Hi all,
My turkey tom Del, who's about two years old, has stopped roosting as of about six weeks ago. He's moulting presently (has had a horrid bald spot on his breast for quite some, which concerned me until I looked it up here and saw that that's not uncommon, though I don't recall it happening last year); I understand that moulting can take a lot out of birds, make them weaker, so could that be why he's not jumping onto a roost at night?
The other thing is, he stopped roosting just after the two turkey hens went broody, and I'm wondering if that wasn't the cause.
Here's the setup:
The hens always roosted on the left side of the turkey house, together, and Del always rested on his own perch on the right side. When the hens went broody it was in a wall-mounted hay manger on the right side of the house, directly above Del's usual roost. As broody hens can be, they were pretty nasty—hissing and pumping themselves up whenever one came near the nest—and I was thinking maybe he was initimidated by them and gave up his roost. But I was surprised that he didn't take the hens' usual roost, on the left side. It is smaller, a bit closer to the wall, so I was thinking that maybe he felt he coudn't fit there.
The brooding didn't take: after about 5 weeks I forced the hens off the nest and threw the eggs away, and removed the hay from the manger. That broke the broody cycle, but every night, now, one of the hens roosts on the top of the cast-iron manger, and one on the perch directly below it—that is, Del's usual roost on the right side. Every night when I lock them up, Del is standing or pacing—looking as if he wants to roost but not knowing where to do so.
Yesterday I put a longer roosting bar on the left side, farther from the wall, in hopes that that would give Del more space to roost. But last night the same thing: just standing and/or pacing.
Any suggestions/ideas as to why he might not be perching? Might he start again in the fall when he's done with his moult? He seems quite healthy otherwise: good color, and gobbling, strutting and displaying for the hens all the time.
And, two more questions:
1. I understand that for developing poults (and young chickens, too) it's important to roost for proper foot/leg development. Is the same true for a two-year-old tom? That is, if he never roosts again, is he in any danger, healthwise? (No risk of predators: the turkey house is closed up every night.)
2. The new roost I put up for Del is a 1 x 4, on edge. Is the 1" enough area for a large tom to wrap his feet around?
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
Brian
L to R: Gladys, Hannah, Del.
Gladys and Hannah on their manger nest last month.
My turkey tom Del, who's about two years old, has stopped roosting as of about six weeks ago. He's moulting presently (has had a horrid bald spot on his breast for quite some, which concerned me until I looked it up here and saw that that's not uncommon, though I don't recall it happening last year); I understand that moulting can take a lot out of birds, make them weaker, so could that be why he's not jumping onto a roost at night?
The other thing is, he stopped roosting just after the two turkey hens went broody, and I'm wondering if that wasn't the cause.
Here's the setup:
The hens always roosted on the left side of the turkey house, together, and Del always rested on his own perch on the right side. When the hens went broody it was in a wall-mounted hay manger on the right side of the house, directly above Del's usual roost. As broody hens can be, they were pretty nasty—hissing and pumping themselves up whenever one came near the nest—and I was thinking maybe he was initimidated by them and gave up his roost. But I was surprised that he didn't take the hens' usual roost, on the left side. It is smaller, a bit closer to the wall, so I was thinking that maybe he felt he coudn't fit there.
The brooding didn't take: after about 5 weeks I forced the hens off the nest and threw the eggs away, and removed the hay from the manger. That broke the broody cycle, but every night, now, one of the hens roosts on the top of the cast-iron manger, and one on the perch directly below it—that is, Del's usual roost on the right side. Every night when I lock them up, Del is standing or pacing—looking as if he wants to roost but not knowing where to do so.
Yesterday I put a longer roosting bar on the left side, farther from the wall, in hopes that that would give Del more space to roost. But last night the same thing: just standing and/or pacing.
Any suggestions/ideas as to why he might not be perching? Might he start again in the fall when he's done with his moult? He seems quite healthy otherwise: good color, and gobbling, strutting and displaying for the hens all the time.
And, two more questions:
1. I understand that for developing poults (and young chickens, too) it's important to roost for proper foot/leg development. Is the same true for a two-year-old tom? That is, if he never roosts again, is he in any danger, healthwise? (No risk of predators: the turkey house is closed up every night.)
2. The new roost I put up for Del is a 1 x 4, on edge. Is the 1" enough area for a large tom to wrap his feet around?
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
Brian
L to R: Gladys, Hannah, Del.
Gladys and Hannah on their manger nest last month.
