turkey fights

[bibliophile birds]

my turkey pen has turned into a gladiator arena.

these are the first turkeys i've ever had, so it's been very "learn as you go." i've got 2 Bourbon Reds and 2 Royal Palms. i was thinking that one of the Bourbon Reds was a hen, but i'm pretty sure they're all boys now. they are somewhere between 3.5 and 4.5 months old.

today, the biggest, a Royal Palm, was herding the other Royal Palm. the big one was in constant body contact, wings extended like it was corralling the other one. it wasn't particularly aggressive but it was definitely up to something. the smaller one was just trying to get away. then, the bigger Bourbon Red decided to get in on the action and started fighting the bigger Royal Palm. then the little Bourbon Red, who i originally thought might be a hen, started fighting too! the only one that didn't want to fight was the smaller Royal Palm, the one that was getting herded.

so, would it be a pretty safe guess that they are all males and the hormones have started to kick in? should i be worried about the fighting? they aren't easy to break up- the water hose hardly phased them. i had to physically get between them to get their attention. their pen is next to the Silkie pen and there are 3 little Silkie girls, 2.5 months old, in there. could they be the cause of the drama?

 

[ivan3]

Luv Turkey Talk wrote: I hv 2 RP jakes and 1 BS jake along with 4 RP hens and 4 BS hens. I'm currently awaiting my delivery of butterfly saddles to protect my girls. I expect the boys will soon become very disrespectful to the ladies. Twice this week i believe that two hens were either bred or an attempt was made (there were featgers everywhere and one RP and one BS hen were missing their down. There is plenty of jake fighting as they hv not quite finished establishing their pecking order. Although, they seem rather stupidly interested in the hens.

I'd probably separate the `hens'? (jennies same age as jakes?) into a separate run. Problem with Jennies (if they are just now becoming active 7-8 months) is that they'll seek out and present to a jake without counting the number of jakes. One will `belly up' for servicing and all jakes will either attempt to simultaneously mate the jenny or knock off the potentially successful suitor (even if he's got it backwards and is mounting her head... jakes are like that), bruising and lacerations can result.

Separating allows for control of what turks are breeding (if you don't want mixed variety). Hens-only area allows one to control nesting arrangements (if you don't want poults then either allow no breeding or collecting eggs regularly is required) if no arrangements are made you'll have a hen wander back with a passel of poults or, more likely, find predator chomped remains.

Yes, they are very sociable, generally easy going curious birds. In a larger sense, we've found it easier to manage/deal with hormonal turks than hormonal daughters...

Good luck!

 

[chicbaby]

for the injuries that arent healing well, you could put arnica in their water. it will help heal and reduce the swelling. there is also a product called herbal solution that is amazing. have you tried iodine or diluted peroxide?

 

[ivan3]

If you can't get it to stand then, yes, butcher (consider it to be a gross necroscopy - exam of skin/flesh/bones/internal organs). When the males spar the vocalizations (lots of trilling challenges) and neck wrapping knock down drag-outs are difficult to miss and the most common sign (if observing after the fact) will be abrasions/small divots of flesh from heads/caruncles removed by beaks. If toms are free ranged there is usually far less chance of a sparring match that results in serious injury/fatality as loser can back off at will. We've had up to six toms a season, going on eleven years (three at the moment) with no deaths/serious injuries resulting from, occasional, round-the-clock, sparring. Examine tom carefully when dressing it out.

Be aware, if this was a result of continued, unobserved, sparring - and the downed tom can stand or get up and move away from you without limping and no other signs of injury/illness - then he's probably just depressed from being whipped (we've had losing toms spend days lying about, beak in the grass, seriously moping (often plotting revenge).

 

[thaiturkey]

We are going through the first learning curve too. We have a mature stag and three others that have just found their feet as males. They fight for supremacy, a war that might continue for a while as the three still grow. They also become aggressive when one pursues a hen.

The bad news for you is that yours haven't even started to fight yet. Most days with ours are peaceful but when they get it into their heads to fight it's no holds barred. They will hang onto each other's faces with their beaks and run around quite violently. Sometimes all four will be locked together like that charging around in a mass of feathers and feet. Parting them is difficult and doesn't last. I grab two by the neck but they pull backwards against my hand and hurt themselves so I have to release them to fight again. Even the loser won't give up. Eventually, they become exhausted and stop. Then they walk around like old buddies out for a stroll.

You may have this continually unless you get some hens to join them and that may still not be the end. We have only five hens to the four stags until the poults get older so I expect the fighting to continue for a while longer.

Have fun and I wish you luck.

 

[bibliophile birds]

yep, that's what they were up to- grabbing face and neck skin and jerking each other around. to me, it looked pretty brutal, but they all seemed injury free when they finally gave up. i'm gonna keep an closer eye on them.

i had hoped to end up with one breeding pair and 2 for the freezer. now that i know i've got 4 boys, i'm thinking they might all end up in the freezer. i'd like to keep one of the BRs but i hate to just have one lone turkey until spring when i get more. i guess i need to make that decision soon...

 

[boxermom]

Last year was my first w/ turkeys too. I had 3 hens and 3 toms. All grew up together and were fine. Until...I walked outside one day and one of the hens layed down when I walked past. The next day, not even 10 minutes after I let the birds out of the barn, I had a dead tom. He was the smallest. I don't know if the big tom broke his neck or what. I found a 1 in. laceration on his back, but it wasn't deep and certainly not life threatening. I knew the dead tom was healthy, so we processed him. Right after I collected the dead tom, the big one went after the other tom. Needless to say, we processed both turkeys that day, a little sooner than I had planned, but it worked out well anyway. I kept the big tom and he has been very good. No aggression to anyone. He is a little stressed now as the new poults are growing up... I am watching...

 

[BarneyChick97]

We had 4 turkeys this past fall-all females. Two bronze, 2 white. The bronze were only about 1 month older than the 2 whites. We got them as pairs at the same time, obviously 2 different times. Each "dominant" female of the pairs grew to the largest size, and both were quite aggressive towards each other. So, I don't think its only a tom thing.....but there were no deaths, and not too much blood. They would fight often--kind of gladiator style, almost everyday after the fall. They would bite one another on the heads and pull the skin, and whip their wings at one another. I experienced a wing--and it wasn't pleasant. They'd also harass my dogs quite a bit. We processed them all right before Thanksgiving, and we had ---44LBS (white), 39LBS (bronze), 30LBS (bronze), and 22LBS (white) of meat.
This was our first experience with turkeys too. Glad I read your input, I think I'll just steer clear of Toms!

 

[jasonm11]

Its normal behavior for toms to assert dominance. Once they work out who is boss they will be fine. If you keep them confined they get bored and the fights will be worse,longer and more frequent. turkeys need space and if you have a hen in the mix it is best to cut back to only one or two toms. Otherwise the hen might not be treated as a lady.

 

[ColbyNTX]

The fighting should get worse as we get closer to spring. It can badly damage their heads and they could loose a snood. It is a natural thing. It is too early to butcher a heritage bird especially a RP. You will be disappointed at the amount of meat it will yield at 4.5 months. A RP will need to be 9 months. The BRs will be OK at 8 months if they are on a good 20% feed.