please help, my turkeys are fighting!

[yagermasterson]

This very same thing is happening to me! My girl is attacking the tom. A cold front came in and she is a nut case all of a sudden. Not sure what to do!

 

[Attila the Hen]

This very same thing is happening to me! My girl is attacking the tom. A cold front came in and she is a nut case all of a sudden. Not sure what to do!

This is a really old post. Hopefully, the people who originally posted this will respond. In my own case, the tom only fights males when they become a certain age--adolescence? It gets so ugly I immediately rehome the youngest male. I put the last one with a woman who has a flock of toms and she hasn't had a problem with the youngster. I think it is my tom who also HATES men--all men. I suppose it's a guy thing. He loves women -- especially me who he thinks belongs to him.

 

[stephcraig78]

I can completely relate to the cold weather starting problems in the flock. I guess our tom has finally reached maturity and it has set the turkey trio into total chaos. The two hens who were raised together and are about a year and a half old have gotten along almost perfectly. We got this tom back in may and he is now about 8 months old. Within the last couple months he has decided he is the boss of the yard. He stays puffed up and the hens normally just wander around pretty much ignoring him. In the last few weeks I have seen so many fights amongst the 3 I am seriously thinking of getting rid of ALL of them!! The hens fight briefly with the tom but the worst fights have been between the hens. They draw blood and I believe would fight to the death if not broke up. I even saw one with its beak wide open OVER the others whole head. Like she was trying eat her head first!! Crazy sight. Now tom is becoming aggressive with us as well. I can’t turn my back on him or he will run at me and has even tried jumping at me. Any ideas what’s going on with them? Natural breeding behaviors?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It is normal to see some fighting as spring approaches. It's also normal for fights to last for days even, with the loser being chased relentlessly. Turkey fights are brutal.

I personally would never keep an aggressive Tom. They don't change, and are dangerous.

 

[2much2do]

So I have a pair of bbb turkeys, They have been hand raised together since day one and usually they free range all day and he puffs all up & struts following her all over, she never notices! The male got sick a couple days ago was very lethargic and sleeping most the morning I noticed that something was wrong as this wasn't his normal. S I was watching him to see what was up. In the afternoon the female came up and was wrapping her neck over his and rubbing her neck all over his chest then all the sudden she started pecking him like really hard, like drawing blood hard. before my son and I got to them from across the yard it turned into a violent all out brawl! It took both of us, a hose of water and a rake just separate them! So I'm thinking ok... well maybe its cause hes not feeling good? I move him into quarntine and nurse him well this morning hes so much better (

y)
that he escaped his temporary hospital room and is outside the fence to females run, So I let her out to free range together and with in like 5 mins. she's attacking him again! I separated immediately because he's on the mend and I feared it might be to much for him strength wise.
ok now my questions are:
how long do you think I need to keep them separate?
is it common for male and female to all out brawl?
I'm sorry this is long I'm hoping some of you with more experience with turkeys will have an idea what's going on. I feel bad for my poor buddy, she's freaking mean!

I am so glad to read this. My 2 month old male and female BBW were doing a mating ritual (at least it looked like it). They were wrapping necks around each other, he was strutting and she was lightly peck grooming. As the behavior continued it became brutal with grabbing wattles and snood until blood was drawn. The screaming was awful. I separated by picking up the female. Within a minute they were back at it again. There is nothing on the internet about this. I separated the female i to a pen for 20 min. This seemed to calm them down but they were back at it. They are free range with the chickens and show no unusual behaviors until today. What to do!??

 

[R2elk]

I am so glad to read this. My 2 month old male and female BBW were doing a mating ritual (at least it looked like it). They were wrapping necks around each other, he was strutting and she was lightly peck grooming. As the behavior continued it became brutal with grabbing wattles and snood until blood was drawn. The screaming was awful. I separated by picking up the female. Within a minute they were back at it again. There is nothing on the internet about this. I separated the female i to a pen for 20 min. This seemed to calm them down but they were back at it. They are free range with the chickens and show no unusual behaviors until today. What to do!??

The more you interfere with this pecking order dispute the longer it will take for them to work it out.

I had a BBB hen that was the dominant one in a trio until the tom decided it was time for him to be dominant. They fought all day long for three days before he finally convinced her the he was the dominant turkey. Once the dispute was settled, the fighting was over for good.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I let mine fight it out too. I have seen some disputes go on for more than a week of and on. They will keep at it until it's settled.

 

[memphis]

Do what I do....go in the house & drink a beer. Gotta let them work it out.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do what I do....go in the house & drink a beer. Gotta let them work it out.

I sit down and watch.