when will they learn?

[spish]

its been over a week now since putting my turkey poults outside in the field (they are 14 weeks old) and they still wont go in their house to sleep, i end up chasing them out of trees/off the top of the donkeys shed/out of the bushes and placing them them every night into the house we made them. if i dont lock the door, they wait until we are gone, come out and go back to wherever they were before we caught them. will turkeys ever learn where thir 'bed' is or will they just sleep where THEY want too? i cut the feathes on one wing on each of them in the hope this would stop their flapping into trees etc, but it didnt help(!) will they be ok out their? im not worried about predators, im more worried about them freezing!!!!

 

[Dogfish]

My BBB's like to sleep under cover, my heritage birds like to stay out and brave the elements. I've seen folks who do have heritage birds that head back to the pen/coop/etc, and they get them there by placing food in there.

My turkeys will come running from anywhere if O have a bucket of cracked corn.

 

[coloradochick]

spish any chance of getting some video of this evening chase?

Seriously, I've only had to deal with chickens in this situation. I hope they straighten up for you and do what they need to

 

[taras.farm]

i've given up chasing mine...decide to let them brave it for the winter outside here in ontario. Think they are smart going so high but wonder if they come down too early in the morning hours.
The female will sometimes coop up with the chickens on rainy evenings....but ironically now that i've decided against cooping them in their own tturkey night house....i always carry her out in the dark when i find her in the coop to keep her with her boyfriend high up 12' up in the spruce trees....trying to include that branch in their enclosure for the winter will be a trick...but i cannot have them free range in the winter with coyotes and i will be out less woth the dogs to keep an eye out during the day.
I'm almost finished a 10X15 enclosure for then adjacent to my flock of ducks with top netting for that hungry hawk that visitted last february....Right now my narrys and crosses are heritage breeds and 5 months old. By the way I think they can be trained with TREATS!

This is an older pic a month old...Turkeys stole my heart.

 

[Lagerdogger]

I gave up on mine too. When I put mine out I would go out very night and catch them all and put them under the shelter. After about two weeks I gave up. When they were big enough, they started flying on top of the shelter. Then they started roosting on the gate to their pen. At that point, I built two elevated roosts on the roof of their shelter. These roosts are about 8 or 9 feet off the ground. Most of the toms go up there, while most of the hens sleep on the gate frame. I suppose a bobcat could jump up and get one off the gate. Hopefully, the electric fence outside of the chicken wire deters them from that. So far so good!

 

[arabianequine]

I had my narragansetts one winter and rarely did they go inside some more then others and I think usually the girls went inside on their own. They like to sit on the pearch all the time both sex day and all night when snowing raining whatever I think when they are too cold or don't wanna be out there they will go inside I just leave it open to them so when they choose they can.