Turkeys moved to new pen, they are lonely

[hogster160]

Well, we had to move our turkeys out of the chicken pen and into their own. The turkey hen was beginning to get aggressive towards some of the smaller sized chickens. In fact, she pecked one on the beak so hard, the poor lil chickens beak cracked. She will heal, but I didn't want to see a dead chicken because I didn't pay attention to the warning signs.

Well the chickens are just as happy as can be, my egg count even went up! The turkeys however, are another story. They are lonely. Their pen is right next to the chickens, they can see them and hear them, they just can't get to them. I think they are lonely. They are calling and calling and the mean old chickens won't respond in kind. Also my neighbor, who raised turkeys this year, butchered his 2 weeks ago. So they are not responding either!

Ok, so what can I do to make them not lonely. I have a tom and a hen both 7 months old or so. She is not laying yet, or making a nest. He walks around trying to get her attention for a couple of hours, and after that just kind of gives up. If she pays any attention to him, its not in a good way. She is forever chasing him around, barking at him, pecking at him. Poor guy, I feel so bad for him some days.

I thought maybe they were maturing. And that's why the chickens were getting in the way. But she just seems like a wench! lol Is this normal? I was rubbing her chest the other day, and she sat down on my hand. And she wouldn't move. But shes not doing that for him. They do the normal follow me everywhere, get into everything. She loves to pull my hair if I'm down to her level. Is that a sign shes missing something in her diet?

There pen is 25 x 90 so there is plenty of room for the two of them. They are fed FF, and a mix of fruits and veggies daily. Any ideas?

Thanks

Deb

 

[Celie]

Give them time to adjust and they should be fine. In 7 months being in the pen with the chickens, they think that is their home, but you can't keep having this sort of aggressive behavior toward your chickens go unchecked. What breed turkeys do you have? Sounds like your hen is a bully? Has she always been like this?

 

[hogster160]

They are standard bronze. No normally she is decent. We haven't had any major problems. Treat time would cause a commotion, but normally no problems. She is jealous of me. She doesn't like it when the chickens come see me. So I suppose I have been missing some signs.

And it appears as though my male does not like thunderstorms.

 

[chknoodles]

Suggest you change the turkeys diet to game bird feeder that has a protein level of 26% or higher. We feed ours game bird feeder that has 30% and supplement with fresh cut grass daily and watermelons a couple times a week and 5 grain scratch every other day.

We have 3 Standard Bronze (2 Toms and 1 hen) and 2 mixed breed hens all in a pen much smaller than yours (pen expansion is on our near horizon). Our Bronze hen is timid, shy but not flighty and likes to be held and petted. The less dominant Tom is much the same way. Our Dominate Tom, he's a love-dove to me and my husband but has been known to pick on the other Tom a bit. I don't like seeing them fight but so far, no damage.

The Dominate has won a blue (1st place) and a Red (2nd place) in the two poultry shows we have entered him in.

Oh, our mixed are very flighty and not interested in being friends with anyone but each other. I am hoping when breeding season arrives in the Spring, both girls will cozy up to the boys and get a bit friendlier. Your girl should not lay eggs until March..or maybe later since you are way North of TN.

If you can find a couple Guinea Fowl, you may want to put them in with the turkeys..the guinea are very, very, very quick and after a day or two, the turkeys don't mind them at all..plus the guinea keep the birds and pen totally bug free and work as a great alarm when/if a predator is near the cage.

 

[ivan3]

hogster160 wrote: I thought maybe they were maturing. And that's why the chickens were getting in the way. But she just seems like a wench! lol Is this normal? I was rubbing her chest the other day, and she sat down on my hand. And she wouldn't move. But shes not doing that for him.

It's fall (turkeys are seasonal layers), they're young - at best you'll get some more `presenting' by her, probably limited action by the male. Next Spring, if she's still only presenting to you - just make sure the tom is standing nearby when she's flattened out next to your feet (more than a few successful `coverages' have been so moderated by the humans here).

 

[hogster160]

It's fall (turkeys are seasonal layers), they're young - at best you'll get some more `presenting' by her, probably limited action by the male. Next Spring, if she's still only presenting to you - just make sure the tom is standing nearby when she's flattened out next to your feet (more than a few successful `coverages' have been so moderated by the humans here).

The other day, she flattened out by me, and the tom did try to mate her, he was unsuccessful, but hey he tried lol. They have both calmed down a lot since. Perhaps he was successful when I wasn't around. I figured I wouldn't get any eggs until spring, which is fine. I'm just trying to figure these turkeys out. I am new to them and chickens. Just want them to have a good happy life with all they need. Thanks!