Strutting and then some

[crj]

I have a very beautiful bronze tom turkey. He has been strutting for the last 4 days. I don't know if that's normal or not. I'm knew to turkeys. I have 2 turkey hens for 2 months or so and the tom for about 2 or 3 weeks. He has made himself at home and is no longer afraid of everything. Still nervous of the dogs though. The hens are less then a year old and the tom is 1 1/2 yrs old. He is not showing interest in the hens. Although one of the hens finds him very "hot" but he walks away from her. Guess she is to easy and likes the hard to get girls.

I may be running into a problem. My tom is starting to show signs of aggression to some people. My daughter for example. She is 20 yrs old, not a young kid. She has shown the tom that she is afraid of him and now he goes after her all the time. As soon as he sees my daughter he high tales it over to where ever she is. Of course she tries to shoe him away but he will jump and try to kick at her. I told her to stop running and not to stick out her foot as if asking him for a dual. My daughter will not listen to me.......... ugh..... kids.

I've noticed that if you walk towards him and try to pet him he runs away. So, I told my daughter to do this. She tried to pet him but she didn't walk towards and jumped back instead then the tom jumped at her. If she would just stop backing up from the tom I think we would be ok. What is another way of stopping this bad behavior in the tom other then picking him up???? I can't have the tom attacking anyone. I know I may have to put him in a pen if he keeps it up. He doesn't bother me just certain people. Well, mostly my daughter. Help!

 

[Dogfish]

I've been lucky with my toms, as they have all been really good. My roosters have been a bit agressive at times.

Get your daughter a broom. Don't beat the tom with it, just keep him at bay. Don't be afraid to bump him with the broom. Don't swing it like a baseball bat. My rooster was a bit agressive with my 11 year old, but after a bit "training", the rooster has learned who is who. Your daughter needs to express her dominance. Unless she does, the tom will see her as inferior. The only other options are either to keep them separate, or cull the tom, IMHO.

Every once in a while we'll chase the rooster, 11 year old in front. We'll trap him, pick him up, and carry him around while we do shores hanging from his feet. They need to see you as superior if they are aggressive. The time between "lessons" has lengthened over time.

Just as in training dogs, the hardest part is training the family.

As far as strutting, both of our toms started strutting at about 3 months and never stopped. When they "drum" you'll feel a deep base "BOOM". The more mature, the deeper the boom. It is pretty cool when they do that.

 

[ColbyNTX]

Do like dogfish said and if the broom doesn't work, have your daughter grab him by the neck and flip him and hold him upsidedown by the feet and just walk around with him hanging by his feet. He will flap his wings for a few seconds but will go limp pretty fast. She needs to show him who is boss!

 

[crj]

Quote:
You are right on all points. Family (people) are the hardest to train when it comes to this stuff. I told my daughter that she will make a very dangerous situation if she keeps running like that. Sure, it can be funny but in the long run no one will be laughing if he hurts some body.

She will take one of the dogs out with her but the dog always leaves her to do something else. Ok, that is funny. She is left in the middle of the yard afraid. I don't want to cull the tom because he is very nice and beautiful to those who don't show they are frightened. He sees her and comes right to her and intimidates her. He has her number.

A broom is a good idea. Better then a stick. I keep telling her to go after him as if to pet him. He runs away then. He does test her though and comes towards my daughter. Soooo, this will be a work in progress.

 

[Dogfish]

She needs to chase him with the broom until he runs away. Have her do it a few times each day, then decrease as he yields quicker each time.

 

[crj]

Quote:
That's a good idea. She will probably enjoy it too....... lol.