Poults getting pecked

[tassiejoe]

Hello.
Our heritage Turkey hen had 11 poults. All doing well and growing fast. Only other bird in the large pen is another hen who is sitting on eggs. 8 out of the 11 poults are now dead. They all seem to have been pecked in the head.
Can Anyone please shed some light on what is going on?
Cheers. J.

 

[R2elk]

Hello.
Our heritage Turkey hen had 11 poults. All doing well and growing fast. Only other bird in the large pen is another hen who is sitting on eggs. 8 out of the 11 poults are now dead. They all seem to have been pecked in the head.
Can Anyone please shed some light on what is going on?
Cheers. J.

Where were they found in relation to the broody's nest?

 

[Huntmaster]

How old are the poults and have they all been together from the start?

 

[Huntmaster]

Either hen could have done this, some hens are just not good mothers. But if they are older and mother has been good with them it was probably the other hen as the poults get more active, she may feel they are intruding on her nest.

 

[R2elk]

Either hen could have done this, some hens are just not good mothers.

I had a similar situation of two hens nesting in the same room. The Royal Palm hatched first. By the time hers were one week old, her poults were all under the Slate hen. She started killing any of the Slate's poults that she found away from the nest. She also started laying by the time her poults were 1 week old.

I moved her out and the Slate raised all of the poults without any further incidents.

 

[tassiejoe]

Where were they found in relation to the broody's nest?

The two I found today were about 7m from the nest in different directions.

 

[tassiejoe]

The two I found today were about 7m from the nest in different directions.

How old are the poults and have they all been together from the start?

They are 3 or 4 weeks old. At first the mum and poults were isolated in the same pen. Then we let them in with the other hen who started sitting soon after we let them in.

 

[tassiejoe]

Either hen could have done this, some hens are just not good mothers. But if they are older and mother has been good with them it was probably the other hen as the poults get more active, she may feel they are intruding on her nest.

Thanks for the insight. We just now isolated the sitting hen and hope that fixes the problem.

 

[tassiejoe]

I had a similar situation of two hens nesting in the same room. The Royal Palm hatched first. By the time hers were one week old, her poults were all under the Slate hen. She started killing any of the Slate's poults that she found away from the nest. She also started laying by the time her poults were 1 week old.

I moved her out and the Slate raised all of the poults without any further incidents.

Thanks for the insight. We just now isolated the sitting hen and hope that fixes the problem.

 

[tassiejoe]

Either hen could have done this, some hens are just not good mothers. But if they are older and mother has been good with them it was probably the other hen as the poults get more active, she may feel they are intruding on her nest.

Thanks for the insight. We just now isolated the sitting hen and hope that fixes the problem.