Depressed young Jake

[longranger]

Not something I wanted to see but I have a beat up depressed young Jake. He is about 11 weeks old and housed with 3 other jakes and 7 standard cochins, all of them together since the incubator. This young boy apparently got put down in the order by the other toms. He is a little bruised on the head but not significantly injured, physically anyway. The look on his poor sad turkey face and body language is enough to make even an animal hater cry. Any self esteem he once had is long gone.

Assuming that he is not brutalized again how long before they usually spring back?

Obviously if this continues past tomorrow or he gets any real injury I will move him and put him with some younger Turkeys.

 

[Wildsky]

Poor guy, I think he'd do better with younger birds or a little girlie

 

[Garin]

I agree that you should move him in with younger turkeys. My two older birds (1tom and 1hen) picked on the young hen I got. I put the young hen in with some young chicken hens and they got along great. Now I can't separate them so we built the hens their own coop.

 

[longranger]

Definately will take a close look at him this evening and move him if he is still stressed, however I am ambivalent about this. How will this group of birds get the pecking order set if I intervene when it is not truly needed to prevent serious injury or death of a bird? Guess it is a judgement call. A secondary factor is looking at the housing for the groups. If there is plenty of room and more than one place to eat and drink my threshold will be higher than a more cramped coop and run.

 

[longranger]

He is doing much better. Still knows he is not hot stuff but doesn't look traumatized anymore. Glad I did not separate him. That may have put off the inevitable fighting jakes do to establish their order until they were more capable of hurting each other worse.

 

[chickenannie]

Are you positive it is a jake, and not a hen? Just a thought.
Also, perhaps he has an injury that is not visible to you that is making him not feel well. THey often peck HARD at each other's heads... maybe he has a bruise or cut somewhere?

 

[longranger]

He is hurting due to a severe bruise and small cut on the top of his head. He is now eating well and socializing a little more each day. Normally he gobbles, struts, drops a normal length snood and has no real head feathers so I am sure he is a he. I think he challenged two more dominant Jakes of the same age, one his brother, and they were unusually harsh. He will be moved if improvement does not continue or if fighting resumes.