Can a Turkey kill a rooster

[linsybird]

I can home to find my favorite rooster dead. All other chickens are accounted for. His only injury is to his head. There is blood all over his face and comb, but nowhere else. My first though was hawk, but he doesn’t have any claw marks, and his neck doesn’t seem to be broken.

I have a BB Turkey hen who is 7 months old. She’s never bothered the chickens (that I’ve witnessed) but does shoo them away from food sometimes.

I’m honestly baffled. We’ve never had trouble with hawks (a flock of crows hangs around our property and chases them off) and it doesn’t seem likely that any other predator would come in, kill one chicken, and leave his body uneaten.
I may be grasping at straws here, but I just can’t figure it out.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If she's mad enough and the bird can't get away, they can. But usually it's toms that are the ones to watch out for

 

[linsybird]

If she's mad enough and the bird can't get away, they can. But usually it's toms that are the ones to watch out for

He should have been able to get away, unless he didn’t back down. There is plenty of room for all then some. That seems like the most likely answer. I can’t think of anything else that would have got him.

 

[Harmony Fowl]

I would think so, if the rooster chose not to or could not back away. Our tom is a strong suspect in the deaths of three chickens in the past two years. All were young or sick. Most recently, he teamed up with his hen to harass our rooster. There has never been love lost between them, but the rooster, so much more nimble than the clumsy tom, just sidesteps him, moves away, etc. But with teamwork, the rooster got beaten up. Two years ago, this same tom and this same rooster worked together to evict the then dominant rooster from the flock. They didn't hurt him, they just made him so miserable he would only hide. When I found the most recent casualty, it had clearly just happened. All the birds were upset, but not predator upset, and they all went to great lengths to avoid the tom, even refusing to come in while they could see him in the run. The head wounds were consistent with what you describe. Our tom aggresses processed cockerels a lot, stomping any part of them he can grab from us. I think stomping is part of the MO, too. I've separated our tom for the indefinite future, though I allowed the hen to return to the flock. She's no pushover, though. When I integrate young birds, she's fine, but if I try older ones, she's the first to give them legitimate hell. She can also be problematic with the way broody hens try to stand up for themselves and their chicks. She has to be boss, after the tom. The more I raise different species, the more I appreciate being able to give them their own space.

 

[cmom]

I would possibly suspect a tom but not a hen, but you never know. I would put a camera up if you have one and watch their behavior. They may react differently if no one is around vs your presence. Good luck...

 

[linsybird]

Just got my confirmation that it was the turkey. My husband went out this morning and saw her carrying one of our silkies around by the neck. Luckily the silkie survived, but I don’t have the time to build a new pen, so I think Turkey may be finding a new home