Baby turkeys - really bummed :(

[CrealCritter]

Truth be known - I would rather chase a few roosters on a rape and pillage mission than to have to deal with druggies and thieves in a city or town any day... I'm a country boy all the way!!!

 

[baymule]

Amen to that!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

What /\ she said!

 

[CrealCritter]

All that work and for nothing. The baby turkeys found a way to get into the yard with the tom and roosters but the turkey hens we're still in the center yard. I have a hole somewhere...

I opened the door and let the hens out into the other yard..so back to square 1 again. I'll have to fix this, this evening when I get off work...

 

[CrealCritter]

I wanted to let you all know - I finally figured out what was happening to my baby turkeys. I seen my Tom step on one, i marked it's leg with a black sharpie and two days later I found it dead. I'm now down to 2 baby turkeys But at least I found the problem.

The tom didn't do this intentionally that I could tell... But he's a big bird and a little baby turkey really doesn't stand a chance when he steps on them.

Next brood I'll know to separate the Tom from the hens and babies when they start to hatch.

Just thought you may find this helpful...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I would never have thought of that....just proves that you can learn a lot just watching your critters!

 

[Beekissed]

It may or may not have been intentional....I had a rooster that would step on the little ones when they came to the feed trough. Looked all like an accident but I would watch and he would just keep stepping on them over and over whenever he moved around the feed trough. No other chickens stepping on chicks, just him.

He's gone now and tasted good, but it was definitely intentional. When he was flockmaster I found a few young cockerels with broken necks but no other marks. Never had that before in all the flocks and all the roosters I'd had, so he was definitely targeting the young ones and especially the males.