Beltsville/midget whites and a teen tom at work...! ? ! ?

[spook]

I have a beef with the poultry club and the judges. They consider Beltsville's are midget whites. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, the difference is size, a tad bit, and the Beltsville toms have the black button type beard. Right?
I was discussing this with a gentleman, and I was strongly corrected!

So I was then talking with a lady that I had "Beltsvills" and may have a hen for her, a young one. In the conversation, she strongly corrected me that I had Midget Whites and she had Beltsvilles

oye, absolutely unable to make everyone happy.
But, I bought them from Murry McMurry as Midget Whites, so I'd assume that is what they are.


Now the teen tom, these guys arrived on my doorstep via mail on July 15, 2009, and I found it to be a riot at 1 week old, tiny tail feathers and parading around and peeping gobble. Now today I let them out to run, eat and dust bathe, one of the B/MW was trying to court another one. It was a war of 2 young turkeys and a Broad Breasted won the girl (MW).

What is the correct way to handle that? Is it not ok to raise Broad Breasted with Midget Whites? We plan on keeping the MW's and of course eating the BB's.
What happens in your back yard?!?!

 

[sandspoultry]

APA recognizes Beltsville not Midget Whites but the MW can be shown under the Beltsville group. All the White Breeds of turkeys have the black beards (see our website for pictures of all 3 white breeds). If you got them from Murry McMurry then you probably have Midget Whits, they do not sell Beltsvilles. The size between the two is not very much. And yes it is hard to tell the difference between the 2 breeds unless you raise them side by side. The BSW are more full in the breast and the MW have a more football shape.
As to what to do about the young teen turkeys - we separate out the different breeds around 3 to 4 months old. There is a big size difference between the MW and the BBW. If the BBW is a tom and he trys to mate with the much smaller MW hen, he can seriously injure her. If you got them as poults on July 15 then they are just under 6 weeks old and you have nothing to worry about as they will not mate until around 6 months old. I would just keep an eye on them, as you would any other normal teenager....LOL.

Sharon

 

[spook]

Thank you so much Steve. These guys are doing great and I'm pretty pleased with them.
I'll have to post a photo of the area on the back of one head. It began as a bloody spot, no one bothered it, but the poult was scratching it, still has a time with itching it. Then keeping a close eye on it, it has the appearence of a dark red scab, smooth and then below that on its neck is thick skin, no flakes, no mites and no one else has this issue.
Any takers on what that is without a picture?
Again, thank you very much for your reply.

 

[sandspoultry]

Thank you so much Steve

Steve has been banned from BYC and this is his wife Sharon. This is my account, Steve has his own.

I am glad that I could help you. I also have been raising turkeys with him for quiet awhile. The farm is a joint venture. I just don't get a lot of time to post on here

Sharon,
you know behind every great guy is an even better woman​