turkey questions

[atr04screw]

I think I am going to get some turkeys soon and I don't know much about turkeys at all. I am probably only gonna get 3, 2 hens and a gobbler, most likely eastern wild turkeys. I am planning making them a turkey tractor since there is only going to be 3 or them. Here are my questions :
1. How much room do they need? I was thinking an 8'x4' base, and about 5 foot tall.
2. How often do they lay eggs and do they need a nesting box to lay the eggs in or do they just lay them on the ground?
3. Do I need to give them roosts? I know wild turkeys sleep in trees, so do they need roosts like a chicken? Or will they sleep on the ground?
I think thats all my questions for now, thanks in advance.

 

[ColbyNTX]

3 turkeys need a min of a 10X10 but larger is better. Yes they need a roost and a nest box. Turkeys don't always use a nest box but most of mine do. You will probabbly not find eastern wild turkeys unless you get them from a wildlife rehaber. There are many people who have and sell "wild" turkeys but they are usually a bronze. It's like ameracaunas vs easter egger chickens. Look up eastern wild turkeys on your state or anothers parks and wildlife site. Study the easterns, feathers, body, legs, ect then see if you can find any breeder selling ones that look excatally like those. I never have but good luck!

 

[atr04screw]

Thanks for the reply! So 10x10 and is 5' high okay? with the roosts 2.5-3' off the ground? I found a webiste yesterday that sold all sorts of poultry and they had domestic turkeys and wild turkeys, and in the wild turkey section they had wild turkey poults. I wasn't going to get them from there but I figured if I found them that quick that they wouldn't be too hard to find. I've hunted turkeys in the wild for years and know there body, feathers, and all that pretty well.

 

[Olive Hill]

10x10 absolute minimum for 3 turkeys and you will need to move that often. IMO it should also be taller than 5ft. They like to roost high at 5 ft tall overall your roosts can only be a couple feet off the ground.

My honest advice is to consider free ranging them, mentally they do much better when they have ample roaming space and do not feel confined. They're also more enjoyable to have around. And it reduces management ten fold, as well.

 

[atr04screw]

I've considered free range, but they wouldn't last more than a couple of weeks. The coyote and fox population is so high where I live that they would get eaten pretty quick. Making it higher is no problem, I can make it 8 ft high or even 10 ft if that is better.

 

[Olive Hill]

You might be surprised. We have coyote, fox, raccoon, mink, stray dogs, my own dogs who up until recently were not poultry friendly, etc, etc. When they're young you need to have them penned for protection, of course, but you need to that for homing purposes anyway. Once they are grown however, they're really very street-smart for the most part. Ours don't even go in at night. They roost high in the trees.

 

[atr04screw]

I have a few more questions if you don't mind.
Can you eat turkey eggs? I have been reading about them laying and it says that they go broody alot. As long as I get the eggs the same day that they lay them then I should be able to eat them right?
Do domestic turkeys have a spring breeding season like wild turkeys? Or do they breed year round?

 

[Olive Hill]

Yes, you can eat turkey eggs. And yes, they have a spring breeding season. You'll find the occassional turkey hen that lays year round and you'll find still others that lay intermittently spring through fall, laying a clutch in spring, taking a break, laying a clutch in summer, taking a break and then repeating in fall as well, but as a general rule their breeding season is in the spring.

 

[atr04screw]

What is a clutch? Sorry for all the questions but don't know much about turkeys.

 

[Olive Hill]

A group of eggs. Usually 12.