Housing and run

In short

• House floor: turkey hen 0.6 m², stag 0.9 m², guinea fowl 0.3 m². Height at least 2 m.
• Perches: for turkeys wide and low (50–80 cm, with a ramp), for guinea fowl high (1.2–1.8 m).
• Air without draughts: openings under the eaves of roughly one tenth of the floor area; turkeys suffer from ammonia and damp.
• Turkey run 20–40 m² per bird, divided into two or more parts; never on ground where chickens have been.
• Guinea fowl shut in for 4–6 weeks in the house and an aviary before going out, with evening grain inside.
• Lock up every night. Foxes, mink, stoats and weasels get in through any gap bigger than 2 cm (¾ in).

What's inside

Chapters

1. What turkeys need and what guinea fowl need
2. Where to put the house
3. A house for 6 turkeys or 15 guinea fowl
4. Perches, nests and litter
5. Run and fence for turkeys
6. Guinea fowl: training them to come home
7. Predators and pests
8. Winter and summer
9. Building, rules and neighbours
10. Common mistakes
11. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Shopping list for house and run
• House, fence and cost calculator
• Sketch and measurements of my house
• Weekly check
• Maintenance through the year