Turkey Poults- Will they ever get along?

[Breac]

Well, I hatched one poult on the 5th, a Royal Palm. On the 8th, another hatched after I was sure the remaining eggs were duds. (Great Mother's Day present, eh?) After poult #2 was all dried off, I put her in with the other one and assumed they'd get along without incident. I was wrong.

The older poult kept picking at her and pulling hard on her wing tips. I separated them for the night, thinking all she needed was a night in order to get on her feet. Well, I tried putting them together again, and older poult keeps picking on younger poult. I tried to ignore it, thinking they'd have to sort it out. However, Older Poult then decided to go for younger poult's eyes. He managed to grab the area above her eye and I ended up pulling him off. They are separated again, and I am wary about letting them mingle without supervision.

My question is, is this normal turkey behavior? Will they get along eventually? Should I intervene? Ideally, I'd like to keep them together, but I'll keep them separated if I have to. I never had this trouble with my first two. What should I do?

 

[kuntrygirl]

I had the exact same problem. When I first noticed the problem, I sorta fussed (yea, I talk to them like children) at the bully poult at explained to her that she had to get along with her sister/brother. I was too afraid to leave them together overnight, so I separated them. The bully was placed in another cardboard box. I put them together again the next day and the same thing happened. I had another talk with the older sister and told her she had to stop it or else she would Thanksgiving Dinner (only a threat and wasn't going to really happen. part of my scare tactics

) This continued to happen for about 3 days until it finally stopped. I don't know how it stopped but it did.

Whatever you do, DO NOT keep them together if you are not there to supervise. The bully will probably injure or kill the other poult. I only put mine together when I was there to supervise and to break up any fights. They will eventually get along. I think the older poult is trying to establish pecking order (literally). Pecking at eyes, wings, toes, legs, etc.

They will finally get along. You'll see. I think that this is normal turkey behavior. I don't have any more problems. I hope this helps.

Keep us posted on this problem.