Blue Slate Turkeys.

[SilksterTN]

I guess it's the luck of the draw--or not. My slate male is a terror. He's always picking on someone......nearly raped one of the chickens. We think he's just a overly hormoned young male (4 months) at the moment and the slate female is NOT interested so he's taking our his teenager frustrations on anything and everything. Even tho we got him as a hatchling from a local hatchery he's spooky and wild as they come. The bronze turkeys are the sweet ones and will let us pet and fuss over them--not the case with the blues. I hope if they do have babies we can keep them from being so wild!

 

[cajunfowl0]

this is my grandmas hen!

 

[cajunfowl0]

I guess it's the luck of the draw--or not.  My slate male is a terror.  He's always picking on someone......nearly raped one of the chickens.  We think he's just a overly hormoned young male (4 months) at the moment and the slate female is NOT interested so he's taking our his teenager frustrations on anything and everything.  Even tho we got him as a hatchling from a local hatchery he's spooky and wild as they come.  The bronze turkeys are the sweet ones and will let us pet and fuss over them--not the case with the blues.  I hope if they do have babies we can keep them from being so wild!

I wouldn't say that the bronze and the blue have different characteristics it depends on the birds individually color doesn't make a difference

 

[red horse ranch]

These are my first turkeys. Blue Slate and Self Blue. My only problem with them is their size. All my coops and pens were designed for chickens with small doors and gates. So they sleep in the rafters of the barn. I haven't made pets of them but they still follow me around as I do my chores. It's been a real learning experience that I've enjoyed.
Hope to get some females this spring.

 

[honeybird farms]

I'm hoping for advice. I have Narragansett hens and somewhat randomly ended up with these 3. I was told that they were purchased by a breeder and shipped, but otherwise have absolutely no info on them. I think that they're approx 5 months old, but even that isn't definite (the hens aren't laying yet, and the rooster is just starting to display)


They look like slates to me, but I don't have much experience with them. The hens have a very pale tan band on their tail feather, and the tom has a darker band. Can slates have this or are they mixed? Any idea what they're mixed with?

The first pic is a close up of one hen and the other 3 are of the tom.

Thanks for any advice or expertise!

 

[WalnutHill]

They are neither Narragansett pattern nor Slate color. They are very pretty birds but I wouldn't use them in a purebred breeding program.

Slate:


Narragansett (white balance is off, the Narragansetts are silver, black, and the only tan is on the wing bands:

 

[retlaw]

They are red slates.

A blue slate got breed by a bronze most likely,

 

[honeybird farms]

Yes, that's it! Thank you, Retlaw. So...my next question is about offspring. I'm sorry because I know I saw this info earlier but I can't seem to find it. I think crossing red slates will produce either red slate, lilac, or bronze. Does that seem right? What about the next generation? Will the latter two breed true with their respective counter parts (ie, lilac to lilac = lilac)? I think I read an affirmative somewhere.

What about crossing them with a blue or a self blue?

Just to clarify, I'm not looking to start any sort of breeding program... More just playing around and trying to learn the genetics. However, I'm not overly fond of creating random mutts. So, I'm really trying to understand the gene concepts in advance (and I do understand the very basics of genetic breeding).

I ended up with these slates by a fluke and just trying to determine whether I want to breed them for fun and experiment, or if it's better to put them on the dinner plate.

Thanks for any help!

 

[retlaw]

You will get mostly red slates with some being lilac.
A few can be bronze or even slate.
If you hand pick the breeding toms and hens you can get them to go what ever direction you want.
If you go to the heavy red side of colouring you will lose the slate.

 

[korn19bread]

i bought 2 last summer, well he is definately blue slate, but the hen looks more like a wild turkey now. she is dark in color. is that normal of did i get some cross breed there on her side? her mom was on the farm and definately slate, but the tom was pretty dark. anyway, she lays eggs about every day now. have about 6 in the bater. i would assume they are fertile as we watch them mate all the time.

Edited by staff