Turkeys Attack??

[Happydaze]

I was very interested in getting a Turkey Tom to free range around my farm, then people started telling me Horror stories about Turkeys attacking people. I have a 5 year old daughter that likes playing outside. Would it be a bad idea to get a free range turkey??

 

[chickM4st3r(AL)]

yeah they are territorial not a good idea for the sake of ur daughter

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

Our tom is fine with our kids, he has been raised with them and maybe that makes a difference but he is a perfect gentlemen around us and them. You may just have to experiment with breeds and see what will work for your family. Our Midget White tom is quite the character and a great watchman, I am not sure how he is with strangers as we rarely have people around our birds but as far as our family he is great.

 

[kuntrygirl]

My toms have never attacked and I have small children over a lot.

 

[OmaBird]

My Grandson lives in my other house on our farm. He will be three next month. He loves the turkeys. When he was just a baby the tom turkeys would circle around his stroller while I feed the horses and goats. They have never hurt him. I think you have to be careful with any animal even if it is a dog or cat they can be unpredictable.

 

[KOTurkeyRanch]

chickM4st3r(AL) :

yeah they are territorial not a good idea for the sake of ur daughter

Doyou have turkeys? If you hatch out and raise a turkey, he will be fine. I got mine when they were mature and havent had ANY problems.​

 

[RedfogsFlock]

Turkeys probable CAN be territorial. We just rescued one the other day, and he is awesome with everyone! Our small dogs, our 7 yr old son. He really likes to be hugged! Our son puts his arms around him, and he will lay his feathers flat for him. We have a female, so I would think if he were going to do anything he would've done it since he's new and totally unsure about things. So I would have to say it's gotta be in the way they are raised. Now our female we've had since she was 3 days old, she's now 6 weeks and she will coo at my son when he picks her up! She doesn't struggle or anything to get away!

 

[thaiturkey]

Surely you have to be careful where children are concerned and never trust an animal completely. You lose an eye only once, or maybe twice.

 

[Happydaze]

I guess my concern would be that if she were to ride her bike by would It jump up and start clawing and such. I suppose just for precaution the turkey could always be put in a pen if she were to play. I've never even so much have been around a Turkey so I'm really just trying to get a sense of them. Everybody is sure helping me to make a decision.....and I'm leaning to YES! I think I would get a young Tom Narragansett. Thanks Everybody! I sure appreciate and enjoy reading your replys!!

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
The eyes, the eyes! Other wounds would heal. Why not closely supervise play with the turkey about and see what happens. If you get a tom (stag) with no mate, I guess that you could expect some aggression so a mating pair at least would be better. They aren't dumb; they need friends and the chance to get their leg over if you want them content.