Tom turkey almost killed the hen trying to breed!

[rebylacubana]

I have 2 hens and a Tom as pets. I raised the girls since poults and they are sweet. One in particular is very sweet and submissive. I got a new Tom a few months ago that is their age--11 months and 2 weeks ago I found one girl, Twinkie, severely injured and almost dead. The Tom had tried to mate and got super rough! I took her inside and put him in a different pen in case he tried the same thing with the other girl. Twinkie survived and is good now just started to walk again yesterday. Now what to do with the Tom. Will his craziness to breed pass? Should I just keep him separate until the end of May? Please give me advice. Thank you!

 

[R2elk]

I have 2 hens and a Tom as pets. I raised the girls since poults and they are sweet. One in particular is very sweet and submissive. I got a new Tom a few months ago that is their age--11 months and 2 weeks ago I found one girl, Twinkie, severely injured and almost dead. The Tom had tried to mate and got super rough! I took her inside and put him in a different pen in case he tried the same thing with the other girl. Twinkie survived and is good now just started to walk again yesterday. Now what to do with the Tom. Will his craziness to breed pass? Should I just keep him separate until the end of May? Please give me advice. Thank you!

Not all toms are good breeders. I cull toms that are hard on the hens if it is really the tom's fault. If a tom is kept in with hens that are broody, the tom will take the hen's laying on the nest as an invitation to breed. It is not desired by the hen and she will typically not cooperate. This usually leads to broken eggs at the least and can be as bad as an injured or dead hen.

If you feel the need to keep a poor breeding tom in with the hens, putting a turkey saddle on the hens can reduce the risk of injury.

You can find a lot of information on turkeys in the Turkeys forum.

Good luck.

 

[copper2]

Get rid of the thing....

 

[copper2]

Once a turkey breeding season starts it never seems to end for the toms...