Good morning. We have just started to keep turkeys back in May. We have a year old Bourbon Red tom and hen that we bought about a month ago. I do not believe they hatched any eggs this year and seem to be very inexperienced. She has set on an egg or two and so has he. The eggs have ended up getting broke by one or the other. She seems to be a naggy nosy hen who likes to peck at the tom a lot.
Last night we put 4 young turkeys ( about 2 months old) on the other side of the house pen with the Bourbons- there is chicken wire separating the two sides. The Bourbon hen kept pecking the young turkeys through the wire and then would peck at the tom- almost like she was mad because he was not pecking at them also. This AM, we found the Bourbon tom on the other side with the young turkeys. He went through quite an ordeal to get over there- fitting through fencing that we were quite surprised he could get through. He lost a good amount of feathers in the process but thankfully, did not hurt himself. He now sits right next to the fence divider and keeps the young turkeys from going near there.
My concern, is if the young turkeys are safe with the Bourbon tom, or is there a chance he could hurt/kill them? Also, could he just have been trying to get away from the naggy bourbon hen? Another question, should we be separating the bourbon tom and hen now that breeding season seems to be done?
Thank you so much for any advise/insight that any of you can give!!
Last night we put 4 young turkeys ( about 2 months old) on the other side of the house pen with the Bourbons- there is chicken wire separating the two sides. The Bourbon hen kept pecking the young turkeys through the wire and then would peck at the tom- almost like she was mad because he was not pecking at them also. This AM, we found the Bourbon tom on the other side with the young turkeys. He went through quite an ordeal to get over there- fitting through fencing that we were quite surprised he could get through. He lost a good amount of feathers in the process but thankfully, did not hurt himself. He now sits right next to the fence divider and keeps the young turkeys from going near there.
My concern, is if the young turkeys are safe with the Bourbon tom, or is there a chance he could hurt/kill them? Also, could he just have been trying to get away from the naggy bourbon hen? Another question, should we be separating the bourbon tom and hen now that breeding season seems to be done?
Thank you so much for any advise/insight that any of you can give!!
