Dealing with food aggression

[R2elk]

Depending on how many males you have, culling some of them may be helpful in lowering their testosterone levels.

One thing that will make an impression on them is to make sure they see the culling process from a distance. They do understand death.

None of my poultry will come within arm's length of me. That is partly due to them knowing what usually happens if I get my hands on them. They have seen too many of them permanently disappear after I get hold of them. Some leave to go to new homes and some get processed.

Even if you start all over, if you raise the new ones the same way they will learn the same behaviors.

I have found the Sweetgrass turkeys that I raise to be the most mellow turkeys of all the varieties that I have raised.

 

[SarahGfa]

Depending on how many males you have, culling some of them may be helpful in lowering their testosterone levels.

One thing that will make an impression on them is to make sure they see the culling process from a distance. They do understand death.

None of my poultry will come within arm's length of me. That is partly due to them knowing what usually happens if I get my hands on them. They have seen too many of them permanently disappear after I get hold of them. Some leave to go to new homes and some get processed.

Even if you start all over, if you raise the new ones the same way they will learn the same behaviors.

I have found the Sweetgrass turkeys that I raise to be the most mellow turkeys of all the varieties that I have raised.

lol yes I have waaay too many males. Terrible hatch this year, ended up with 7 males and only 1 female! My freezer is full and I can't even give the rest away for free. I called food banks and a local holiday charity that lets people adopt a family, but no one will take free turkeys unless they are processed and shrinkwrapped ready to eat. There is a native american group that will take free turkeys, but they only want the tail feathers and I stll have to process them first.

Is Sweetgrass a mellow "breed" or is it just your bloodline? A christmas tree farm near me has a petting zoo with turkeys. Little kids gobble at the turkeys and mess with them all day long but the turkeys just sit there and act mellow. I don't know what variety the turkeys are. They are reddish brown (not BBB) and really fat.

 

[R2elk]

I got my Sweetgrass start from Porter's Rare Heritage Turkeys. In my opinion they are more mellow than any other varieties I have raised. The Bourbon Reds that I raised were the friendliest turkeys but were not as robust health wise as any of the other varieties. I am partial to Blue Slates and always had really good luck with them.

I have found over the years that it is usually easier to sell than to give away. I have also found that it can be difficult to sell when the price is set too low. If my turkeys don't sell right away, I keep raising the price until they do sell. Once the price gets high enough, you get into a different class of buyer.

Good luck.