Strange behaviors...

[crealbilly]

I have 5 burbon red turkeys (2 toms / 3 hens) and 13 buff orpington hens in the same yard together. The turkeys are approximately 4 months old and the buffs are approximately 6 weeks old.

I've had them together about 2 weeks now and over the past few days. Two of the turkey hens are not roosting with the other turkeys at night but they are laying on the ground with the buffs. The Buff get up under the wings and tails of the two turkey hens. Another strange behavior is during the day when a Tom or another hen gets near the buffs one of the hens starts squawking and puffs up like it's protecting the buffs. It's almost like two of the turkey hens decided to mother the buff orpingtons. It's a really weird sight to say the least... should I be concerned about anything here? It's very odd that these two hens are not roosting as the always have at night since they were lil chicks. Is this normal natural born mother instincts kicking in?


Thanks.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Turkeys can be goofy. It does sound like they are trying to mother them. I personally don't keep my turkeys and chickens together. I let them range in the same area but they are not housed together. Turkeys can really hurt chickens if they decide to go after them for some reason. Mine do occasionally start chasing chickens, especially the hens, and the young birds, but the chickens can retreat to their own areas. Hopefully you don't have troubles, turkeys can be thugs sometimes.