Tom and hen fighting???

[ckcwdb9509]

Fairly sure we have tom and hen. Same age and one has a larger snood, bright red/larger wattle, and more caruncles. The other is more of a pink flesh color and the wattle and snood are significantly smaller. They roost with 8 chickens, all hens. Today i walk outside and one had the other on the ground and then they started fighting. Not mating. Why in the heck is a male and female turkey fighting???? This is the first time I've seen them do this.

 

[ivan3]

If this continues on a regular basis, I'd separate them from the chooks (if in same run), I'd also wonder about the sex. I've never seen males and females go at it in a sustained fashion, except the hens beating up on whatever tom lost the battle with the other males (pretty much biting at the head until he left the area) and I consider that as ancillary aggression to the males establishing pecking order.

If you could post up shot of these two it might help settle the question.

 

[ckcwdb9509]

Alleged female

 

[ckcwdb9509]

Tom?

 

[ivan3]

Look like males to me.

 

[FarmerMac]

Sound like they are setting their pecking order, I have a few 8 week old poults and I seen a couple of males do the neck dance. They go in circles pushing each other until one runs away.

 

[313759]

Males have their snood lean against their beak when at a certain age so yes you do seem to have a male and female. I figured out this trick with my first turkeys which I said were both Tom's by using this trick and was right. They are setting a pecking order, usually when one is sitting on the ground below the other it is submitting. I wouldn't worry too much. But if blood shows I would try and stop the fighting by separating them for a few hours or a day.

 

[FarmerMac]

Males have their snood lean against their beak when at a certain age so yes you do seem to have a male and female. I figured out this trick with my first turkeys which I said were both Tom's by using this trick and was right. They are setting a pecking order, usually when one is sitting on the ground below the other it is submitting. I wouldn't worry too much. But if blood shows I would try and stop the fighting by separating them for a few hours or a day.

Second this, separate them if blood is drawn or the other turkeys will pick on the injured poult. Here is one of my poults that got beat up by his brother a Bourbon poult. When I opened the coop, I found three other poults all over the white one, he was soo tired that he would not eat. I had to feed him with a syringe He is in a separate coop recuperating.