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Many people think that turkey breeding at home this is incredibly difficult. After all, turkeys are quite demanding birds that get sick easily and, as a result, grow slowly. But in fact, with well-organized care, keeping turkeys will not cause much trouble. The first thing you need to do for this is to organize a turkey poultry or poultry house for turkeys. The health, optimal growth and egg production of turkeys will depend on this.
Basic requirements for a house for turkeys
Build a barn for turkeys is not as difficult as designing it. After all, for a normal life, this bird needs not just a comfortable chicken coop, but a full-fledged home.
The DIY turkey barn, the photo of which is posted below, has the optimal size for keeping a small population of turkeys.
For normal growth and development of turkeys, the built house must have:
- Dry and cool. The optimal humidity will be 65–70%. The temperature should vary depending on the time of year. So, in summer the temperature in the house for turkeys should be between +18 and +20 degrees, and in winter it should not be higher than -3 and not lower than -5 degrees. High humidity coupled with high air temperatures can cause frequent turkey diseases. In addition, under such conditions, mold and rot may appear on the walls of the chicken coop;
- Properly organized lighting. At the same time, it is important not only to install additional artificial lighting, but also to provide the turkeys with natural lighting, for example, through a window or opening elements;
- Purely. Turkey houses should be cleaned regularly. Particular attention should be paid to the bedding on the floor. Under no circumstances should it be raw. To do this, its top layer must be renewed daily, and a complete change must be carried out only in autumn and spring.
To make it easier to comply with the conditions for keeping turkeys, the house must be properly designed. The following parameters should be well thought out:
- ventilation;
- floors, walls and windows;
- perches;
- feeders and drinkers;
- aviary
Let's look at each of them in more detail.
Ventilation
The turkey does not like extreme heat, but the cold will not do it any good either. In addition, the turkey is very sensitive to drafts, from which it gets sick very easily. Therefore, to maintain optimal temperature conditions, as well as to prevent air stagnation in the turkey room, ventilation must be well thought out.
In most cases, a ventilation duct with a damper is used for this. It is this that will be the main part of the entire ventilation system. The optimal dimensions of the box will be 25x25 cm. It should be placed directly on the ceiling.
Otherwise, they could fall on turkeys, causing serious injury or even death.
Installing such ventilation for a turkey poultry house with your own hands is not at all difficult. You can learn more about this from the video:
Floors, walls and windows
Floors are almost the main part of the entire turkey house. Birds walk on them almost all day, so they must be:
- smooth;
- smooth;
- warm.
It is not difficult to create a flat and smooth surface for the floors of a house for turkeys. But how to provide the floors with the necessary warmth? To do this, you need to place the flooring at least 20–25 cm from the ground. It is this height that will prevent the floor from freezing in winter, thereby ensuring its desired temperature regime.
Artificial lighting alone will not be enough for turkeys, so windows in the poultry house are an important detail. Without sufficient daylight, turkeys will begin to get sick, which means that one window for the entire poultry house will not be enough.
When calculating the required number of windows for a turkey poultry house, as well as their layout, you need to use a simple technique. Its essence is to imagine how the corners of the poultry house will be illuminated during the daytime with one or another arrangement of windows. If all corners are fully illuminated, then the number of windows and their arrangement are chosen correctly. In this case, each adult bird or turkey chick will receive the amount of light they need and will grow actively.
The walls of the turkey house must also satisfy certain conditions:
- be warm;
- even.
In addition, there must be special holes in the walls of the turkey poultry - manholes. They are needed so that turkeys can freely go out into the enclosure for a walk. In most cases, a hole with dimensions of 50x50 cm will be sufficient for turkeys. But if the breeder plans to keep large turkey breeds, then the size of the hole needs to be increased.
It is most rational to place holes for turkeys under the windows. Moreover, each of the passages must be closed with double doors to protect the turkeys from drafts.
Perches
Every turkey house should have perches for turkeys. It is recommended to place perches in the rear, warmest part of the turkey poultry. To avoid injury to turkeys, the perch should have a smooth structure. To make cleaning the turkey poultry easier, many breeders make the perches removable.
All perches for turkeys should be located at different levels. Most often they are installed in the form of a pyramid, where the bottom step is 80 cm from the floor, and the top step is 80 cm from the ceiling.
Making perches with your own hands is quite simple. To do this, you need to take wooden beams and place them half a meter from each other.
Feeders and drinkers
Of all the variety of turkey feeders, the ones that are most suitable are:
- trough-shaped feeders;
- trough feeders.
You need to choose a feeder for turkeys taking into account their size. The larger the turkey, the larger its feeder should be, and vice versa.
At the same time, different feeders should be provided for different feeds. So, for dry food it is better to use trough feeders, which are recommended to be hung at the level of the turkey’s back. But feeders for mineral feed should be located 40 cm from the floor.
Concerning drinking bowls, then for the convenience of turkeys they should be hung at the height of their neck. In this case, it is better to cover the drinking bowls themselves with a net.
Aviary
An aviary or pen for turkeys is an integral part of every turkey poultry farm. Therefore, when calculating the area for a house for turkeys, it is necessary to include the area of the enclosure. The turkey is a fairly active bird, and the more birds you plan to keep, the larger the aviary should be.
Turkeys fly well, so the enclosure must have not only walls, but also a ceiling. They should be made of metal mesh with small cells. In addition, it is advisable to sow the soil in the enclosure with useful perennials, such as clover or alfalfa. You can also use annuals: peas, oats - but they will have to be renewed every year. You can put drinking bowls in the enclosure. This will be especially true for the summer keeping of turkeys.
A turkey house built taking into account all these recommendations will become a real home for turkeys. They will feel comfortable in it, which means they will grow well and actively lay eggs.
