Is my turkey being aggressive or just friendly?

[Mary Coleman]

Hey y'all,
So I have four bourbon red turkeys that are about four months old. No idea if they're males or females, but one of mine has started to act a little wierd. Every time I go out to see the birds, he runs up to me all excited but then he puffs up and makes this wierd "buckweeeet" "buckweeeet" sound and follows me right at my heals. He never has pecked or clawed me or anything. I can reach over and pet him and feed him right out of my hand, but I just don't know if he's being aggressive or playful... :/

 

[WiddleChix]

I'm not sure if it's aggressive behaviour but I have 2 Spanish black's who do the same thing. The sound you're thinking of is the sound *i believe* of curiosity. Every time I go into the run or when I have food for them and my chickens they make a certain sound I can only imagine is the one your thinking of

.

My turkeys puff up too, I'm pretty sure they're female, they don't have beards anyway

. I think the reason they puff up is to show their status in a group without a tom. It's really funny though cuz they're just little things about 4 months old!

 

[Mary Coleman]

Yah. Today I walked outside to find one of my turkeys (the one who has been acting wierd) on the roof of my house. He saw me and began making that wierd noise and hopped down and fluffed up at me. I give him some wheat to see if he'd stop. Well he did stop while he was eating, but then he went right back to the wierd noise and fluffing up thing. That got another one of my turkeys excited and so then he too puffed up.

I've never had turkeys before, so I don't know a lot. So far they're really cool. Kinda like a dog I guess. Just very curious and one of mine actually hops up on my lap to be pet! It's driving me crazy though not knowing who's a boy and who's a girl.

 

[WiddleChix]

Yeah I'm not too experienced with turkeys either, they're pretty cool but yeah I can't tell their gender and it's really maddening lol

 

[OneMountainAcres]

If the sound I'm thinking of its the one you're talking about, with mine, it's aggression. Maybe not necessarily aggression but annoyance or maybe even dominance. I have a hen that is very possessive of me and when others are on my lap or cuddling up to me, she walks up, makes that noise then pecks at them and tries to chase them away. A couple girls will do this at certain, annoying roosters too. If the rooster fights back, he usually ends up being chased through the woods and around the coop several times by the girls as they all will gang up lol. They never get hurt though.

My dominant hen, Eve, just before she made that noise and started pecking at Cuddles for being on my lap. Cuddles, unwilling to give up my lap, hiding her head. I helped protect her of course since Eve will not bite me, only the offenders.

Mary, fluffed up and agitated (no noises from her here though. She was mad at my for trying to move her to get pictures of her molting lol)