Adding more Turkeys question / advice

[Arielle]

IMO fertility shouldn't be a problem, meaning it is a rare thing. An infertile tom can't produce young so he stops what ever his problem is right there.

It shows up in very inbred stock, of any kind is my understanding though usually other issues present themselves first when inbreeding is the cause. And fertility can be attributed to other things as well. If you have two boys and they constant y keep each other occupied, then who is breeding the lonely girls. TIme of year, feeding, lack of a specific micronutrient; many factors.

If you need to know if there is a fertility problem, keep him with the girls and then incubate test eggs.

 

[Celie]

IMO fertility shouldn't be a problem, meaning it is a rare thing. An infertile tom can't produce young so he stops what ever his problem is right there.

It shows up in very inbred stock, of any kind is my understanding though usually other issues present themselves first when inbreeding is the cause. And fertility can be attributed to other things as well. If you have two boys and they constant y keep each other occupied, then who is breeding the lonely girls. TIme of year, feeding, lack of a specific micronutrient; many factors.

If you need to know if there is a fertility problem, keep him with the girls and then incubate test eggs.

Well, the only problem I have with that, is someone started a turkey thread on here stating he bought turkeys from a lady who seperated the breeds 4 months before and the hens still had viable sperm in her from 4 months before? I didn't beleive this possible, but I was corrected by someone quoting a Doctor who wrote an article saying the sperm stayed viable for over 17 weeks? IDK, this gets very confusing and some people do not have the long hatching we have in the South!!!

 

[r4eboxer]

Well, the only problem I have with that, is someone started a turkey thread on here stating he bought turkeys from a lady who seperated the breeds 4 months before and the hens still had viable sperm in her from 4 months before? I didn't beleive this possible, but I was corrected by someone quoting a Doctor who wrote an article saying the sperm stayed viable for over 17 weeks? IDK, this gets very confusing and some people do not have the long hatching we have in the South!!!

I read that thread too, and I as well am a skeptic. My two toms managed to open my gate between them, don't ask me how, and yesterday they were a bloody mess. On to plan B

 

[missnu01]

I didn't realize you could have more than one tom turkey...I was hoping for one tom and 2 hens...We are ordering 7 though and then we were going to just eat the ones I didn't want in my trio. We can eat any troubled turkey's earlier...Lol.

 

[flocksalot]

Well eating is good, but turkeys are too much like potato chips. You start small and then you have to keep building bigger because you just have to have one more. I know my hubby would prefer me to keep it down to a trio, but that's not gonna happen. Oooooo must resist, but they are so pretty and they love me.

 

[Celie]

I read that thread too, and I as well am a skeptic. My two toms managed to open my gate between them, don't ask me how, and yesterday they were a bloody mess. On to plan B

Kuntrygirl has the same thing with hers, too, they can open her gate, but they don't close it back !

Turkeys are very smart and they copy the way you do things. I guess by the time the first set of eggs hatched or doesn't, in 28 days, that toms sperm will be gone and the eggs can be collected for the next test !

 

[r4eboxer]

Kuntrygirl has the same thing with hers, too, they can open her gate, but they don't close it back !

Turkeys are very smart and they copy the way you do things. I guess by the time the first set of eggs hatched or doesn't, in 28 days, that toms sperm will be gone and the eggs can be collected for the next test !

I'll be moving the RP/BR pair to another coop this weekend. It's all good with the hens in the second pen because both were RP Toms so I don't need to worry about my pure RP eggs. Today one of the Toms was being submissive, but I want him to breed that BR.

Just what I need a couple of smarty pants

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Of course there can be exceptions so I hold my chickens for 4 weeks. THe top chicken breeders use 2 weeks as the criteria.

Infertility should be a very rare thing. TIme of year, or issue due to illness or heat will effect fertiliyt too.

I keep 2 males just in case.