Turkey Hen Laying Down Question

[rbrink21]

This is our first year raising turkeys. We had three 6 month old blue slate turkey hens. We recently traded one of our hens for a 2 year old Blue Slate tom. We kept him quarantined until we knew he was fine. Now he's with the hens. Our dominant hen isn't a fan of him though and so they avoid each other. Lately though she's started laying down a lot. She's fine most of the time - eating, drinking, walking around, harassing the tom, normal stools, etc. - but just randomly lays down. When we walk up to her she spreads her wings a bit and lets us pet her - which she never used to let us do. Is she just looking for a mate or do you think something else might be wrong? BTW, the temperatures just recently dropped in case that's a possibility too. Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[rfwombat]

No problems...she wants to mate! When they spread their wings out they are bracing themselves for the tom's weight.

 

[erinszoo]

Ours has been doing that for a few weeks now without a tom around at all. She wants to mate but probably won't before spring time. They might take some practice runs. Our girl even starts shaking all over when someone touches her now and follows us all over the yard and lays on our feet in the most inconvienient places ever.

 

[rbrink21]

Oh good! That's what I was hoping it would be. Thanks!

 

[Jesus Chick]

Thank you for this information. I was worried about my hens as well. Its good to know this is normal.

 

[andiejones]

Before yesterday I was certain that I had two toms and one female. I had the same thing happen to me as the one I knew as a female, laid down next to me and let me pet her. It is really no different than chicken hens squatting in front of me when they are about to begin laying eggs. And like I said, I really thought I had two toms but yesterday, I had two lay at my feet and the third was walking around and not wanting me to touch him. I am happy about that as I do not have to eliminate a tom to save the hen. Here are my beauties and I have no plans to butcher them as I have grown very attached and love their temperment, especially around our small dog who recently was able to torment the turkeys and the chickens while we were away for a few hours. The turkeys remember him and do not like him at all. Even though I know they are in the breeding mood, it is still fun to pet them. Also, they do not want to move when they are in this mood. I found this out when I allowed for them to follow me out of the gate as I did work in the yard yesterday. I will say they are a healthy 15 to 20 lbs at this point as I had to pick them up and put them back in their enclosure.

 

[Evewon]

Happy to have found this crazy old thread! Our little girl Chumbo is 5 months and constantly wants loved on. I got nervous this week because she just keeps laying down all the time all of a sudden. Happy to know she's fine!