Weird turkey?

[chicbaby]

i have been reading about all the friendly turkeys many people have. we have a 2-3 month old bourbon red, not sure if he is a she or not yet. he gets along fine with our chickens, but will peck everyone else in the eyes if he gets a chance. if our goats are near the fence he will reach thru and attempt to peck them too. i have to watch him around our dogs because he will go up and do the same to them. just wondering if anyone has seen such a thing? he was brought up in the house with our chicks and held alot, but he is not friendly at all. i am hoping she will grow out of it, but not sure what his problem is. no one else does that. a couple of our younger chicks did that a couple of times but when i told them not to, they stopped and figured out those were someone's eyes so that hasnt happened since. our chickens will actually sit on and scratch through our dogs fur, but they never peck them in the eyes. the turkey acts like he has no clue and it doesnt mean anything for me to shoo him away and tell him to stop it.. has anyone had that experience? now that our youngest are big enough we were going to let them out to free range but i am afraid the turkey might hurt our baby goats, or even the older ones. the other day my daughter said the turkey kind of jumped at her so i told her to chase him around a little bit so he would figure out he cant bully her.
perhaps he is asking to be thanksgiving dinner? we werent sure one way or the other what we were going to do with him, but if he doesnt stop it that may be what happens. can anyone tell boy or girl?

 

[Starkmojo]

I say he has won a trip to freezer camp!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That looks like a young Tom, turkeys are attracted to shiny things and will peck them, including eyes, I think the only thing that would help is more turkeys, he don't know what he is, he's becoming sexually mature, at that age they usually fight with other Jakes, he's trouble, I have found out the hard way, don't raise turkeys and chickens together, the turkeys will kill your chickens, because they are stronger, and they like fighting, and won't stop until they are exhausted. I have had turkeys like this and they have always started attacking me, My husband eats them, I will not be terrorized by my poultry, keep him penned up, or eat him, they are strong birds, just my advice

 

[chicbaby]

we had bought two baby turkey s with our chicks but one of them suddenly died at 3 days old. are turkeys not very hardy, because we have never had that happen before with our chickens.he has always done the eye pecking thing. it seems that animals raised for meat have sometimes more of an attitude than those kept for milk or eggs.its probably easier to eat someone who isnt very nice. i will keep an eye on him and see what happens. he has never been aggressive at all to the chickens.
depending on how he acts, we may find another turkey and give them their own pen since i cant put him in with our goats.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Turkeys are slower at first, need to be warmer, and shown how to eat, and they can't walk well for a few days, your turkey is a bourbon red, he's not a broad breasted type, so he's not just a meat bird, he's able to get around better and live longer. He may grow out of his behavior,like some young roosters, I separate them sometimes during puberty, because they get goofy, and need some time to mature and calm down, maybe he just needs that because there is no one to take his aggression out on. That's why I say watch your chickens, he's gonna want to mate, and a chicken is close.

 

[chicbaby]

thanks old hen,i noticed that about the turkey when he was a baby. he had to think about things and it appears they are more helpless than chicks are.they seem to mature mentally alot slower. we want only heritage breeds, i dont like the idea that the commercial turkeys can barely stand up and cant even breed. that just seems cruel to breed an animal that would obviously be suffering throughout its life.

 

[chicbaby]

i wanted to add we have a bantam rooster in there that keeps the younger ones in line, so hopefully he will teach him some manners. it also turns out we have 2 young welsummer roosters that were supposed to be hens. what about putting them all separate together?what has been your experience?

 

[IceAngel]

My Turkeys are Ridley Bronze. They seem to be very sociable. I have a big Tom and Hen that free range with the chickens. The Hen doesn't bother the chickens at all, even when they are competing for kitchen scraps. The Tom doesn't like any chickens getting too close to his girl. He never gets near enough to any of the chickens to peck them. If he approaches any chickens they just run and they are faster than he is.

I also have 20 of their offspring - three separate hatches that roost together. The little Toms start "displaying" early, so it's easy to tell who is male and who is female by three months. I am not sure if this is also true of Bourbon Reds. Here is my boy, Heathcliff.

 

[chicbaby]

what a handsome boy!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My experience has been when a turkey decides something like picking a fight with a chicken, the turkey seems to become hyperfocused on its target and will not stop, then they are dangerous to chickens, it may or me not happen, I prefer to avoid it happening, when two toms fight it goes on for a long time, and the victor usually chases the looser for hours, if it can't get away then it can get nasty. Every turkey is different, I have a neighbor whose Tom turkeys attack everyone, mine don't bother me. It depends how you feel about those roosters