Male turkeys, known as toms, sometimes kill baby turkeys, or poults, a behavior classified as infanticide. This aggressive act is a recognized natural phenomenon, primarily driven by instinct and reproductive strategy. The aggression is not a universal trait, but turkey keepers and biologists acknowledge it as a potential risk within a flock. The tom’s actions are usually swift and deliberate, often resulting in the death of the young bird.
Aggression and Infanticide in Turkey Flocks
The aggression displayed by toms toward poults is a distinct behavioral observation, separate from accidental trampling. These aggressive acts often manifest as direct physical attacks, such as head pecking, which can be fatal to young turkeys. Toms may also drive poults away from the protective presence of the mother hen, making the young vulnerable to stress, exposure, or predation.
The behavior typically focuses on poults that are not their own offspring, or any young perceived as weak or separated from the hen. A mother hen is generally protective, but she cannot defend all her poults simultaneously against a determined, much larger male turkey. The aggression is a clear behavioral indicator of a dominance conflict within the flock environment.
The Biological Rationale for Tom Aggression
The root of this aggressive behavior lies in the male turkey’s reproductive strategy, known as sexually selected infanticide. This is a common phenomenon where the killing of unrelated young benefits the perpetrator’s genetic fitness. A hen raising a brood of poults is unavailable to mate because she is focused on maternal care and is not in a fertile condition.
Eliminating the poults causes the hen to abandon her current brood and re-enter the reproductive cycle sooner. This physiological response allows the tom to mate with the hen, increasing his opportunity to sire the next clutch of eggs. The behavior is often correlated with the mating season, where male testosterone levels are elevated, driving intense competition. By removing the offspring of a rival male, the aggressive tom ensures that the hen’s reproductive effort is redirected toward his own genes.
How Environment Influences the Behavior
The environment plays a significant role in exacerbating the natural tendency for aggression in male turkeys. In domestic or farm settings, high stocking density and limited space increase stress and social friction within the flock. Confinement makes it difficult for mother hens and their poults to escape or disperse from an aggressive tom, leading to higher rates of infanticide.
Wild turkey populations, in contrast, have a natural defense mechanism in the form of wide dispersal and complex habitat. Wild poults have a greater chance of survival because they can use dense cover and distance to avoid unwanted interactions. The lack of environmental complexity in a confined farm pen removes these natural buffers, concentrating the aggression and its negative effects.
Strategies for Protecting Poults
Readers raising domestic turkeys must take proactive steps to mitigate the risk of infanticide. The most effective strategy is the physical separation of toms from hens with newly hatched poults. A designated brooding pen should house the hen and her young until the poults are large enough to withstand aggression.
If separation is not immediately possible, providing numerous barriers and hiding spots within the enclosure can offer temporary refuge. Managing the flock ratio by keeping fewer toms or culling overly aggressive individuals helps reduce dominance conflict. Ensuring the poults have a safe, predator-proof area inaccessible to adult toms is a necessary management practice.