks younger than they are. But they corral the smaller poults and set them like they are their babies. Esp the Holland White.
We had a cold morning a week or so ago, and the HW had all 15 of the babies under her- I went to check on them around dawn and all 15 heads popped out between her wings, chest, and tail... wish I’d have gotten a pic. It was adorable.
Bourbon Reds are beautiful, but tend to be more reactive/ neurotic IMO
But. The “moral” of the story is, keep an eye on everyone, and don’t feel like your (slightly) older turkeys will be mean to the smaller kids
These two are def hens- idk if that really makes a difference, but. They have been the most amazing babysitters