Should the tom be removed from the brooding hens?

[coloradojen]

I have a tom and 3 hens on eggs in a 120 square foot pen. The hens are doing well, quiet, attentive to their eggs. The Tom is guarding well and seems to be a little more active and guarding more. This is my first breeding season with these black Spanish Heritage turkeys.

I am planning on letting the hens raise their young naturally. Does the tom "Benson" need to be removed from the pen while this is going on?

Thank you.

Scott

3 Black Spanish Heritage, 1 RP tom turkeys; 2 noisy standard donkeys; 2 spoiled pot belly pigs; 1 Polish rooster and 2 hens that patrol the whole property; 2 English Bulldogs, 2 border collies, and 3 nervous cats.

 

[msy8ix]

I have a question concerning your border collie., how well does it get along with your chickens., my border collie has killed one of mine and injured another.......

 

[coloradojen]

At this point, the turkeys are not out free-roam yet. I have to build their large fence-in area but the big run they are in now has not been a problem with the Border Collies. They are so used to them now that they ignore them so once they have the huge area fenced-in, the dogs won't try to run the fence line to bother them. I am sorry to hear about your, it's always a hard thing.

My chickens have been a good training source because they do have some access around the dogs but they are big enough that they have shown the dogs who it boss.

Scott

 

[Scottingitup]

I would remove the tom so that he does not have access to the hens. In my past experience they will continue to try and breed crushing eggs and/or injuring the hens.

 

[Hounds51]

I have been keeping my Tom and Hen together. I have a small dog house in thier coop, and I have 4 six week old chicks that we take out and have a small little run for them.
Our Tom Red Bourbon seems to be protective of the chicks, but we have not let them out of thier run, so maybe that would change, but I doubt it. He is very friendly and he is gentle with his hen. It looks like the previous owner de spured him as I don't see any spurs on him.
Our girl Henretta is starting a clutch of eggs in the dog house, so only time will tell.

 

[coloradojen]

Hi, thanks for the response. How long did you keep the chicks in with the hen before you pulled them and put in their own run?

 

[coloradojen]

Hi, thanks for your ideas. Did the tom create a stink when separated? That's what I worry about that he may stress himself out too much.