Toms trying to breed hens??

[EllasCoop]

Hello! We are new to the world of turkeys. I have two toms that are about 5 months old now and growing quickly! They have been raised with our chickens, but last week we saw one of them mount one of our hens and attempt to breed her. We chased him off but yesterday my husband found one of the hens dead and thinks the turkey did it by trying to breed her. What can cause this? In the past we have had them pick on some of the smaller chickens, but moved them into another yard and haven't had an issue... Is there anything we can do to keep everyone safe or do we need to move them to another area?

 

[Frosty]

I don't keep turkeys confined with chickens if I can avoid it. A tom can kill a chicken while trying to breed. I would get him out of there.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
I agree with Frosty. I would get him out of there before another hen comes up dead.

Sorry to hear about what happened.

 

[nanawendy]

I am new to turkeys too. Our flew over the fence to get to the chickens. I thought it was cute @ first UNTIL... yeah, I can see now that we need to keep them seperate for many reasons.
1) turkeys make my girls nervous
2) I'm pretty sure the hens feed has to much calcium in it.
3) They are just too "TOMMIE" for my girlies