6 month old slates male or female????need to know

[slates860]

should i leave the two in the same pen together they seem to be gettin along fine as of right now ???????

 

[ivan3]

Don't mess with success. If you sit and watch them for a bit you'll figure out which one is the alpha at the moment. If they are in a big enough run and don't have anything to injure themselves on, if they do decide to spar, I'd just let `em rework their relative standing in the social register on their own.

 

[slates860]

Quote:
cool thanks for the info , i was worried about putting a hen or 2 in there not knowing how the 2 toms would react, im trying to breed them

 

[ivan3]

To limit the amount of sparring and make sure that the hens are bred, separate out the tom you are going to use for breeding and keep him with the hens (other tom should be penned out of sight of the trysts). If all are kept together, the toms will spend more time kicking/shoving one another off the backs of the hens, than getting you closer to poults (learned the hard way).

 

[slates860]

Quote:
thanks , how should i determine which tom or hen will be a better breeder to get poults out of , or is it kinda just luck of the draw and see how it goes ?

 

[OmaBird]

What is your goal with the poults? Are they just for you to eat, or are you going to keep some as future breeders?

I don't use every bird for breeders just because they can lay a egg or fertilize a egg. But I do keep alot of toms. I only put one in the breeding pen at a time. I keep breeding records on the poults that hatch. If there is a problem with the poults I know who to cull. By using different toms, and putting wing bands on the poults, I can avoid inbreeding and have a good genetic diversity.

The ALBC just came out with a new manual on Selecting Your Best Turkeys for Breeding. http://www.albc-usa.org/EducationalResources/master_breeder_turkeys.html

 

[slates860]

Quote:
ya they all started off as pets but now im intrested in breeding and see how it turns out , so i mean they would most likely be for both future breeders and for lunch

how old will a turkey get untill she is no longer able to lay or breed ???? best age i guess ???
(i have a 2 year old tom, a 6 month tom -maybe 2 , and 3- year and a half -2 year old hens

 

[OmaBird]

Hens will lay all there life usually. 8-9 years is not uncommon. I have Toms that are still good and fertile at 5-6 years old. If they have been inbreed they might not be fertile to a old age. Thats why genetic diversity is so important.

Experts say a two year old hen will lay more fertile eggs than a year old hen. The year old hen will lay more eggs but they won't have the high fertility that the two year old will have. I think the same goes for the males in my experience. Dumb young toms are worthless.

 

[slates860]

Quote:
THANKS ALOT I APPRECIATE ALL THE INFO

 

[slates860]

they wont breed in the winter right?, ill have to wait untill spring to experiment?