Removing turkeys

SarahGfa

Crowing
6 Years
Jan 26, 2018
1,178
1,522
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Last year, I removed some roosters for processing and my tom turkey turned into a psychopath. He went from being the nicest guy, to wanting to murder me. (I did it at night. The turkey flew off his roost and started stomping and gobbling on the roof of the chicken coop)

Now I need to remove some turkeys and I'm worried the remaining ones will do the same thing. How to remove flock members without making them angry? Should I wait until the dominant male pushes the weaker males out of the flock? They are all very close buddies right now.
 
Last year, I removed some roosters for processing and my tom turkey turned into a psychopath. He went from being the nicest guy, to wanting to murder me. (I did it at night. The turkey flew off his roost and started stomping and gobbling on the roof of the chicken coop)

Now I need to remove some turkeys and I'm worried the remaining ones will do the same thing. How to remove flock members without making them angry? Should I wait until the dominant male pushes the weaker males out of the flock? They are all very close buddies right now.
My method is to make sure that the other turkeys see the removal. I do not dispatch them in front of the other turkeys but I make sure they see me carrying them off. They know when I carry them off that they will not be returning and they know who did the removal. I have never had any of my turkeys other than momma hens get upset about any removals.
 
I usually grab a jake when they are locked in battle. Easier to catch, but the others try to attack the bird while I have him. Everyone was already upset over the fighting. I also have chased them around with a net, or chase them in a coop. So far they haven't attacked me because of removing a bird.
I did have some that attacked me before any birds were removed. I invited all to dinner of that breeding and started over.
 

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