Two months old Naragansett! What to do next?

[natyvidal]

Hello everyone! Thank you for your help ahead of time. I am a new turkey owner. I have 5 beautiful Narragansett turkeys that I’ve raised from babies. They are now two months old. I’ve kept them in a huge cage for the last month in the fenced chicken area. Main reason so they can get adjusted and accustomed to coexist. During the first month I kept them completely separated from the chickens so they would not imprint. The turkeys are by now as big or bigger than the two rooster and hens I have. My plan was always to let them be free range and come home to roost.

Questions:

How old should they be to set them free?

Should I wait a bit longer to make sure they will be able to escape or fly away from wild animals? (Don’t think I have any since I haven’t lost any hens yet and they also free range.)

At two months will they be able to fly into the trees around the property to roost at night?

My plan is for them to eventually roost on the trees around property and free range during the day and come to me in the morning and evening for feed and treats. This system has worked well with my chickens and pair of geese.

Will it work with turkeys? Thank you for your help. Looking forward to know what I should do next!

 

[R2elk]

How old should they be to set them free?

They are already in too cramped of quarters and need a much bigger area to be in. I tend to not let poults spend the night outside until they are around 6 months old to help prevent losses to predators but I have two that have been with the adults since they were 5 weeks old and they are doing fine.

At two months will they be able to fly into the trees around the property to roost at night?

Most heritage poults can fly starting at about two weeks old. My poults that are two weeks old are roosting in their grow out pen.

My plan is for them to eventually roost on the trees around property and free range during the day and come to me in the morning and evening for feed and treats. This system has worked well with my chickens and pair of geese.

Everywhere is different. If I allowed two month old poults to roost in the trees, it would not be very long before I would not have any left. Two month old poults are very susceptible to predators especially at night. I don't let my poults roost outside until they are at least 4 months old. Even then they are roosting only in an area that is protected from the prevailing wind and has bird netting above it to help deter owls. They are also accompanied by adult turkeys.