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Are Male turkeys safe near children

 
pollinator
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Asking for a friend who runs a trauma recovery centre for people using animals.
 
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I have never raised turkeys or children, but I would have concerns based upon my experiences with roosters.
 
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My entirely unhelpful first response:

Are Male turkeys safe near children?



Depends how violent the children are!
 
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The only turkeys I have been around are all wild.

Probably safe around children as they would disappear quickly.

Observation: there is always one male turkey that stands guard.
 
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I would think the answer, much like with roosters is "it depends".  Some roosters are very aggressive and will attack everyone.  Others are so docile you can carry them around and they will follow you like a puppy.  I think the individual differences are so large it is very hard to know ahead of just trying it.
 
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In my experience raising different breeds of turkeys, the males don't seem to exhibit the same aggression towards people as roosters. That's not to say that one might be a problem because they're all individuals. It's been a while since we raised them, but I don't remember any specific instances of aggression. I remember lots of pissy roosters though.

Some breeds seem to be more mellow. My favorite is the Narragansett. They aren't very big and while other males were fighting amongst themselves for the girls (that can get brutal, so you might need to separate them) the Narragansett male was quietly strutting around, fanning his tail feathers. Smart bird.

Be aware than many of the heritage breeds can fly just fine. (Off topic, anyone remember the show WKRP in Cincinnati? The episode with the turkeys being airdropped?)

The commercial breeds (broad breasted white, etc.) are too big to fly but they're a lot of bird.

Overall I think it's impossible to say that any animal is 100% safe around children.
 
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What exactly is "a trauma recovery center for people using animals?" Is it a special clinic just for people who get injured by animals? If so, why not ask that guy. He would know if people are coming in with turkey injuries on a regular basis.

The way this question is worded indicates you are concerned about the children harming the turkeys. That is a matter of parenting.

Turkeys often have a tendency to chase people who run from them, but it is not exactly dangerous stuff. You are most likely to get a turkey injury if you are trying to pick them up and they start flapping and kicking around trying to get loose.

Here is a series of videos called "Turkeygeddon: When Turkeys Fight Back. It is a series of dumb videos of turkeys chasing people but not really hurting anyone.
https://www.eater.com/2011/11/23/6634847/turkeygeddon-the-thirteen-best-turkey-attack-videos

 
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I have raised both turkeys and children and I've never had a problem. Unless you are allowing children under 4 to wander around unsupervised in the same yard as free-range turkeys I can't imagine a problem.  
I have seen male turkeys chase university students for blocks--this used to be a favorite sight when I lived in a place that was home to both free-range turkeys and university kids from the city! I never saw them chase a toddler because the toddlers were always accompanied by an adult.
A child over 4 is old enough to be given instructions of how to react to a male turkey who has puffed his feathers at you.
 
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In Eastern Colorado my wife & I raised 4 turkeys from poults. When they were nearly grown, my daughter made the tactical error of coming near a male wearing some kind of loose skirt. It ballooned in the wind, convincing the turkey that my daughter was a competitor, and ever after that, she had to carry a stick when venturing outside, to fend off the aggressive bird.  They remember well!
But carrying the stick worked well enough, she was never actually bitten or mauled, AFAICR (as far as I can remember).

...In southern Oregon for now, no more turley experiences.

...Jerry brown
 
Robin Katz
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You might want to ask people who are doing animal-assisted therapy. There is a place in Colorado that uses a variety of animals to help people of all ages with trauma issues.

https://www.animalassistedtherapyprograms.org/meet-our-animals

I didn't see any turkeys on their web site, but it looks like they have hens.
 
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I was wwoofing for six months on a farm that kept a few turkeys, and the older male was definitely aggressive in the sense of attacking our feet whenever we passed. He never did much more than flap his wings on our feet and occasionally pinch our legs (no attempting to go for our eyes or anything) but it was a bit annoying all the same. Towards the end of my stay I figured out how to make him stop. Whenever he went for my feet, I'd grab him and carry him around for a while. I got the impression that he thought it was embarrassing (and in front of the ladies, too!) I only had to do it maybe three-four times before he stopped.

Don't know what breed this was, but I think it was an old one. They could fly just fine, and preferred to sleep in the trees. (Interestingly enough, that meant that the turkeys were the only part of the farm not certified organic, since the certification standards include a requirement for a shelter of certain specifications. The hosts had built one, but the turkeys refused to use it!)

As for turkeys and kids, I don't know, but since the kids have their eyes closer to turkey level, that might be a risk if the turkey is so inclined.
 
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