Turkey Question

[countryboy88]

Hello all I am a newbie to the forums. I currently have 2 turkeys 1 Tom and 1 Hen, the hen laid her first egg today and I have some questions for the experts.

The Hen Questions

1. Will the hen cluck like a chicken hen when sitting/laying a egg?

2. How many eggs can she lay?

3. I am almost positive but you can eat turkey eggs correct?

4. Does she need a laying box like a hen needs if you plan on gathering eggs?



The Tom Questions

1. The tom has turned mean all of the sudden and wont let us in there side of the coop ( unless someone is outside and we shut there door) what would cause such a sudden turn towards aggression?

I was able to hold him when he was younger but I am scared to even go in the coop now, I am 6 foot and about 300 lbs and I am scared to death of him.


2. Will the aggression pass?



Thanks in advance for all your help,

John

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

re: the tom

my best advice is carry a big stick and a couple of dogs
;-)

my tom, who used to let me carry him around and want snuggles from me all of a sudden (oddly when he started 'giving the hens the business') became really aggressive. he completely changed in one day. it was the saddest day of my poultrydom.

so now i make my husband put the turkeys up for the nite and really - i never go in their pen without my dogs and a shepherd cane (which i use for the roosters too).

there are other folks better suited to answer the hen questions - but i did NOT follow one very able fellow's advice and only built one nest box. and its not working out very well. so Harp - i'm going to build another one tomorrow.

you will love your turks - we dressed 5 last fall and you will be completely wow'd.

good luck!

 

[countryboy88]

Thanks for the help anything at this point is helpful.

I dont think a big stick or a big dog will help, he weighs about 30 lbs + and is not scarred of our 150 lbs German Shepard at all

 

[chickensioux]

Do all Toms get mean when they have a girl? I am currently awaiting a hen for my tom, but I don't want him to get mean. Am I fooling myself?

 

[Struttn1]

The tom will mellow out once the breeding season is over. Until then carry the water hose with spray nozzle into the pen with you and at the first sign of trouble give him a shower.

No the hen will not cluck while laying or at least none of mine do. She can lay as many eggs as she wants but normally they will start brooding by the time they lay 15 but i have seen as high as 18 in a nest. Turkey eggs are good to eat. A nesting box will work but turkeys love to nest on the ground in cover but if no cover is available they will scoop a nest out on bare ground but not having some cover for the nest puts the eggs at risk.

 

[countryboy88]

Thanks Struttn thats realy heplful.

 

[pdpatch]

Hello all I am a newbie to the forums. I currently have 2 turkeys 1 Tom and 1 Hen, the hen laid her first egg today and I have some questions for the experts.

The Hen Questions

1. Will the hen cluck like a chicken hen when sitting/laying a egg?
A: they don't cluck, but they can make other noises

2. How many eggs can she lay?
A: Genrally one every other day or so, but it depends on the turkey. It can be more or less.

3. I am almost positive but you can eat turkey eggs correct?
A: Yes, you can, They kind of taste like chicken eggs.

4. Does she need a laying box like a hen needs if you plan on gathering eggs?

A: It's helpful to have a nesting box to gather eggs. But turkeys won't always used it. Some prefer just an cover area, it just depends ont he turkey.




The Tom Questions

1. The tom has turned mean all of the sudden and wont let us in there side of the coop ( unless someone is outside and we shut there door) what would cause such a sudden turn towards aggression?

I was able to hold him when he was younger but I am scared to even go in the coop now, I am 6 foot and about 300 lbs and I am scared to death of him.

A: It's mating season for most turkeys, once that is over he should settle down again.


2. Will the aggression pass?

A: maybe, usually they will settle down after mating season. but you can get one that just has to be the alpha male all the time.


Tom

 

[sandspoultry]

Seems like everybody covered your other questions. On the Toms, in all our years of raising turkeys we have had 1 aggressive tom. We tried everything but you couldn't turn your back on him. None of our other toms have ever shown any aggression during breeding season or any other time of the year. Just off the top of my head we have about 25 to 30 toms of various breeds right now. Seems the biggest factor is never show and fear and/or don't back down. They are like any other animal as they can sense if you are scared or nervous and they will push you.

Steve in NC

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hee hee hee thats right Steve. on that note - i have a gander who is nothing short of a demon. we finally had hand to hand combat and all i could think of us 'this bird is kicking my tailfeathers!" we eventually came to an understanding.

countryboy88 you might want to take what i learned from the "girl vs gander fight of '08" and adopt a more 'you want a piece of me' stance. i was always afraid that i'd hurt them (or having my eyes pecked out) if they came at me but once i figured out to 'puff up' and not be nervous it got easier.

as for your dog - i have two extra big shepherds. you can train them to help you work the poultry. mine completely leave the hens alone unless i point to a specific one and say bring her to me and they herd her back to me/thru the gate etc. they also know the command 'get that rooster' and will ignore all of the hens and give the rooster/gander/tom a chase around the barnyard. if any of the male poultry start stomping around i just yell for the dogs and they move away.

but i still have my husband put the turks in at nite!

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
For the tom I was talking about before- one time I was out rolling around on the ground fighting with him and wouldn't you know it we had a car load of people show up. They are probably still telling stories about some crazy guy wrestling a turkey. We finally sold him after about a year (he had such great markings we wanted one more breeding from him). He now lives in a large pasture with a few hens and is still mean as a snake.

Steve