Aggressive turkey

[LuvMyDucks777]

Hi all,
I'm new to raising poultry and have been using this site to get helpful info over the last several months. Today I created an ID to post to this form because I need help. When searching the interet for "aggressive turkey" I'm getting news articles on the country!

We got our very first turkey last September, a 4 month old chocolate heritage tom. He joined the flock of 5 golden comets and 3 pekin ducks. Everything was wonderful for the first 2 months. Tom was like a pet. He joined us for evening walks, he hung out with us by the grill and joined us in badminton. This all changed around thanksgiving when he showed assertiveness towards the 7 and 12 year old. Within a couple weeks the kids are not allowed anywhere near him and he then became aggressive towards me. Holding a stick works wonders but he is smart. The moment I put the stick down he charges. My husband seemed to be his last human friend until a few days back. Now, he will charge him even with a stick in his hand!

A bit about how he is raised: up until a couple weeks back he lived in the coop with the chickens and ducks. We finally separated him into a large living area because his degrading behavior made it difficult for me to navigate the coop. The only thing separating him from the others is chicken wire. He loves the chickens and is quite protective of them so during the day, they all hang out together to freerange.

The chickens and ducks are on an organic diet. Tom was too until yesterday when I found an article that suggests aggression can be linked to diet. We switched him to a natural food that has the sodium, niacin and B12 levels that the article recommends. It has only been 1 day so too soon to tell. What we have noticed though is that since he has been separated he doesn't seem to be eating or drinking much. I can't tell if this is a new or existing issue since they previously shared everyone's feed bowls and Tom has never eaten when I'm in watching distance.

At this point I do not know if this is normal or perhaps he is sick or desperately needs female companionship. I would appreciate any advice from the Turkey Experts!

Thank you.

 

[LuvMyDucks777]

Hi there. Well, after 9 days on different food, I can say I have a nice turkey again. The difference is remarkable. I had a really hard time understanding the scientific info in that document, so I just took the recommended niacin, amino acids, B complex and sodium intakes to my Southern States. We then read all the labels of all their poultry feed and came up with 2 feeds - southern States All Grain meat bird (blue and white bag) and Southern States Traditions poultry feed (orange and white bag). He is given mostly the blue bag and the orange bag is a treat. Prior to this change, he was on an all organic diet.

 

[Attila the Hen]

Hi there. Well, after 9 days on different food, I can say I have a nice turkey again. The difference is remarkable. I had a really hard time understanding the scientific info in that document, so I just took the recommended niacin, amino acids, B complex and sodium intakes to my Southern States. We then read all the labels of all their poultry feed and came up with 2 feeds - southern States All Grain meat bird (blue and white bag) and Southern States Traditions poultry feed (orange and white bag). He is given mostly the blue bag and the orange bag is a treat. Prior to this change, he was on an all organic diet.

Thanks for looking into this so closely. This is really great information. I hope others see this. Keep posting it when you can so people will see this as an option

 

[R2elk]

Hi all,
I'm new to raising poultry and have been using this site to get helpful info over the last several months. Today I created an ID to post to this form because I need help. When searching the interet for "aggressive turkey" I'm getting news articles on the country!

We got our very first turkey last September, a 4 month old chocolate heritage tom. He joined the flock of 5 golden comets and 3 pekin ducks. Everything was wonderful for the first 2 months. Tom was like a pet. He joined us for evening walks, he hung out with us by the grill and joined us in badminton. This all changed around thanksgiving when he showed assertiveness towards the 7 and 12 year old. Within a couple weeks the kids are not allowed anywhere near him and he then became aggressive towards me. Holding a stick works wonders but he is smart. The moment I put the stick down he charges. My husband seemed to be his last human friend until a few days back. Now, he will charge him even with a stick in his hand!

A bit about how he is raised: up until a couple weeks back he lived in the coop with the chickens and ducks. We finally separated him into a large living area because his degrading behavior made it difficult for me to navigate the coop. The only thing separating him from the others is chicken wire. He loves the chickens and is quite protective of them so during the day, they all hang out together to freerange.

The chickens and ducks are on an organic diet. Tom was too until yesterday when I found an article that suggests aggression can be linked to diet. We switched him to a natural food that has the sodium, niacin and B12 levels that the article recommends. It has only been 1 day so too soon to tell. What we have noticed though is that since he has been separated he doesn't seem to be eating or drinking much. I can't tell if this is a new or existing issue since they previously shared everyone's feed bowls and Tom has never eaten when I'm in watching distance.

At this point I do not know if this is normal or perhaps he is sick or desperately needs female companionship. I would appreciate any advice from the Turkey Experts!

Thank you.

It is my belief that the tom has imprinted on people and therefore does not know the difference between people and turkeys. As he has matured he is now trying to assert his dominance which is causing his aggressive behavior. You can assert your dominance over him by capturing him and holding him and not allowing him to be able to move. Without any female turkeys he will eventually try breeding your other poultry which may end very badly. Just getting him hen turkeys for companionship will not cure his aggressiveness.

I never allow my turkeys to imprint on people and don't have any issues with turkeys turning aggressive toward people. My recommendation is that your tom is an ideal candidate for "freezer camp" which will cure his aggressiveness forever.

 

[LuvMyDucks777]

Thank you, R2elk. This is good information and food for thought. I don't want him harming the other little guys. I understand 9 months is the best age for Heritages to attend "freezer camp". This gives him a full month more to plan my demise, which I have no doubt he has already spent considerable time doing.

 

[Attila the Hen]

No one goes to freezer camp at my house. I'd rehome him. My own tom is in love with me and wants to attack any other male, including my husband. I trust him completely. However, I may need to go away for an extended period of time and I am thinking of giving him to another woman who he will hopefully fall in love with. We'll see.

 

[R2elk]

No one goes to freezer camp at my house. I'd rehome him. My own tom is in love with me and wants to attack any other male, including my husband. I trust him completely. However, I may need to go away for an extended period of time and I am thinking of giving him to another woman who he will hopefully fall in love with. We'll see.

Your tom exhibits the kind of behavior that he does because you imprinted him on yourself. Because of that he does not knot the difference between turkeys and people. I do not allow my turkeys to become imprinted on people and never have any problems with turkeys being aggressive toward people.

While I understand your attitude against freezer camp, I do not believe in passing trouble animals onto other people. I never rehome problem animals.

 

[Attila the Hen]

Your tom exhibits the kind of behavior that he does because you imprinted him on yourself. Because of that he does not knot the difference between turkeys and people. I do not allow my turkeys to become imprinted on people and never have any problems with turkeys being aggressive toward people.

While I understand your attitude against freezer camp, I do not believe in passing trouble animals onto other people. I never rehome problem animals.

R2elk
I totally agree with you about not passing on problem animals. That is not my plan. Because my tom likes women I think he will be unhappy without me so I am considering giving him to a single female if the environment meets my standards. This is to ensure his happiness not mine. He can stay here until he dies. I bought him from a woman who hand raised him. He was an adult when I got him and now I see he was able to shift his attention from one woman to another. I am hoping he can do that again. If he can't or the other person doesn't want him he will stay here and miss me--if I do end up leaving for a period of time. Call me nuts but when I take on the responsibility of an animal I try to do what is best for them. Now excess roosters are a different matter. I didn't ask for them and they need to move on.
Oh yeah, one more thing. A "friend" gave me her problem rooster and after a lot of flogging from a silly Sultan roo, we have sorted things out and he is fine--most of the time. I have been successful with the cuddling the aggressive rooster approach until he is totally humiliated and stops attacking humans.
I appreciate your input and wondered if you could answer a turkey question for me. Not sure if this is the right place to do it but will rather than PM you. The turkey hen has only one chick (5 weeks old). She is an excellent mother but doesn't seem to be allowing the chick to nestle under her right away at bedtime. He peeps and peeps and tries to get under her wing. Temps are about 27 degrees some nights. Could there be a reason for this? Maybe she is trying to harden him to the cold. I'd be surprised if she was rejecting him. thanks alot

 

[R2elk]

The turkey hen has only one chick (5 weeks old). She is an excellent mother but doesn't seem to be allowing the chick to nestle under her right away at bedtime. He peeps and peeps and tries to get under her wing. Temps are about 27 degrees some nights. Could there be a reason for this? Maybe she is trying to harden him to the cold. I'd be surprised if she was rejecting him. thanks alot

I have not seen that type of behavior with any of my turkeys. What I have seen is that when the poults want under the hen they just stick their heads under and burrow their way on in. At 5 weeks old the poult should be feathered well enough to handle cold on its own and at that age the hen certainly could be starting to reject it.

I did have a hen who was still cuddling a poult that was over 2 months old this year while all the rest of the poults were already roosting on their own.

Sorry I couldn't help more.

 

[Attila the Hen]

No. That was helpful. I really needed to know if the poult was feathered enough to manage. It did try to burrow in and the hen wouldn't have it. Later in the evening I went and checked on it and it appeared to be under mom. I wasn't sure if it would be okay just nestling beside her.
I will stop worrying so much now.