Turkeys For 2013

[MumsyII]

I've been out side all this time observing them. She escaped the run and went off in the shrubbery to hide. I shut the three smaller females and the tom out in the bigger garden. Came in the house for a bit and when I went outside to check on them, she had pushed open the gate just enough to squeeze into the garden. She is still hiding in the bushes. Like a banished bird from the flock or she is just too wounded and hurting and is hiding to recover. I just don't know what to think of it.

It is very possible he was fighting her over dominance. I don't think he knows what he's supposed to do with the girls yet but the female he fought with is the largest and the dominate female until today. I've seen them head and neck tussle before but never draw blood until today. It really seemed he knew what he was doing when he pushed her over to the bucket and shoved her head under the water. He had a firm grip on the top of her head with his beak and just shoved her in. I can tell you straight up, that seeing that really un-nerved me.

She is hurting but what I have examined looks to be shallow skin wounds. I may need to go out now and find a place to keep the tom. Next to the girls and in sight of but have him safely separated.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Wow! I just came in from breaking up a turkey fight with my four month old Blue Slates. The tom and who I thought was his favorite female poult  were going at it by biting each others head. Rough play does not describe it! As I was watching with my jaw dropped, he took her by the back of the head, drug her over to the five gallon water bucket and dunked her head and held it there! If I had not run into the pen and grabbed her, he would have drowned her!

I held him so she could get away but she attacked him again! All I could think of to do is let the tom and other three hens out and separate the attacking hen so she could have a cool down.

What is going on here? Anyone able to explain this?

OMG!!!!!!!! That sounds deadly!!! He just snapped huh?

 

[kuntrygirl]

 

This is my first turkey venture. I could hardly believe my eyes when he purposely shoved her head under water and held it there! I'm still shaken over it. And he did display for ten minutes when I took him out of the pen.  She was still fighting back up until the moment I closed the gate between them. I have not seen him try to mount. I have seen the girls lay down for him. He mostly just steps on them for a second. I've never seen a fight like this with them. 

I am not a pro by any means.... but if they are only 4 months old he may not realize she is a hen and does not have an interest in her like that yet. I think that was part of my problem here. My toms were not paying any attention to her and she kept trying to get their attention. All of a sudden one day the fight broke out between my 2 alfa toms over the hen! Just a thought...

That sounds like a good explanation to me.

 

[chickadoodles]

I would keep them separated for awhile. Mine still are trying to fight thru the fence now and then.

 

[MumsyII]

OMG!!!!!!!! That sounds deadly!!! He just snapped huh?

The five have been brooder mates and penned together from day one of hatch. He out weighs the females by quite a bit and has been gentle and docile until today. While I was watching them fight from outside the pen I knew something had snapped between them. They had been fed and ate together out of the same pan like they always do. I think she may have instigated the fight.

When I ran into the pen to pull them apart and get her head out of the water, she came up fighting! I had my hands full hanging onto the tom because he was still wanting to kill her. She was biting me, my shirt and him instead of running away! He was kicking, hissing, and trying is hardest to get at her. I had to lift him up bodily and push her away with my foot while I carried him out of the pen. It took a minute for the adrenaline in the female to wear off to the point she got a little shock-y and started to feel the pain. I'm worried she may have taken in water. It's still dripping from her nares. She isn't moving much. Just hunkered down in the bushes.

 

[kuntrygirl]

OMG!!!!!!!! That sounds deadly!!! He just snapped huh?

The five have been brooder mates and penned together from day one of hatch. He out weighs the females by quite a bit and has been gentle and docile until today. While I was watching them fight from outside the pen I knew something had snapped between them. They had been fed and ate together out of the same pan like they always do. I think she may have instigated the fight.
 
When I ran into the pen to pull them apart and get her head out of the water, she came up fighting! I had my hands full hanging onto the tom because he was still wanting to kill her. She was biting me, my shirt and him instead of running away! He was kicking, hissing, and trying is hardest to get at her.  I had to lift him up bodily and push her away with my foot while I carried him out of the pen. It took a minute for the adrenaline in the female to wear off to the point she got a little shock-y and started to feel the pain.  I'm worried she may have taken in water. It's still dripping from her nares. She isn't moving much. Just hunkered down in the bushes.

WOW!! If you suspect that she may have taken in water, can you flip her (head down towards the ground) to see if any water will drain from her. Will she let you touch her?

I have never heard of a tom doing this to female. I probably would have rung his neck if it happened at my house. That's one thing that I WILL NOT tolerate. I can understand the usual bumping of the chest and a few minor fights. But aggravated assault and attempted murder are crimes that qualify for severe consequences.

 

[chicken pickin]

WOW That sounds like its been a rough day for you and the turkeys. Ive never seen such behavior displayed between a Tom and a Hen. I have seen some pretty rough sparring between my adult Toms though. I would definitely separate them for a little while until she is feeling better. And once its time to put them back together just watch them well for a while to make sure all is well. I hope your hen feels better and didn't inhale too much water.


On another strange note, and this is a first for me, one of my young roosters mounted a young turkey today he didn't get far lol. It is the one turkey I could not decide if it was a Tom or a Hen. Im going to assume she is a Hen now that Rebel took a liking to her.

 

[MumsyII]

WOW!! If you suspect that she may have taken in water, can you flip her (head down towards the ground) to see if any water will drain from her. Will she let you touch her?

I have never heard of a tom doing this to female. I probably would have rung his neck if it happened at my house.

That's one thing that I WILL NOT tolerate. I can understand the usual bumping of the chest and a few minor fights. But aggravated assault and attempted murder are crimes that qualify for severe consequences.

I tilted her head and body downward when I first grabbed her. She gurgled and water dripped out. She may have swallowed more than inhaled. She's still hiding in the bushes in the sun. Her face is very bloody and swollen. One eye is half swollen shut but looks fine other than that. I check on her every half hour.

I've never seen any aggression in any of these five turkeys that caused blood or turned deadly. They all have been personable and friendly. They are all going to be butchered in a few months. I would have liked to keep the tom and one hen for breeding but not any longer.

I also will not tolerate aggressiveness this extreme in any of my animals. But this came straight out of the blue. Never knew a male and female could fight to the death like this. I really hope I don't have to process this hen early.

The tom gets a separate pen tonight when my husband comes home.

 

[Celie]

I am still in shock just hearing a turkey actually tried to drown another !!! WOW, I can't get over that.

As far as a rooster, trying to mate a turkey hen, yep, al the time. That is what roosters do, They will try to mate with anything, turkeys, ducks, baby chicks, plastic bags, rocks, doesn't matter!

 

[TexasLisa]

I am still in shock just hearing a turkey actually tried to drown another !!! WOW, I can't get over that.

As far as a rooster, trying to mate a turkey hen, yep, al the time. That is what roosters do, They will try to mate with anything, turkeys, ducks, baby chicks, plastic bags, rocks, doesn't matter!

Okay, I am going to ask: Does it take?

Lisa