A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[313759]

Alright, I have a turkey breeding question. So I have this Tom he is a mix of Spanish black, eastern wild, and midget white. And he is a big boy! I bought 3 royal palm turkey hens for him this spring coming up and they started breeding. Now I don't know if the hens are too small or he is just too big. Because when he mounts the hen the hen starts gasping for air within a few seconds of breeding. Is this normal? He still does his job, just I don't want him hurting the poor hen.

 

[duluthralphie]

Turkey mating is like sausage. It is a process you best not watch. While the results are pretty great. the process will turn your stomach.

I have never had a Tom hurt a hen, yet. The keyword being yet. I actually think being present is harder on the hen than us not being around. I think the tom gives it an extra hard try, just to prove the hen is his and not ours..

 

[feistychick]

I think Turkules is the most accident prone turkey out there.... he's limping pretty badly right now and looking at his foot I can't see any problem. I'm assuming at this point that he jumped off something he shouldn't have and has strained it I took down the high roost in the barn, since he's apparently not smart enough to stay off it while he heals. So everyone will have to put up with the low roost for the next week or so....sigh. The ever popular impact driver earned me a continuous chorus of gobbles, and the change to the roost earned me a stink-eye look from all of them. I can't wait until they grow up into non-hooligan turkeys

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Best I could do picture wise. Eve helping hubby under the car

 

[copper2]

Alright, I have a turkey breeding question. So I have this Tom he is a mix of Spanish black, eastern wild, and midget white. And he is a big boy! I bought 3 royal palm turkey hens for him this spring coming up and they started breeding. Now I don't know if the hens are too small or he is just too big. Because when he mounts the hen the hen starts gasping for air within a few seconds of breeding. Is this normal? He still does his job, just I don't want him hurting the poor hen.

Mine hens do that too, but my chocolate tom is probably fat( he must be so happy....) Could you post a photo of your tom? I'm interested in anything wild turkey!

 

[bannturkmom316]

These are my two brown turkeys. They look identical other than one being a jake and the smaller a hen. I don't know what kind they are but they look just like our wild turkeys of southern Kansas. Any ideas on what breed they are? My other hen is a white holland pure i think. She has blue eyes. Help!

 

[feistychick]

They look like bronze to me - very pretty birds! I don't think that the wild turkeys have the white/light on the wings and tail. I have a bronze tom and he looks very much like them

 

[feistychick]

This is Turkules, my bronze My first turkey - so I'm far from being an turkey-guru. I have 4 bourbon reds that are younger than him as well. I'm sure that you'll get a more expert opinion soon

 

[bannturkmom316]

Our wild turkeys here have the barring on their wings more like yours, but we bought them from a feed store that had them all mixed up together. (including bantam size chickens in the standard pen along with heavy breeds, all ducks and geese in one pen etc.) Sadly, that feed store also gets a lot of wild breeds of ducks and geese brought in by people, so you never know what you're really getting... Next year we are ordering from a breeder through our more well run feed store so we know exactly what we are getting.

 

[feistychick]

Our wild turkeys here have the barring on their wings more like yours, but we bought them from a feed store that had them all mixed up together. Next year we are ordering from a breeder through our more well run feed store so we know exactly what we are getting.

Well they're very beautiful birds - and could be wild if that's what they look like in your area (I'm definitely no expert). I wish we had wild turkeys - but I have never seen one in our area.