turkey questions

[auntieemu]

I was looking at a Murray McMurray catalog and noticed in the ad for wild turkeys the comment that 'unlike domistacated turkeys' the wild ones could breed. Huh?

I know that large poultry houses do artificial inssemination, but can't they reproduce on the smaller family farm without help?

How many eggs will a turkey hen lay in a year? Are they like ducks that lay all at one time or will they lay all year?

[faery]

Broad breasted breeds like the Giant White, Broad Breasted Bronze, and Midget White can not breed on their own (they get way too big) however wild turkies and breeds such as the Royal Palm, Bourbon Red, Blue Slate, Black Spanish and other non broad breasted breeds can.

My Palms and Bourbons lay daily from early Spring to around mid summer.

[auntieemu]

So they have an actual breeding season?

[bergere]

Hi Auntie..

Sorry I took so long.

Keeping Turkeys
by
Ross Simpson


with permission from
SPPA Bulletin, 2002, 7(1):4

There are four types of turkeys grouped by their size: (1) Wild, with eight subspecies and Maya-Aztec domestic color variations, toms 20 Ð 25 lbs., hens 9 Ð 13 lbs., (2) Bantam and Midget, toms 9 18 lbs., hens 6 Ð 11 lbs., (3) Standard, toms 30 Ð 35 lbs., hens 15 Ð 20 lbs., and (4) Broad Breasted, toms 35 Ð 45 lbs., hens 25 Ð 35 lbs. Do not confuse the highly inbred, artificially inseminated White and Broad Breasted Bronze fowl that are unable to mate and hatch their own young with the Standard White Holland and the Standard Bronze, which can mate naturally and hatch and brood their own poults.

Most turkeys are Standard types. Color describes the breed or variety. Like all poultry, it is best to obtain stock from two different unrelated lines. This will avoid inbreeding and provide good hatchability and healthy, strong poults. Some breeds, like the Blue Slate, always produce poults in a variety of colors. Just like Blue Swedish ducks and Blue Andalusian chickens, Blue turkeys hatch 50% blue, 25% black and 25% silver.

If you are not interested in breeding for show but want a healthy, colorful flock, you may want to mate different colors or breeds together. The color and pattern possibilities in turkeys have not been fully explored. New varieties or colors happen all the time. Some are mutations within a variety while others may be crosses between varieties. It may be possible to recreate a lost color or variety. You may find an unusual color and desire to breed more of the same. With only one bird of a color to start you will need to mate with a white recessive, then line breed to produce more of the desired color. Bantam and Midget turkeys at present appear only in White, but with a little work colors like Calico, Chocolate and Lavender could be produced.

Read the rest here. ;D
www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Turkeys/KeepingTurksSimpsonMar02.html

[auntieemu]

Thanks Bergere. I'll finish reading this later. The part about putting a saddle on the hen so she is not hurt during breeding......mmm. What can I say.

[bergere]

Oh Auntie,,,
I think you could come up with something very interesting to say!!