Is my Tom turkey killing my chickens?

[GSPx2]

I have a 1.5 year old Royal Palm tom. He is the only turkey, and he lives with my small flock of chickens. I've had 3 hens die over the last few months. 2 of them looked like they could have be trampled. The most recent one was a few days ago. Another thing i noticed, which confused me, my feeder had blood all around it. It appeared as if a chicken was bleeding somewhere on its head as it was eating. My guess is, the tom is trying to breed my chickens and is crushing them. I don't understand the blood part though. Do turkeys peck at the head of the hen they're breeding?

I'm not sure what is going on and what to do. I went from 8 chickens to 5 in a few months. Any advice would be great. I enjoy having my turkey, but i get nothing from him to justify keeping him. My hens give me eggs, so i need to keep them safe and happy. I've thought about finding a hen turkey for him, but i may need to build them their own coop.

 

[The Chick Addict]

I have a 1.5 year old Royal Palm tom. He is the only turkey, and he lives with my small flock of chickens. I've had 3 hens die over the last few months. 2 of them looked like they could have be trampled. The most recent one was a few days ago. Another thing i noticed, which confused me, my feeder had blood all around it. It appeared as if a chicken was bleeding somewhere on its head as it was eating. My guess is, the tom is trying to breed my chickens and is crushing them. I don't understand the blood part though. Do turkeys peck at the head of the hen they're breeding?

I'm not sure what is going on and what to do. I went from 8 chickens to 5 in a few months. Any advice would be great. I enjoy having my turkey, but i get nothing from him to justify keeping him. My hens give me eggs, so i need to keep them safe and happy. I've thought about finding a hen turkey for him, but i may need to build them their own coop.

It sounds like he may be desperate for a mate so he has been starting to mate your chickens. His claws probably draw blood during mating. It would be best for him and your chickens for him to have a turkey mate!

 

[Anime2lover]

I have a 1.5 year old Royal Palm tom. He is the only turkey, and he lives with my small flock of chickens. I've had 3 hens die over the last few months. 2 of them looked like they could have be trampled. The most recent one was a few days ago. Another thing i noticed, which confused me, my feeder had blood all around it. It appeared as if a chicken was bleeding somewhere on its head as it was eating. My guess is, the tom is trying to breed my chickens and is crushing them. I don't understand the blood part though. Do turkeys peck at the head of the hen they're breeding?

I'm not sure what is going on and what to do. I went from 8 chickens to 5 in a few months. Any advice would be great. I enjoy having my turkey, but i get nothing from him to justify keeping him. My hens give me eggs, so i need to keep them safe and happy. I've thought about finding a hen turkey for him, but i may need to build them their own coop.

It sounds like he may be desperate for a mate so he has been starting to mate your chickens. His claws probably draw blood during mating. It would be best for him and your chickens for him to have a turkey mate!

Like chickens, turkeys shouldn't be kept without other turkeys. It is possible to keep turkeys in a flock with ducks and chickens but I find it is best that toms have at least 3 lady turkeys with them.

 

[The Chick Addict]

Like chickens, turkeys shouldn't be kept without other turkeys. It is possible to keep turkeys in a flock with ducks and chickens but I find it is best that toms have at least 3 lady turkeys with them.

I agree.

 

[Molpet]

I have had a couple chickens squash by toms. I have had turkey hens go after chicken hens also. The tom needs a flock of turkey hens. Even then when they are in with chickens it needs to be in a large area with lots of hiding spots so they can get away.

 

[R2elk]

It appeared as if a chicken was bleeding somewhere on its head as it was eating.

If you have metal feeders and cold temperatures the blood may be coming from their combs freezing as they touch the metal feeders.

I've thought about finding a hen turkey for him, but i may need to build them their own coop.

Even if you add a hen turkey or more, your tom has already learned to try mating your chickens and needs to be separated from your chickens immediately.

 

[The Birb King]

My hanging plastic feeder had dried blood around it too. I was kinda confused I thought a chicken was probably bleeding from the comb and rubbed it on the feeder but none of their combs were bloody and they all looked fine.

 

[Chick23]

I have a 1.5 year old Royal Palm tom. He is the only turkey, and he lives with my small flock of chickens. I've had 3 hens die over the last few months. 2 of them looked like they could have be trampled. The most recent one was a few days ago. Another thing i noticed, which confused me, my feeder had blood all around it. It appeared as if a chicken was bleeding somewhere on its head as it was eating. My guess is, the tom is trying to breed my chickens and is crushing them. I don't understand the blood part though. Do turkeys peck at the head of the hen they're breeding?

I'm not sure what is going on and what to do. I went from 8 chickens to 5 in a few months. Any advice would be great. I enjoy having my turkey, but i get nothing from him to justify keeping him. My hens give me eggs, so i need to keep them safe and happy. I've thought about finding a hen turkey for him, but i may need to build them their own coop.

Separate the turkey from the chickens. Turkeys need their own coop and run.
Because the turkey is probably mating with your chickens and crushing them under their weight. Even an eight pound Rooster can kill your young hen when she is not laying eggs yet and does not want to be mated. The rooster can break their legs and wings when they try to get away from the rooster. Two of my young hens only lasted a week or two then died after this happened. I bought the chicks together so the males and females were the same age, but the roosters sexually mature earlier than the females. The comb of both male and females will turn bright red when they are sexually mature.