Turkey standing on the throat of another

[runamuckmel]

Just wondering if anyone else has ever witnessed this before. I have four turkeys left over from christmas. They are generally very social and friendly towards me and each other. I leave them roam around most days. I went into the garden today and saw one of my turkeys lying on her back and had feared the worst. I ran over to her and saw one of the other turkeys with its foot on her throat. I shooed the other turkey away and the one that had been lying on the ground was ok but a bit shook. The turkeys were all a bit aggressive towards one another and were also displaying their feathers. Any ideas of what's going on??

 

[FarmerGilland]

I have no clue but am curious on what other people have to say.

 

[queenturkeygirl]

How old are they? How old were they before Christmas? They sound like one is trying to dominate. Have you heard of Pecking Order? As far as I know all birds have it. But give me more detail on what their daily habits are & I might be able to help you-- there's always a reason why a turkey acts out of line.

 

[runamuckmel]

Hi weirdturkeyfreak,

They are about 7 months old, I leave them out into their pen in the morning and if I am about I leave them out into the garden. The grass in the pen is a bit sparse, that's why I leave them out of their pen as much as possible but only if I'm around because there are also a few foxes about and have also seen a mink around a few months ago. I think they are still trying to sort out a pecking order and maybe going into mating season. I live in Ireland and the weather has been unussually nice and the days are becoming a bit longer. They have had a few minor squabbles (a bit of neck pulling) in the past but I was a bit taken aback at that level of aggression, since they are generally such sociable creatures. Thankfully, I didn't see a repeat of yesterdays antics today.

 

[ivan3]

If it was a male standing on the jenny's neck then it might have had nothing to do with aggression, at all. The `young' fellas occasionally `confuse' directions when getting started and can be persistent about it.