Hello, I'm very new at this. I purchased this tom and hen a few days ago. I've let them free range so far and have some questions.
1. They keep roosting on top of my barns and trees at night, should i be worried about them leaving.
2. When do they start laying in south TX.
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I can't speak to exactly when they should start laying in TX. I've been told that they will lay their first spring, but birds tend to see spring as when the days are long enough, not when the weather is good. In the southern states some people are getting their first eggs right now, so it could be any time for you. Go back several pages on this thread and there is some discussion about this subject, as well as nestboxes for turkeys. The laying cycle may be interrupted somewhat because they are in a new home, but that shouldn't last too long.
As to whether they will leave, that depends on where you are and what's around you. Think of it from their point of view -- they're suddenly in a new place, they don't know where they are, they can fly anywhere, and they need to decide where to live. Is your place the best choice? Is there an obvious source of food, water, protection from predators, a nice place to spend the day foraging, lots of places to have a nest, etc. All the basic turkey needs. Or is it a bit scary there -- no cover from raptors while on the ground, a dog that chases them, other animals that pick on them because they're new, difficult to find the food and water, nothing to do or nothing to forage, no fence to protect against coyotes/stray dogs/whatever you've got around there that's dangerous, etc? Is the property next door more interesting to them? They're new in town, have wings to take them anywhere, and will likely explore their surroundings. Will they have reason to come back, or will they find a place they like better?
Do you have owls around there that are big enough to take a turkey out of a tree, or kill it on the branch? Are there any other night predators around that can fly or climb to where they are roosting that are big enough to injure a turkey?
Everyone's situation is different. Lots of people on this thread free range, and lots of people keep their birds penned. Many that free range will pen them up at night for safety from predators, and some don't. It all depends on your philosophy about raising birds, what kind of predators and other dangers are in your area, what kind of facilities you have available to you, whether you live in the middle of no-where or whether you have close neighbors that don't want your turkeys in their yards, whether you have 2 or 200 birds, whether they are tame, etc, etc .
Bottom line, yes they might leave, because they can. Whether they will or not depends on everything above and probably a lot more. They are less likely to leave if your place is the only source of food anywhere around, and they feel safe there. Once they are familiar with their new home and establish their routine they are less likely to leave, but that's not a guarantee. But they will probably still explore the surrounding area. If you like free ranging them but want to make it more difficult for them to leave, you can clip their wings. (I left a detailed post about how to do this a week or so ago on this thread.) Clipping their wings will make it difficult for them to get enough lift to fly, but won't prevent them from jumping over shorter fences. It will also make it more difficult to escape predators, so take that into consideration before you decide. If they are a bonded pair that tend to stick together, you may only have to clip the wings of one bird to keep them both around.
I free range my seven birds, live in the Pacific NW where my main daytime predators are eagles, red-tail hawks, coyotes, and stray dogs. Their area is one acre of mowed pasture with multiple trees and some lower bushes, surrounded by a 5 foot fence. They were raised here since they were 3 days old, so this is the only home they know, and they are quite tame. But they got to an age where they were flying everywhere -- to the back woods, the open side pasture, my neighbors lawns (where there could be chemicals on the grass), down the street to eat wild blackberries, etc. One day my neighbor saw the whole flock walking down through another neighbor's yard towards a main street, and luckily herded them back onto my property before they got hit by a car. As much as I hated to do it, I trimmed the wings on the hens only. This has stopped 99% of the exploring. The toms still occasionally go over the fence, but come back immediately when the girls don't follow. The hens can still get over the 5 foot fence, but it takes a lot of effort so they've stopped trying. I did need to put a 3 ft high table near their 7 ft high roosts so they could still get up that high, and I had to thickly pad the areas where they land when coming down off their roosts, since it took a few days before they figured out how to land without crashing down. But because they now rarely leave their yard, they are now safer. Because we have large owls and raccoons and coyotes, they are kept in a predator-proof pen at night, but are let out an hour after first light (the eagles tend to hunt more during the first hour of the day).
Good luck with your new turkeys. They're beautiful. I'm really jealous of the green grass and sunshine you've got in your picture.
