With the teenagers removed from the brooder due to overcrowding, it is becoming urgent to get the new turkey roost for the pasture finished. Moving the little turkeys out to pasture at around 3 to 4 weeks is the goal. At that time they are fully feathered so they can stand the colder temps, and they need to learn to forage for food. Setting good habits now really does help their development through the summer. It apparently takes practice to catch a grasshopper!
This year I am trying a new approach. You may recall last year we built a "turkey hoop house" which failed miserably at proper containment and egg laying. Then we installed a test "turkey tree roost" built from old lumber and tall poles. That one worked quite well, keeping hte turkeys happy until the hans started laying eggs and wanting to nest. Putting the best of these two ideas together brings me to this year's design. This will be a roost, shelter, nesting area, feeding area, and containment area all built into one.
The overall size is 8 feet wide by 12 feet long on the ground. It has a sharp pitched roof to prevent roosting on top and two internal sections. One will be open area with broad perches and feeders, the other will be combination storage area above and containment area below. Storage area can be used for bags of feed and a large water tank, Along one side (the highest side) will be extra perches along the entire 12 foot length for extra room at night. Once finished, the coop/roost will be easily moveable, built on skids and pullable by tractor or gator.
Today I built the basic frame. Tomorrow we add the roof supports and roosts, then close in the containment section. Hopefully it wont take too long to do this (not sure if the weather will cooperate).
A couple of pics of the progress
 |
| Here you see the three frame units built on the ground and ready to stand up on the skids. On the left of each as pictured here is the tall open end of hte roost. |
 |
| Here is a shot of hte progress made today. Sorry for hte dark pic, it was after sundown when I hada chance to snap a pic. You can see the 3 frame supports now mounted to the skids, with a partial roof support. (that was an interesting experience to build alone) |
At this point I am designing as I go. Hopefully it will turn out good enough to build another just like it. IF I do, I'll post the plans here.
No comments:
Post a Comment