My Tom was trying to mate with one of my hens

[Mrskrieg77357]

I came home to this…. I thought he was trying to kill her. I called my husband and he said he trying to mount her. This particular hen roosts with the male and female turkey on the cows gate while the rest of my hens roost in the coupe. I couldn’t get the turkey off her I had to get my sheep dog to get Thomas off… is this dangerous to my hen?? I feel like my Tom is way too heavy to be on top of her. Plus it’s impossible for them to mate right ??

 

[Chicks in VA]

Separate them ASAP

 

[fin-dachickmasta]

How old are they?

 

[nchls school]

TWE is correct, this situation is very dangerous for the hen as she will get internal damage and die. I have lost a couple hens this way; usually because the hen is ill and does not run away. You need to separate them ASAP.

 

[sourland]

Many chicken hens have been inadvertently killed by toms. He's doing it because she is 'easier' than the turkey hen.

 

[Mrskrieg77357]

Very dangerous for her. Turkeys have a different mating system then chickens - and are much larger. She could very easily have bones broken or internal bleeding/damage caused.

Omg I had no idea!!! I will def keep them away from each other and probably keep him away from my other hens too

 

[neo71665]

Need to keep them apart

 

[Isadora]

Yeah my Tom might have to go to freezer camp. The Hen has been acting like nothing is wrong at all so thankfully I don’t think he caused any damage this time but this is the only time I’ve seen him do this. Is it mating season for turkeys? I just don’t know why he’s doing it to the hen and not his female turkey

Yeah, it's getting to be mating season. He doesn't think about it logically... He just sees a female and goes for it.

 

[nchls school]

Yeah my Tom might have to go to freezer camp. The Hen has been acting like nothing is wrong at all so thankfully I don’t think he caused any damage this time but this is the only time I’ve seen him do this. Is it mating season for turkeys? I just don’t know why he’s doing it to the hen and not his female turkey

Other than when molting Toms mate year around whenever the hens accept mating. One of my hen turkeys laid last month and is brooding, however recent flooding ruined the eggs. Our domestic turkeys don't seem to have a definite season like the wilds, but most nesting is spring-early summer.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Very dangerous for her. Turkeys have a different mating system then chickens - and are much larger. She could very easily have bones broken or internal bleeding/damage caused.