Work continues on turkey roost - Design #3

I managed to get some more time on the new turkey roost today. The pics below give a better idea of where this one is going.

It's actually a hybrid of a roost and a coop. The area on the left end is a mostly enclosed coop that will be enclosed with chicken wire and has a nearly solid top. It will serve as a place to lock some in if necessary (as in when first moving to the roost) and also provide a nesting spot to lay eggs later.

Along the front (the high side) will be a few roost extending across the entire side, a few feet below the slopped roof. This will provide both more area and a higher roost for those birds that prefer height.

The roofing will be solid tin roof panels. After pricing the alternatives and considering the overall weight, tin seemed the best option. Wood would have been cheaper but the weight would be prohibitive. This thing still has to be dragged behind the tractor, so weight is important.

Front View

Back View

(shows the door opening to the coop)

End view (will attach to tractor on this end)

Notice the different spacing of the boards on the coop and roost sides

Building a new Turkey Roost

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.

Thanksgiving Turkeys moved to chicken coop

We moved 48 Narragansett turkeys to the chicken coop today. The brooder pen in the barn was just getting overcrowded! We started loosing a bird or two every day, apparently due to trampling. It seems that the max # turkey poults in this space (about 12x12) is about 100 birds. Whenever the number climbs above that we start losing a few.

Having the big ones out allowed me to remove the separation in the pen and give full space to the youngest poults again. They will be much happier and safer now! The older birds (the ones that will be ready by thanksgiving) are also doing well in one pen of hte chicken coop. We aren't going to mix the chickens and turkeys, so all the chickens are in one pen and all the turkeys in the other. 

This is only a temporary situation. We purchased the lumber to build a new turkey roost today. It costs about $100 without roofing. This is going to be a new design of shelter / roost that is move able, pasturable, has feeders high enough so the sheep cant reach it has a roof, can contain young birds but lets older birds free range and roost in shelter. It will be very easy to add nest boxes next winter to keep the eggs laid in a contained spot. IF the design works, this will be the best combination coop / roost  we have had yet. The old turkey hoop house will be torn apart tomorrow to reuse some of hte materials.

Stay tuned for pictures of hte build process and  the design!

Grey narangansette turkey

We pulled 9 hatched turkeys from the incubator and found this little one. It is the first Narragansett I have ever seen with these colorings. He is nearly grey with just slightly dark stripes. You can see the difference in this pic with his siblings.

Wonder what he will look like grown up!

No more turkeys lost :)

Since dividing the brooder into two age groups we have not lost a single turkey! Apparently the problem causing one or two to die daily was in fact being trampled by their siblings. The older birds would step on the little ones frequently.

Once again following nature does the trick. Separating the ages is what nature does. Eggs laid at different days will hatch together, usually within a week so all siblings are the same size.

The next step is to move the older birds ( your thanksgiving birds) into the pasture son. Time to design and build that third generation turkey portable turkey roost.