A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[R2elk]

I wasn't going to post about this here because I know everyone's going to think I'm insane, but I'm honestly interested in just talking about it for research type purposes and anyone else whose crazy like me in the future, lol.

I've had issues with my lovely tom turkey Griffon getting worse at breeding his hens. He really hurt one a couple weeks ago, and so I was stuck in a corner with either euthanizing my 6yr old boy (Who was my very first turkey ever, and I am incredibly fond of and love), or figuring out some solution. So I called my avian vet.

I forked over $568 and he got 2 4.7mg implants of Suprelorin, which are implants that are used in birds usually to curb horomones and stop egg laying for hens. I read a study that they did on two tom turkeys for tom on tom aggression, and it had worked. So I forked the cash over and I'm going to see if it works to curb his breeding.

They said it can take 2 weeks to kick in, so for now he is coming inside in the sick room during the day while the hens are out. I figured I might keep updating here just to see how it goes. I am mostly curious on seeing if this does work to help curb breeding hormones.

If it does, I don't know if I will do it again yet or not. They are expensive, I don't make much money. I would just need the implants during the breeding months, and I don't even quite know how long these implants will last in a turkey of his size. So it's all just an experiment. But he's a dear family member to me much like someone's dog is to them, so I don't want to euthanize unless he's very sick or it's the last option.

It is not uncommon for toms to get worse as breeders as they get older.

There was a vet show based in Texas that ended because of covid that did the implants in two tom turkeys because of aggression to humans. Since the show ended, there was no report on the long term results.

My birds are not pets. When I get a poor breeder, he gets invited to someone's dinner.

I believe that Porter's only keeps his breeder toms through their age 4 season at the most.

 

[yesterDAYNE]

It is not uncommon for toms to get worse as breeders as they get older.

There was a vet show based in Texas that ended because of covid that did the implants in two tom turkeys because of aggression to humans. Since the show ended, there was no report on the long term results.

My birds are not pets. When I get a poor breeder, he gets invited to someone's dinner.

I believe that Porter's only keeps his breeder toms through their age 4 season at the most.

I understand that for sure. If mine were breeders I definitely would not spend the money on them that I do, haha. I don't fault breeders at all. This has been a hard choice for me because I know keeping him around with his current breeding will also put my females at risk.

I was willing to spend the money to give this a shot, just to see if it does seem to work. If it doesn't, I'm definitely going to be putting my hen's safety up front and I will have to euthanize him.

I unfortunately don't have the heart to separate him, as every time I tried he paces relentlessly and risks heat stroke. I don't have any other toms to separate him into a bachelor flock or anything either. And with rehoming him, I would have to do a tom-only or no hen flock, but then there's always a risk of something going wrong and him having to be culled anyway, so if it comes down to that I'd much rather have him euthanized on my terms.

If only I could get some sort of protruding saddle for all the hens that bounced him off every time he tried to mount, haha.

 

[R2elk]

I understand that for sure. If mine were breeders I definitely would not spend the money on them that I do, haha. I don't fault breeders at all. This has been a hard choice for me because I know keeping him around with his current breeding will also put my females at risk.

I was willing to spend the money to give this a shot, just to see if it does seem to work. If it doesn't, I'm definitely going to be putting my hen's safety up front and I will have to euthanize him.

I unfortunately don't have the heart to separate him, as every time I tried he paces relentlessly and risks heat stroke. I don't have any other toms to separate him into a bachelor flock or anything either. And with rehoming him, I would have to do a tom-only or no hen flock, but then there's always a risk of something going wrong and him having to be culled anyway, so if it comes down to that I'd much rather have him euthanized on my terms.

If only I could get some sort of protruding saddle for all the hens that bounced him off every time he tried to mount, haha.

Solar electric with insulation on the underside to prevent the hen from getting shocked. Unfortunately if it worked he would probably take his frustrations out on the hen in other ways.

 

[KF0002]

It is not uncommon for toms to get worse as breeders as they get older.

There was a vet show based in Texas that ended because of covid that did the implants in two tom turkeys because of aggression to humans. Since the show ended, there was no report on the long term results.

My birds are not pets. When I get a poor breeder, he gets invited to someone's dinner.

I believe that Porter's only keeps his breeder toms through their age 4 season at the most.

I'm in the same school of thought. As much as I enjoy my turkeys, I don't turn them into pets because any aggression or nasty attitudes will put them on the menu.

However, I do sympathize, and realize that some turkeys are pets. No one bats an eyelash at spending great sums of money on dogs or cats, so if you love the turkey and don't want to euthanize, and have the extra cash to spend I can't fault you in that. I do my very best not to grow too attached to poultry because we personally can't justify spending that kind of money on them. We are financially in survival mode due to inflation.

 

[yesterDAYNE]

If it doesn't work, possibly building him his own bachelor pad with another tom for company could be an option. It's interesting. What about surgically caponizing him for longer term benefits versus repeated implants?

She offered caponizing, but since he would need anesthesia it most likely would be far out of my budget. Bachelor pad idea is neat but Im honestly stressed out constantly by the small amount i do have right now that I dont know if adding another one will help haha. Thank you though!

 

[KF0002]

She offered caponizing, but since he would need anesthesia it most likely would be far out of my budget. Bachelor pad idea is neat but Im honestly stressed out constantly by the small amount i do have right now that I dont know if adding another one will help haha. Thank you though!

I likely will have several toms that I want to keep just for genetic diversity. So I plan on keeping them together in a bachelor group. But if I didn't already have them I wouldn't want to add more, so I understand. Lol

 

[SarahGfa]

I wasn't going to post about this here because I know everyone's going to think I'm insane, but I'm honestly interested in just talking about it for research type purposes and anyone else whose crazy like me in the future, lol.

I've had issues with my lovely tom turkey Griffon getting worse at breeding his hens. He really hurt one a couple weeks ago, and so I was stuck in a corner with either euthanizing my 6yr old boy (Who was my very first turkey ever, and I am incredibly fond of and love), or figuring out some solution. So I called my avian vet.

I forked over $568 and he got 2 4.7mg implants of Suprelorin, which are implants that are used in birds usually to curb horomones and stop egg laying for hens. I read a study that they did on two tom turkeys for tom on tom aggression, and it had worked. So I forked the cash over and I'm going to see if it works to curb his breeding.

They said it can take 2 weeks to kick in, so for now he is coming inside in the sick room during the day while the hens are out. I figured I might keep updating here just to see how it goes. I am mostly curious on seeing if this does work to help curb breeding hormones.

If it does, I don't know if I will do it again yet or not. They are expensive, I don't make much money. I would just need the implants during the breeding months, and I don't even quite know how long these implants will last in a turkey of his size. So it's all just an experiment. But he's a dear family member to me much like someone's dog is to them, so I don't want to euthanize unless he's very sick or it's the last option.

How is your tom doing? They did a Suprelorelin implant on the aggressive turkey in My Life as a Turkey. it seems to have worked.
What was your tom doing to cause the hens to get hurt? I wonder if you could get a decoy hen for him, like the ones hunters use.

 

[SarahGfa]

There is an ebay listing for Royal palm hatching eggs. The seller says his royal palms weigh 37-40 lbs. Can royal palms really get that big?

 

[SarahGfa]

porter's is really the place to get them. I think turkey eggs don't travel in the mail very well, although I haven't tested that theory myself,

Do they still sell hatching eggs?

 

[HeritageFan]

There is an ebay listing for Royal palm hatching eggs. The seller says his royal palms weigh 37-40 lbs. Can royal palms really get that big?

If I thought the answer was yes, I would have them already
I love my big Holland White toms, who do get that big if I let them grow out to 6-9 months. My bourbon red Toms take more like 16-18 mos to reach “full” size- although all are a good butcher weight at the 25-28 week mark.
I have brought in Sweetgrass this summer, and am very excited to see how they grow out/ how much time they need based on the varieties behind them.
So I’ll have to get back to you on those guys/ gals.
.....but I’ll not yet be giving up my Holland Whites.
They are not as popular as “poults for sale”.... people around here seem to prefer the “pretty” colors, which I understand to a point. But.
IMO. The HW is the best bird for your buck when it comes to heritage varieties that grow quickly, become beautifully finished dressed birds for the table, and are a recognized breed of a 4H or FFA kiddo is looking for a fair project...