Turkeys!!!??? comments and a couple of questions

[jenjscott]

I recently started separating my turkeys into their respective breeding pens. Two of these toms have lived together their entire lives, they're coming 2 yr old. BR is in a pen with 4 hens. RP is in a large pen with 4 other toms and 5 hens, waiting to be separated or slaughtered. I let RP's group out to free range this afternoon, and the first thing he did was go over to the chain link pen where BR is and they spend the next half hour fighting through the fence. Go Figure. They were together until a few days ago. (1) I noticed some of the hen turkeys biting off pieces of the tom's tail feathers. Quite vigorously and persistently. Can I stop this? Any Suggestions? (2) Given equality otherwise, would there be any advantages to a coming 2 yr old tom or a 10 month old tom? (4 hens) Thanks.

 

[pdpatch]

You now have two separate flocks. They only way it will stop is if the Tom's get back into the same order pecking order of the same flock. All you can do is just keep they way from each other.

A 10 month old Tom may not accert himself as well as a 2 year old tom and my be picked on by the hens especially if he hasn't been the dominate Male of the group. As he gets older and larger he will do better and the hens should back off. Also a 10 month old Tom may not have the mating thing down so well, they get so excited they don't perform well as in how they mount the Hen.

Tom