Jake turning aggressive

[beachyburrow]

I don't know if aggressive is the proper word to use here, but we have a young jake who is approximately 4-5 months old and has recently started to try to chase/herd me. He is a Narragansett turkey, amd we have had him for about 11 weeks.

He has always been very friendly and curious, loves attention, and has always been awesome toward humans. He has two jennys, and has rarely ever been aggressive towards them.

Within the past two weeks, he has started coming at me/flopping at me/flying at me in the mornings when he is let out of the coop for feed time. This has seemingly come out of nowhere.

I have been using the stick/rake method to re-direct him away from me and to keep some distance (this has all been without any physical contact - I use the stick or rake to keep him away, and while he generally gets the idea, he still aggressively charges me until I go back inside).

He is very kind to my boyfriend, and in general, is very docile. I am unsure of why he has started doing this, and I worry that this will continue on until he possibly injures me. I do not want to be fearful of our birds - so am just curious about how others have handled this.

I have done research on this forum and found that possibly he has been imprinted by humans, and he, unfortunately, thinks I am a turkey.

These turkeys have been an addition to our home not as meat birds, and my boyfriend is very fond of this jake. While this is something I am great with, I don't want to live my mornings in fear of him coming after me, especially when he gets his spurs.

Has anyone had any luck in combatting this issue? Any tips to "un-imprint" on him? Any advice?

I thought that maybe it was the colors I was wearing, or not spending enough time getting them used to me, but it has turned into a clown show when I venture out into the yard.

 

[R2elk]

I don't know if aggressive is the proper word to use here, but we have a young jake who is approximately 4-5 months old and has recently started to try to chase/herd me. He is a Narragansett turkey, amd we have had him for about 11 weeks.

He has always been very friendly and curious, loves attention, and has always been awesome toward humans. He has two jennys, and has rarely ever been aggressive towards them.

Within the past two weeks, he has started coming at me/flopping at me/flying at me in the mornings when he is let out of the coop for feed time. This has seemingly come out of nowhere.

I have been using the stick/rake method to re-direct him away from me and to keep some distance (this has all been without any physical contact - I use the stick or rake to keep him away, and while he generally gets the idea, he still aggressively charges me until I go back inside).

He is very kind to my boyfriend, and in general, is very docile. I am unsure of why he has started doing this, and I worry that this will continue on until he possibly injures me. I do not want to be fearful of our birds - so am just curious about how others have handled this.

I have done research on this forum and found that possibly he has been imprinted by humans, and he, unfortunately, thinks I am a turkey.

These turkeys have been an addition to our home not as meat birds, and my boyfriend is very fond of this jake. While this is something I am great with, I don't want to live my mornings in fear of him coming after me, especially when he gets his spurs.

Has anyone had any luck in combatting this issue? Any tips to "un-imprint" on him? Any advice?

I thought that maybe it was the colors I was wearing, or not spending enough time getting them used to me, but it has turned into a clown show when I venture out into the yard.

IMO, he is only going to get worse. You can try picking him up, hold both legs together with one hand and tuck him under your arm pit held firmly enough that his wings cannot get loose. Carry him around like this for awhile before gently releasing him.

Dominant turkeys don't like the experience of being dominated. He may try to stay out of reach in the future but it might also make him worse.

It sounds like he thinks you are competition for your boyfriend's attention.

 

[yesterDAYNE]

I'm not sure if he can change, sadly. My 5 year old tom used to be completely docile towards everyone for a good 3 or so years, but one year he just decided he absolutely hated my mom and still now chases her and will try and fight her when she's out in the yard. He is still docile with me though and has never shown an smidge of aggression towards me. If he weren't contained in a yard and I wasn't the primary caretaker of the turkeys anyway we probably wouldn't have him anymore.

 

[Baybrio]

Not sure if this helps - I've had a few young turkeys that want to peck (and chase) my dogs. I push them away firmly. If they get more aggressive I push more determinedly. It works but honestly I have to do it about 20 times (in one sitting) before they get the message and back off. Then the next day the same, for several days. This is a lot of repetition, it seems to take that much to get it to sink in. I would also keep using the rake to push him away until he backs up. It is incredibly tedious and time consuming and he will probably need reminders. Also if your going to try this you've got to follow through. If you try it for a few minutes and give up he'll think he's won and likely get worse.

Have you ever seen the dog trainer Cesar M. (I can't remember how his last name is spelled). Anyway while turkeys sure are not dogs I think being calm and assertively in charge works with a lot of bad acting fowl.

 

[Isadora]

Have you ever seen the dog trainer Cesar M. (I can't remember how his last name is spelled). Anyway while turkeys sure are not dogs I think being calm and assertively in charge works with a lot of bad acting fowl.

Cesar Milan

 

[beachyburrow]

IMO, he is only going to get worse. You can try picking him up, hold both legs together with one hand and tuck him under your arm pit held firmly enough that his wings cannot get loose. Carry him around like this for awhile before gently releasing him.

Dominant turkeys don't like the experience of being dominated. He may try to stay out of reach in the future but it might also make him worse.

It sounds like he thinks you are competition for your boyfriend's attention.

Thank you for the feedback, if things get worse, I will definitely be trying this. My BF has to hold him exactly like this monthly while I clip his wings. I wonder if this has something to do with that. In the beginning, I had to hold him while my BF did the wing clipping, which is when he used to be docile towards me.

 

[beachyburrow]

I'm not sure if he can change, sadly. My 5 year old tom used to be completely docile towards everyone for a good 3 or so years, but one year he just decided he absolutely hated my mom and still now chases her and will try and fight her when she's out in the yard. He is still docile with me though and has never shown an smidge of aggression towards me. If he weren't contained in a yard and I wasn't the primary caretaker of the turkeys anyway we probably wouldn't have him anymore.

Thank you for your feedback! I am working with him daily out in the yard, and he slowly is making some sort of improvement which was surprising to me! He has not tried to fly/flop at me. Hoping for the best. Hoping the best for your mom!

 

[beachyburrow]

Not sure if this helps - I've had a few young turkeys that want to peck (and chase) my dogs. I push them away firmly. If they get more aggressive I push more determinedly. It works but honestly I have to do it about 20 times (in one sitting) before they get the message and back off. Then the next day the same, for several days. This is a lot of repetition, it seems to take that much to get it to sink in. I would also keep using the rake to push him away until he backs up. It is incredibly tedious and time consuming and he will probably need reminders. Also if your going to try this you've got to follow through. If you try it for a few minutes and give up he'll think he's won and likely get worse.

Have you ever seen the dog trainer Cesar M. (I can't remember how his last name is spelled). Anyway while turkeys sure are not dogs I think being calm and assertively in charge works with a lot of bad acting fowl.

Hello! Thank you for your feedback! I have been continuing on with keeping distance from him with the backside of the rake, standing tall/arms outstretched or on my hips, and using firm/assertive/calm vocal cues like "don't" "don't even try" and "do you want to be thanksgiving?". When he comes too close I gently poke him with two fingers, and then follow him around the yard until he backs down/loses interest, and heads to a different area. I try to stand there after he backs down for a few minutes, and then walk backward out of the yard and it has been working for the past few days! A huge part of this has been to not go out into the yard with all the birds feeling anxious or like he is going to come at me - keeping a calm demeanor around and standing firm has been helpful. I am hopeful and plan to continue with this for as long as it takes