Long consideration of the problem with the turkeys has brought an idea to mind. The problem is that the turkeys have learned that its possible to fly over the electric fence without trouble. they now pass back and forth at will. being flock animals, as soon as one decides to jump fence, they all soon follow. i can chase them back and feed them in the coop, but as soon as they are done eating they fly right back to the sheep shelter to roost or to the orchard to roam.
What i noticed though is that they actually like the orchard now. amongst the young trees and sheep shelter they seem to feel safe and at home. In comparison, the coop is foreign to where they would roost in the wild. This got me to thinking about WHY they keep leaving the coop and WHY they stay in the orchard rather than in our yard as the previous flocks did.
The answer would seem to be found in their instincts. They don't roam in the open pasture in the heat of the day, and they only roam to cross it or to forage for food. otherwise they hang out under shelter of some sort, and prefer green grass. This mimics what a wild turkey would do.
So,,, it makes sense to stop trying to contain them by force, and instead contain them by making their area more appealing than any other. This would require building trees and shade. I say building because planting trees would be better but takes too long to get to the point that it would be useful. So building trees or something like trees seems best.
The home built trees could be placed along side the orchard so the birds could roam the orchard but be amongst the cover of their 'tree'. moving the coop nearby and surrounding it with electric fence again would keep the sheep out and provide a dry place to eat the poultry food we supplement with.
Now I just need some good designs for home built artificial trees :)
Follow along our adventure as we make the transition from corporate city life to the world of natural farming. Each day brings a new experience and brings us to a deeper understanding about the life and spirit that made America great. At our farm we do our best to give the animals we raise a natural, free, happy, stressfree lifestyle. Our mission is to learn and share how to manage a farming operation that is both profitable and humane.
So far our approaches to turkey containment have been mostly successful. Over the winter and spring we only had a couple times when the birds went to visit the neighbors. Each time they were spotteddesperately trying to get back into the pasture. After blocking off te gates from perching, the birds stayed away from the house even.
ReplyDeleteWe have leanred a lot, which will come in quite useful for the new season we are facing with over a hundred turkeys running around!