Breeding Mammoth Bronzes??????

[MakNat]

Thats the only breed my farm store had and allowed me to just buy a couple. I managed to raise one up to an adult. A fox got one of them and a snake the other when they were smaller. The remaining one IS A HEN!!!!!! I have a black spanish Tom. Are the bronzes able to lay and hatch her own, or are they only good for meat like the cornish X rocks in chickens??? I would much much rather keep her as a breeder.

 

[farmerlor]

My guess and it's only a guess is that yes, you can probably breed her with the Tom you have and if you keep her rations of food a little on the light side so she doesn't die of congestive heart failure or broken legs you may even get a nice little clutch out of her but I wouldn't let her sit on the eggs as she may very well break the eggs just because of her weight. I've got some Standard Bronze boys who come up to my waist already and each and every one of them is beautiful but husband says one has to go to freezer camp since we can't afford to keep too many animals over thie winter this year. Gosh, I hate to see any of them go, they're so magnificent.

 

[Narragansett]

If you're lucky she'll survive to laying age. She will be able to produce fertile eggs with a Black tom, but she will not be able to set on them without breaking them. Even so, it's really just an excercise in futility. Besides, what is the purpose of breeding mongrels? In the long run you're much better off either keeping a Standard breed to reproduce, or just buy BB poults every year to grow out for the freezer. Most people don't realize that BB are a terminal cross not designed to live to breeder age in the first place.

 

[MakNat]

Well its not that I want to breed Mongruls. Its that the feed store guy lied to me and told me these birds are fine for breeders and long term pets. But she is getting HUGE, I am knew to turkeys.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I've known people who have kept broad breasted bronze as pets. It's easy to get attached to them.

Not what I'd buy as breeding stock, but I don't think they die like Cornish Cross chickens do. If you want poults, you will probably have to use an incubator, because she will be heavy enough to break the eggs.

I'm going to suggest that you enjoy having her. Learn about turkeys and if you really like turkeys once you have tried raising them, then spend a few dollars and buy some nice purebreds for your foundation breeding stock.