We have added 5 more turkeys to our flock and we are very excited.
Prior to adding these five turkeys, we already had two Chocolate turkeys; a tom and a hen.
Our additions include:
2x Bourbon Red hens
1x Black hen
1x Rio Grande tom
1x Rio Grande hen
Now, before introducing the new turkeys to our existing flock, I had a very good assumption I'd have a bit of a brawl with the toms....and that I did however, this was my first time witnessing two toms fighting.
I didn't want to leave the toms to themselves fighting without observation as I didn't want either one of them getting seriously injured or killed as I wasn't entirely sure how far they'd take the battle.
I stayed with them throughout the fight....I broke them up twice because it was getting too painful to watch. The last time I broke them up I placed them on opposite sides of the wire fence however, that didn't stop them. I just realized I had to let them do their thing in hopes that it wouldn't last much longer. Within less than 5 minutes the new tom (Rio Grande) surrendered and walked away with his feathers down.
I looked both of them over and there were just some minor cuts...surprisingly.
I let them have their space and then reintroduced them together in a fenced in area of 18'x40' and the Rio Grande (who lost the fight) kept his distance while my Chocolate kept puffed up showing off. No further fighting occurred however, for our first night, I kept them separated as I am not fully confident the battle is over. I'll monitor them during the day for a couple more days before I put them both in the same area over night or unattended.
Does anyone have input on how to handle two toms? This is a first for me...
On the other hand...we are very excited about the additions. A few minutes after getting our new hens unloaded...one of the hens laid an egg for us...guess that was a quick thank you.
I hand picked these turkeys....the Bourbon Reds and the Black turkeys are very sweet and they allow us to handle them....just as my Chocolate hen. My daughter has already picked one of the Bourbon Reds as her favorite.
I'll shoot some pictures soon of our new flock and post up for you all.
Prior to adding these five turkeys, we already had two Chocolate turkeys; a tom and a hen.
Our additions include:
2x Bourbon Red hens
1x Black hen
1x Rio Grande tom
1x Rio Grande hen
Now, before introducing the new turkeys to our existing flock, I had a very good assumption I'd have a bit of a brawl with the toms....and that I did however, this was my first time witnessing two toms fighting.
I didn't want to leave the toms to themselves fighting without observation as I didn't want either one of them getting seriously injured or killed as I wasn't entirely sure how far they'd take the battle.
I stayed with them throughout the fight....I broke them up twice because it was getting too painful to watch. The last time I broke them up I placed them on opposite sides of the wire fence however, that didn't stop them. I just realized I had to let them do their thing in hopes that it wouldn't last much longer. Within less than 5 minutes the new tom (Rio Grande) surrendered and walked away with his feathers down.
I looked both of them over and there were just some minor cuts...surprisingly.
I let them have their space and then reintroduced them together in a fenced in area of 18'x40' and the Rio Grande (who lost the fight) kept his distance while my Chocolate kept puffed up showing off. No further fighting occurred however, for our first night, I kept them separated as I am not fully confident the battle is over. I'll monitor them during the day for a couple more days before I put them both in the same area over night or unattended.
Does anyone have input on how to handle two toms? This is a first for me...
On the other hand...we are very excited about the additions. A few minutes after getting our new hens unloaded...one of the hens laid an egg for us...guess that was a quick thank you.
I hand picked these turkeys....the Bourbon Reds and the Black turkeys are very sweet and they allow us to handle them....just as my Chocolate hen. My daughter has already picked one of the Bourbon Reds as her favorite.
I'll shoot some pictures soon of our new flock and post up for you all.
