Are all toms jerks?

[RAREROO]

And another thing that I I believe in is that if you an aggressive bird ( rooster, turkey, etc..) you shouldnt really kick back at them, unless thats all you can do at the time, becuase when you kick at them, it seems they just say " I can do that too " that sturs up natural instinct to fight back and they try to kick back. If you are able, it is best catch them as they are jumping you and then just rough'em all up, turn'em upside down, rub them in the ground, and just basicly fight them back in a way that they cant do the same thing back to you and they dont know what to do and then dont want to go through it again and end up being scared up you but its better to have a bird that is scared of you than an aggressive one. But thats if you like need the bird for breeding and cant readily replace it or just really can bring yourself to kill it, but to me an aggressive bird that could easily be replaced would be killed on the spot. But I had a rooster one time that I needed and he was aggressive and kicking back at him and hitting him with a rake only made him fight worse so I roughed him up one day and never had a problem from him again.

 

[southernsibe]

I've got one tom that is a wonderful gentleman, he helps watch the chickens and herds his hens. I have only had two jakes over the years that were downright mean. Those left quickly. It seems to me that overall, the turkeys have much more personality than the chickens. I have hand raised all the turkeys, and that didn't seem to make a difference to the two that were mean, they were Rio Grand Turkeys.
Rachel

 

[PatS]

My boy is a sweetie. It's the girls who chase my chickens and try to rough them up. Right now we're trying to keep them apart and we're free ranging in shifts, with short periods where they are all out together. I think we're going to send a couple to freezer camp. If we have just one male and one female, maybe they won't have such a "gang mentality" towards the smaller birds.

 

[smoothmule]

I have a Black Spanish trio. Our tom is mature and has been a pet since a day old chick so I don't know if he would have been different if raised without all the handling. At a couple months old, I had him flying up to sit on my arm to eat from a cup. He did this till he got so big he had to put one foot on my shoulder for me to be able to hold him then he finally just got too big or maybe he decided he was too grown up for that nonsense. Anyone that comes here can walk right up to him and give him a hug, he doesn't know a stranger. My sons, girlfriends 3 yr old son was out here once and ran up to him, hugged him tightly and kissed the top of his head then turned around to us so innocently and said "ummm, tastes like chicken", we all fell over laughing. It's been deer season here and our 23 yr old sons friend was over to process his deer the other day and I watched out the window as this 23 yr old young man was walking out to the barn but stopped to give Buddy a hug....I don't think he knew anyone was watching, lol

We did have a wild tom here that had been given to us because he was attacking everyone. He would even chase my husband on the ATV. I kept a stick by the back door and every time I went out, I took the stick and hunted him down and would run after him banging it on the ground and screaming like I was crazy (good thing I live way out in the country...) and at first, he met my challenge but I was soooo aggressive that he finally caught on I wasn't afraid and I got everyone that came around to do it a couple of times and we broke him of that. I believe he finally learned that humans were crazy scary things to avoid.

 

[TexasVet]

That's why I gave up on raising turkeys! Our Rio Grande followed us around like a puppy until breeding season. Overnight he turned into the turkey from hell! We kept sticks strategically positioned everywhere just to fend him off. And he hated the mower... chased me for almost an hour once, trying to attack it (and me).

He tasted delicious, by the way.

Kathy in Texas
www.ChickenTrackin.com
www.CountryChickens.com

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

My first tom, an Eastern Wild, was friendly.
2nd was a Bourbon Red cross, also friendly.
3rd was a Royal Palm & friendly.
4th, 5th, &6th were Blue Slates, All were as mean as striped spiders.
7th is another Royal palm & is shy, but friendly.

 

[abhaya]

I dont have turkeys But I had a friend who did and the tom was supper tame followed him around like a puppy.
I think they are like roo if you get a mean one get rid of it and try again
Maybe let him breed this year and keep a young male bird

 

[CDennis]

Quote:
My RP is nice, my Blue Slate is a JERK. Maybe its the type...

 

[ixnay]

= All were as mean as striped spiders.

I have Bourbon Red toms, just starting to neck-wrestle each other, but pleasant as can be to me. Their hens seem mostly interested in removing whatever buttons they can see on my clothing, but not mean with it.

I don't know about striped spiders, though. Do we not have them up here in New England? Spiders seem like a mostly peaceful bunch up here.

-- Nan​

 

[texascowboy1979]

Ive got one Easter Wild Turkey Male whos a MEGA Jerk!. I also have a few wild turkey toms who keep there distance.

I have a Wild X Burbon Turkey cross who loves to show off, but does not attack people. He just fluffs up for the girls.