So than what would you do with the toms when they're not busy with pretty girls? Let them roam around and fight with no fences?I will wait until my BFF and I are on a first name basis before I ask him.
When I put the toms in full time and because of my pens or lack of pens, I had to let one set of breeders free range. When I did this the Toms would try to fight through the fence on the pens. I ended up with Toms that wore all the feathers off their breasts. If I just put them in with the hen or hens I want them to be with I can use smaller pens. Many hens could do just fine in a smaller tractor.coop. whereas my Toms are bigger and would need more room full time, but a few hours in a small pen with a cute little hen would not bother them.
Depending on what she looks like or who she is we'll probably be nicer to you.I am shocked at the way you guys treat poor me!
If I get this much poop over a few turkey things with Mr. Porter, how are you going to act when I come back with my new wife from the Grand Ol opry?
Yes I would agree that we are lucky having Mr. Porter and all the work he has done. "It's a distinction without a difference" sounds good to me and makes sense. As far as chickens go what would you suggest they be called of that "barnyard mixes"? Can we start giving them cool names like the dog world did with the mutt "goldendoodle"?Quote:
- it all boils down to marketing and opinions. To borrow an example from the dog world, a Goldendoodle is a "mutt", not a purebred, but they are specifically bred and marketed, and so command a much higher price than anything designated as a "mutt".
Red and brown sexlinks, Freedom Rangers, etc are not breeds in the eyes of many, but they are certainly not mutts in a commercial sense. My crossing of a (probably impure) RP to my Porter-bred Mottled Black hens gave me a few surprises. I certainly have some phenotypically pure Mottled Blacks and RP's, but I also have some that I think would be called (on the Porter site) Silver Dappled or Mottled Silver Dapple (probably the later, given the parent genetics). According to Porter's info, the later will produce:
"Mottled Silver Dapple, Silver Dapple, Marbled Black, Mottled Black, Royal Palm and also White."
I refuse to call them mutts, they are far too pretty and well mannered for that, but that sort of variation in the offspring of a chicken or dog would indicate a rather mixed up parentage. The turkey enthusiast community is lucky to have Kevin Porter documenting and naming all these variations so we don't have to resort to designations like "barnyard mix", which is rather denigrating to the bird, IMO.
If anyone local to me is interested in any of those colors, let me know. I will probably not be able to tell the difference as poults, they will be either black or white/RP.