[Buffy the eggs layer]

My tiny turkeys are five weeks and six weeks old. they have been living in a 6ft by 4ft shed coop with an 8ft x 6 ft run for a few weeks now and are just off heat at night.


Im itching to let them out to play but know that if I do my hens will raid their turkey crumb. Im contemplating putting them in a hen free zone but they would be able to fly out of it if they chose. Mind you at least the hens wouldnt get in and eat their lunch....?


Any suggestions? I have the same problem if I try and feed chick crumb to the chicks that my broodies hatch so after the first few days I just abandon the idea and the broodies take care of catering.

[Kimbo]

could you let the turkeys out for, say , a couple of hours with the hens in a run out of the way? This is what I do with a couple of Wyandotte cockerels that we are fattening for the casserole. They are evil towards my young Buff Sussex so I just let the Ws out of their run for 2/3 hours when Ive got the Buffs safely penned up

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Kimbo I think thats the only way.




  I was planning to put the hens in their run later this afternoon and let the turkeys out. Somehow I dont think getting the turkeys back in to roost will be so easy!
 

[Marches Farmer]

I raise poults in large, adapted concrete floored pig pens that can be power-washed clean between residents.  I don't mix poults and hens unless, as now, I have some that hatched on the same day and all are being raised together in completely fresh bedding on a sterilised base.  The risk of poults catching blackhead is always borne in mind.

[Paulie]

I'm free ranging mine successfully between 09:00 & 17:00 at the moment. They will do anything for meal worms so no trouble putting them away, though if I left them out past 17:00 they would be in a tree or on the roof.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Well I put the hens in their run at about 3.30 and let the Turkeys out. I am working on the assumption that I can have both ranging together as I regularly worm my hens with ivermectin drops. Time will tell if that info is correct......


The Turkeys started to wander back to their coop about half an hour ago so once half of them had gone in for crumb and half of them were ar the wrong side of the fence to the orchard and couldnt work out how to get back I had to corner a couple against the fence and pick them up. The big calm sensible one put up little resistance so I placed it on the top of the fence and it flew down and made its way home. The little pale one got into a real pickle, hissing and ramming it's head through the chicken wire so I carried that one back to the run. It must be really hard being a turkey   Life seems so much more bewildering for them than it does for chickens. Anyhow I think that a tea time ramble will give them a daily leg stretch and a chance to eat some grass before bed while ensuring that they stock up on lots of crumb first.


They do like meal worm but only if its in the red dish and even then I wouldnt say they go mad for it. They wouldnt take it from my hand for example. Hopefully I can get them into the routine of roosting in their run at night.