Keep them together or separate?

[Breac]

I have a somewhat unusual problem I need advice with. I currently have two turkey hens, Jenny and Gilly, who have been staying in the coop for the past few months. Gilly has been wanting to go broody for a long time and she's finally gotten her wish. The poults should hatch around the 10th. However, I am concerned about whether it is safe to allow Jenny to stay with them.

Jenny and Gilly were raised together and are quite protective of each other: that's what Jenny is doing now. Even though Jenny isn't broody in the least, she still hangs around Gilly and watches over her. When I try to move Jenny, she becomes quite distressed and immediately tries to get back to standing over Gilly. Gilly seems fairly worked up when this happens as well. As strange as it sounds, I believe they have something resembling a pair bond. I don't want to cause distress to either of them, especially so close to hatching time, but I don't know how Jenny will react to poults. She may be okay with them or she may attack them. I have no way of knowing. Gilly is the dominant hen and will put Jenny in her place if Jenny steps out of bounds (like trying to take Gilly's food) so I have some faith that Gilly could defend herself and her offspring.

So, the big question is do I let them stay together and see how it works out or do I try to let Gilly hatch her eggs alone?

 

[chicmom]

I've seen turkey hens raise chicks together in the wild.....One time, I saw about five turkey hens with about 20 poults all together, walking across the road. I think she would probably help her sister raise the poults. I would leave things alone for now, because mama might be upset if you take her friend away. Watch and see what happens when the poults hatch, then act accordingly.

 

[Breac]

I've seen turkey hens raise chicks together in the wild.....One time, I saw about five turkey hens with about 20 poults all together, walking across the road. I think she would probably help her sister raise the poults. I would leave things alone for now, because mama might be upset if you take her friend away. Watch and see what happens when the poults hatch, then act accordingly.

Sounds like a good plan. I'm a little concerned just because Jenny herself has never gone broody, but she is always interested in staying by her friend's side.

 

[SonnyGirl]

I would definitely leave them together. I've never heard many people have problems with hens attacking other hens poults anyways. I've heard many many stories of hens raising poults together though. Unless you've seen strange aggressive behaviour with Jenny (which it doesn't sound like).. I would think it would be very likely that everything would go nice and smooth.. and if it upsets them to be apart - I would def give it a chance. Just keep a close eye on things when the hatch begins. They probably are best pals and will be mutually good with the little ones

 

[Breac]

Well, it turns out leaving them together wasn't such a good idea. I went into the coop today and found that someone ate two newborn poults. I found two empty eggs and bits of entails. Whatever happened, Gilly is now the sole occupant of the coop and Jenny has been banished to the run with the other two turkeys, Hedwig and Oedi. I don't really suspect these other two simply because they so rarely enter the coop anyways.

Gilly seems fine with this arrangement and has four eggs left. Jenny unfortunately is pretty shell shocked (gosh that sounds awful) and is getting beaten up by Hedwig. All of the turkeys usually spend a majority of their time outside anyways, so I'm not too concerned about that. I'll keep an eye on Jenny and Gilly separately and try to make them both comfortable for right now.