I have a new Eastern Tom that is aggressive to people. Any advice on taming him down? He will eat out of my hand as long as we are on different sides of the fence. when i go in the pin he is very unpredictable some times he is fine with me and will let me clean, feed and water even pet the hen that we got with him. Other times he will get mad and challenge me the whole time and has jumped at me more than once. He has been fine with other birds, chickens and ducks, my other turkeys are still to young to be in with him. I have been hand feeding him a couple times a day for 2 weeks with treats and spending time in the pin with him but have not had any improvement. I would like for them to be able to roam with the rest of my birds but can not with him acting this way. any ideas?
Never let a turkey eat from your hand. Even a poult. Not that that is part of the problem. Turkeys are too strong/big, and eating from your hand can cause an accidental puncture.
I have a jenny that bites me out of curiosity when I am working (saying no is working most of the time). But the tom I can help you with!!
Mimic him. Walk slowly towards him, and flap your arms, hitting your side, and saying, "Pft! Pft!" It worked within a week for my jake! Putting him in the freezer worked too!
I turned my turkey poults out into the goat pasture to permanently free range a couple of weeks ago, and while I was worried that they would immediately disappear into the woods, never to return, it turns out my fears were unfounded. The Great Pyres keeps them safe from predators, and when the poults aren't hanging out at the barn or shop building, they following us around and constantly getting under foot (like puppies, but with feathers, LOL)....almost a bit of a nuisance really. They have grown exponentially in size since they have been free-ranging and seem to be quite content. I'm just hoping they will eventually increase their little flock naturally.
I have a new Eastern Tom that is aggressive to people. Any advice on taming him down? He will eat out of my hand as long as we are on different sides of the fence. when i go in the pin he is very unpredictable some times he is fine with me and will let me clean, feed and water even pet the hen that we got with him. Other times he will get mad and challenge me the whole time and has jumped at me more than once. He has been fine with other birds, chickens and ducks, my other turkeys are still to young to be in with him. I have been hand feeding him a couple times a day for 2 weeks with treats and spending time in the pin with him but have not had any improvement. I would like for them to be able to roam with the rest of my birds but can not with him acting this way. any ideas?
Never let a turkey eat from your hand. Even a poult. Not that that is part of the problem. Turkeys are too strong/big, and eating from your hand can cause an accidental puncture.
I have a jenny that bites me out of curiosity when I am working (saying no is working most of the time). But the tom I can help you with!!
Mimic him. Walk slowly towards him, and flap your arms, hitting your side, and saying, "Pft! Pft!" It worked within a week for my jake! Putting him in the freezer worked too!
I tried this this morning and it seamed to work very well, every time I went back in to the pin today he just watched me and would follow me around. I took them out for a short walk around the yard this evening that went very well also. How old should my young ones be before I introduce them to the big tom? I have one that is around 12 weeks and one that is around 8 weeks that are easterns, that i hatched. Also I have 4 royal palms, 1 bronze and 3 royal palm mixes that are about 2-3 weeks. He has seen the 2 oldest through pin but did not react to them at all. My DW has gone turkey crazy
Is anyone else feeding fermented feed to their turkeys? Mine adore it, apparently. I am still giving the flock some layer pellet, but giving them some fermented feed, too. I am planning on increasing the fermented feed and decreasing the pellet until they are swapped over.
Anyway, I hadn't even doled out the fermented feed yet, but I'd set my pink bucket down while I was refilling waterers first. They all stuck their heads in the bucket to chow down! Pellet was still left in the feeder, so it isn't like they were starving.
This is only my first year letting turkey mamas raise their brood. I am raising Midget Broad-Breasted Whites. I have two turkey hens and a tom. The one pictured is "South." The second hen is "North." (In reference to the location of their original nests.) North went broody first and hatched (12) and raised (until they were three weeks old) 6 poults (I learned I have to do a little interfering in making sure those poults know where to find food and water). North found South's nest, kicked South off , and took over that nest, as well as adding a few of her own. North still let the original poults brood under her wings but did nothing to find food for them. South made a new nest. North's second poults started hatching, but she did not raise herself up off the poults and suffocated them . I took the rest of those turkey eggs and put them under a broody chicken hen. That chicken hen is raising 5 poults. North started mothering her original six poults again until she found South's new nest and promptly kicked South off again and started incubating those eggs in addition to adding her own. South made herself a new nest outside in the tall grass. This time I put a chicken "condo" over South and her nest so as to be protected from the elements and predators (and North). In the meantime, North's third set of poults started hatching and she ended up with nine more turkey poults. As these poults hatched, I actually took them away so as not to be suffocated until I knew they were eating/drinking, took the rest of the eggs away after approximately a week, and stuck the poults back under her. She has done a great job raising those poults. About three weeks later, South finally got to hatch her eggs. She has been an AWESOME mama. That was a long answer to your question!! They really are both excellent mamas, North to an extent. Oh, and the tom is an excellent papa! He has taken over the original six, will "throw" June bugs at them to eat, stays with them, breaks up squabbles, and waits until they are all inside before he goes in. Although the poults wanted to snuggle under him at night, that is where he drew the line . It has really been funny to watch. Papa and poults: North and her third hatch (nine) after a hawk flew over: South in the condo with some of the poults peeking out. I thought I had a picture of the chicken mama with her five poults, but can't find it.
I am very excited for my Palms and other heritage birds to be broody next spring. They're all only five months old right now but by next April, I expect good things.
Is anyone else feeding fermented feed to their turkeys? Mine adore it, apparently. I am still giving the flock some layer pellet, but giving them some fermented feed, too. I am planning on increasing the fermented feed and decreasing the pellet until they are swapped over.
Anyway, I hadn't even doled out the fermented feed yet, but I'd set my pink bucket down while I was refilling waterers first. They all stuck their heads in the bucket to chow down! Pellet was still left in the feeder, so it isn't like they were starving.
, and took over that nest, as well as adding a few of her own. North still let the original poults brood under her wings but did nothing to find food for them. South made a new nest. North's second poults started hatching, but she did not raise herself up off the poults and suffocated them
. I took the rest of those turkey eggs and put them under a broody chicken hen. That chicken hen is raising 5 poults. North started mothering her original six poults again until she found South's new nest and promptly kicked South off again
and started incubating those eggs in addition to adding her own. South made herself a new nest outside in the tall grass. This time I put a chicken "condo" over South and her nest so as to be protected from the elements and predators (and North). In the meantime, North's third set of poults started hatching and she ended up with nine more turkey poults. As these poults hatched, I actually took them away so as not to be suffocated until I knew they were eating/drinking, took the rest of the eggs away after approximately a week, and stuck the poults back under her. She has done a great job raising those poults. About three weeks later, South finally got to hatch her eggs. She has been an AWESOME mama.
That was a long answer to your question!! They really are both excellent mamas, North to an extent. Oh, and the tom is an excellent papa! He has taken over the original six, will "throw" June bugs at them to eat, stays with them, breaks up squabbles, and waits until they are all inside before he goes in. Although the poults wanted to snuggle under him at night, that is where he drew the line
. It has really been funny to watch. Papa and poults:
