My new tom?

[tielie135]

Just got some turkeys from my neighbour's. She said 3 hens and a Tom but the Tom is really odd so I am hoping maybe someone knows what's up. He is about 3 years old, ridley heritage x. He walks very upright never puffed up, drums, gobbles or shows any interest in ladies. He is smaller than any of my hens and His tail is like a hens and he only fans it like a hen when he is spooked. Looks like he lost his snood to frostbite but maybe it's just like that. My Tom thinks he is a hen and he hasn't done anything Tom like in his presence. He borks more like a hen than anything else but I mean look at him. Looks alot like a Tom. Just want to know what's up. Group pic with the hens he came with. 2 are broad bested, he isn't related to them at all. Ps it's raining alot here and he chose to stand in the one muddy spot for the pic. They have an acre fenced

 

[R2elk]

Just got some turkeys from my neighbour's. She said 3 hens and a Tom but the Tom is really odd so I am hoping maybe someone knows what's up. He is about 3 years old, ridley heritage x. He walks very upright never puffed up, drums, gobbles or shows any interest in ladies. He is smaller than any of my hens and His tail is like a hens and he only fans it like a hen when he is spooked. Looks like he lost his snood to frostbite but maybe it's just like that. My Tom thinks he is a hen and he hasn't done anything Tom like in his presence. He borks more like a hen than anything else but I mean look at him. Looks alot like a Tom. Just want to know what's up. Group pic with the hens he came with. 2 are broad bested, he isn't related to them at all. Ps it's raining alot here and he chose to stand in the one muddy spot for the pic. They have an acre fenced

Has the bald head and cone shaped snood of a tom. Might be a late developing tom. Personally I would not use him as a breeder.

Based on the information available from a site dedicated to Ridley's Bronze turkeys, they appear to be seriously inbred which may explain what you are seeing.

 

[tielie135]

Has the bald head and cone shaped snood of a tom. Might be a late developing tom. Personally I would not use him as a breeder.

Based on the information available from a site dedicated to Ridley's Bronze turkeys, they appear to be seriously inbred which may explain what you are seeing.

like i said they are nowhere near purebred, 2 hens are broad breasted bronze (meat birds) and the white one is supposedly a heritage although looks like it might be a meat bird cross. the tom is a mix so i doubt he was inbred and at three years old i dont think he is just late developing. he shows no interest in breeding at all so i dont think i have to worry about breeding him. im pretty sure the snood was frost bitten off as he is missing some toes that appear to be frostbitten off, it gets below -40 here so its pretty common.

 

[R2elk]

like i said they are nowhere near purebred, 2 hens are broad breasted bronze (meat birds) and the white one is supposedly a heritage although looks like it might be a meat bird cross. the tom is a mix so i doubt he was inbred and at three years old i dont think he is just late developing. he shows no interest in breeding at all so i dont think i have to worry about breeding him. im pretty sure the snood was frost bitten off as he is missing some toes that appear to be frostbitten off, it gets below -40 here so its pretty common.

Turkeys almost never lose their snoods to frostbite.

I had -40°F here last winter. None of my turkeys got any frostbite. Toes can happen if the roost is too small and they can' sit down to properly cover their feet but they stick their heads in their "armpits" which does an excellent job preventing frostbite.

One or two outcrosses will not cure all the inbred problems that have been caused by the Ridley's limited gene pool.

 

[tielie135]

Turkeys almost never lose their snoods to frostbite.

I had -40°F here last winter. None of my turkeys got any frostbite. Toes can happen if the roost is too small and they can' sit down to properly cover their feet but they stick their heads in their "armpits" which does an excellent job preventing frostbite.

One or two outcrosses will not cure all the inbred problems that have been caused by the Ridley's limited gene pool.

intersesting, i was really wondering about the snood since mine have never lost thiers, i never heard about ridley indreeding before. i have to go look it up now.

 

[tielie135]

Turkeys almost never lose their snoods to frostbite.

I had -40°F here last winter. None of my turkeys got any frostbite. Toes can happen if the roost is too small and they can' sit down to properly cover their feet but they stick their heads in their "armpits" which does an excellent job preventing frostbite.

One or two outcrosses will not cure all the inbred problems that have been caused by the Ridley's limited gene pool.

im struggling to find much information on ridley inbreeding, would you mind sending me a link? i would really like to know more about it as i was planning on breeding ridley turkeys (seperate pen) and its good to know.

 

[R2elk]

im struggling to find much information on ridley inbreeding, would you mind sending me a link? i would really like to know more about it as i was planning on breeding ridley turkeys (seperate pen) and its good to know.

http://www.cherrycreekcanadians.ca/turkeys.html

http://www.cherrycreekcanadians.ca/turkeys.html

 

[tielie135]

so its looking like he has some pretty serious medical issues coupled with so much coccidia in his feces (if you can even call it that, its just coccidia really) im going to put him down and do an autopsy. he can barely walk, i told the original owners and they said he was healthy but eventually started looking like this, thought it was just him getting old but my tom is the same age and in perfect health (pure ridley bronze heritage) sad that he is going to have to be put down but he is very ill and i think its just better for him

 

[tielie135]

im glad i put him out of his misery, he had an enlarged heart with alot of fluid accumulated, his intestinal system was very full of gas like a balloon so it filled up the body cavity and had damages due to this, (i opened him up immediately after euthanizing him so it wasnt post mortem and he showed signs of this while alive.) his testes were less than half the size of a roosters explaining why he looked that way and i only checked one kidney and it was the size of my thumbnail. he was very underweight so i assume this was going on for awhile. a very sad end but at least he isnt in pain anymore. his hens are all healthy and well taken care of.

 

[R2elk]

Congratulations for doing the right thing.