6 month old toms fighting, should I seperate?

[trunkman]

Hi, I'm also new to turkeys, I hatched them in May, 2 are toms and 1 a hen, then hatched 2 more in June which I think are hens. The toms started fighting recently and not to mention they are ruining my fall gardens.
I have an 8 ft. by 8 ft. stall built in back of my shed with an 8 ft. by 20 fenced corral. They free range right now and get into the neighbors yard and tease the large dogs, of course the dogs chase them back in our yard and when they do they aren't playing, they want to catch the turkeys. That being said I know I have to do something and am trying to get some ideas on what I should do.
Here is what I think, please let me know what you think or correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm thinking of enclosing the corral totally with chicken wire both top and sides to keep them from getting out. Then put a separation wall right down the middle to separate the enclosure into 2, 4 ft. by 20 ft. open sections plus the 4 ft. by 8 ft covered stall and putting one tom and one hen in one section, and one tom and 2 hens in the other.
Am I over reacting or is this a good idea?

 

[HEChicken]

My hatching went well this year too and at one point I had 20 turkeys running around here. I've sold a few in pairs and trios and I'm down now to just a few. Of those, I have 3 toms and 4 hens. I have a friend wanting a hen and I've decided there is no point feeding extra toms over the winter when I only need one for breeding purposes, and they will likely begin to fight in spring. (They've had a few little tussles here and there, but since it is not currently breeding season, they don't amount to much). I plan to butcher two of the toms in the next couple of weeks and get the meat put up for eating in the future. That way I'm not feeding them much longer as they are about full grown (also hatched in May).

Your plan would likely work but each group would have a much smaller area than if you butcher one of the toms and then the rest of them can have the entire space without the need to divide it up. Just a thought...

 

[kuntrygirl]

How many Toms do you really want to keep around?

 

[trunkman]

If one tom can take care of 3 hens for now that is all I need, I just don't want the turkeys hurting the chickens but want happy and healthy turkeys. I hate to coop them up but they are so much bigger than the chickens.

 

[HEChicken]

I run my chickens, ducks and turkeys all together and they all sleep in the same coop. I haven't had any issues with the turkeys hurting the chickens, for what its worth. Mine are Royal Palms - I don't know if it makes a difference if you have different breeds. 1 tom should be able to service 3 hens quite easily.

 

[trunkman]

What I've noticed is that the younger 2 turkeys (4 1/2 months old) are the ones that go after the chickens and then the toms join in, after a while they all join in as a team although they have never hurt the chickens but I can see it happening soon, plus I just bought 25 new chicks so when it's time to let them free range I don't want them to be easy prey.
All that being said it may be a good idea to have just one tom in one large enclosure.