Our 6 meat turkeys (about 20 lbs. each) were out wandering our one acre yard while my husband and I worked in his garage, keeping an eye on them. Around 2 or 3, we noticed that 2 were missing. We live in the country surrounded by fields. We see coyotes and have seen a fox, but haven't had losses (except from neighbor's dog).
We scoured the tree line behind the house and found feathers. About 12 feet away our hen was hiding under the brush. She she was severely injured with several deep lacerations on her back and her tail was almost bitten off. We found no sign of the other turkey (male). The turkeys sometimes go in my garden by the tree line, but they don't go in it. It seems they must have been chased or dragged there.
Then a few hours later we saw the tom running along the fence. He had some skin wounds and few punctures on his lower back area. One pretty deep, but almost more like peck marks.
The wounds on the two turkeys were similar in that they were centered on the back and hind end, but were also different. Any ideas? It seems that they wouldn't have escaped from a coyote UNLESS we scared the coyotes away while looking for them? Do coyotes come out in broad daylight like that? Could a fox take a large turkey?
What a traumatic wake up call today has been. Our chickens and turkeys have been free ranging this area with no problems until today. We've even had a wild turkey hen and her babies hanging around out there, so I thought there must not be coyotes nearby. I suppose the slow moving meat turkeys were no match for anything that wanted to attack them. I feel so bad.
We scoured the tree line behind the house and found feathers. About 12 feet away our hen was hiding under the brush. She she was severely injured with several deep lacerations on her back and her tail was almost bitten off. We found no sign of the other turkey (male). The turkeys sometimes go in my garden by the tree line, but they don't go in it. It seems they must have been chased or dragged there.
Then a few hours later we saw the tom running along the fence. He had some skin wounds and few punctures on his lower back area. One pretty deep, but almost more like peck marks.
The wounds on the two turkeys were similar in that they were centered on the back and hind end, but were also different. Any ideas? It seems that they wouldn't have escaped from a coyote UNLESS we scared the coyotes away while looking for them? Do coyotes come out in broad daylight like that? Could a fox take a large turkey?
What a traumatic wake up call today has been. Our chickens and turkeys have been free ranging this area with no problems until today. We've even had a wild turkey hen and her babies hanging around out there, so I thought there must not be coyotes nearby. I suppose the slow moving meat turkeys were no match for anything that wanted to attack them. I feel so bad.
