Constant yakking?

[Boll Weevil]

Turkey behavior question here that I've seen many times before just don't know what it means (if anything). There's a big pack of hens, jakes, and several toms in the timber in front of me right now and 3 or 4 of hens yelp like every 10 seconds. Just 4-6 notes at a time but it's been continuous…they will NOT shut up.

Maybe a question for mega or any other turkey behavior folks but does their almost constant talking mean anything?

 

[woodsman04]

I bet no one knows the for sure answer, especially without being able to see them to see if they are fighting or seeing something else.

I think that's kind of odd behavior in the middle of the afternoon. Usually that is right off the roost stuff then they shut up.

But with turkeys as I'm sure you already know, almost nothing with them can be predicted.

 

[jman 125]

Normal behavior not a biologist by any means but i think it has to do with letting each other know where each individual is at at any given time

 

[PalsPal]

Not much to add, other than I bet some of the others are like, "Would you please just shut up!"

 

[poorhunter]

Seen it a lot, usually early in the spring or in the fall, rarely outside of that time.

 

[PossumSlayer]

Women talk

 

[megalomaniac]

Just part of their socialization and pecking order establishment. Hens talk increases dramatically in the week before they breed as well, and generally plummets after they nest... with a few individual exceptions.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Also, the other day there was just 1 tom with all these hens. Today there was 3 and the bird I believe (super thick beard, big blood red wattles, and head as big/white as a new baseball) was the single boss the other day. He peeled him off 3 hens and went south. The new pair of toms went north with the rest of the big pack of hens.

Reckon would that maybe why they were yakking like that…new dominant gobblers?

 

[Grouse]

Save your brain cells, not much rhyme or reason to a turkey bird

 

[Biggun4214]

It's a bird with a brain not much bigger than a pea.

 

[megalomaniac]

Also, the other day there was just 1 tom with all these hens. Today there was 3 and the bird I believe (super thick beard, big blood red wattles, and head as big/white as a new baseball) was the single boss the other day. He peeled him off 3 hens and went south. The new pair of toms went north with the rest of the big pack of hens.

Reckon would that maybe why they were yakking like that…new dominant gobblers?

Throw a new tom in the mix and it's going to be a squabble if they don't have their pecking order set for the day. The hens are like spectators, almost egging it on if they are close. The hens choose which toms they like, the toms don't corral a herem of hens and herd them off. The hens control every aspect of breeding.