Bourbon Red Tom X Broad Breasted White Hen??

[stu3796]

I know that you can't really breed a Broad Breasted White Tom with a hen naturally, but can you breed a Bourbon Red Tom to a Broad Breasted Hen and incubate the eggs? Any idea what the cross might look like as far as color and size? Would they retain characteristics of each breed? Thanks!!

 

[0852ellen]

i have the same question I have 5 broad breasted white hens and wonder if a bourbon red tom could/would breed them? Thanks for any insight.

 

[Celie]

Hi,

I do not know why you would not be able too! BBW turkeys are fertile. It is just the size of the gobbler(male) that makes him too big soon after maturity that makes breeding attempts unsuccessful. I do not know what the offspring will look like, but I would guess similar to the Bourbon Red, as white feathers is usually a recessive trait in birds. At least in the birds I have bred. Darker feathers seem to be a more dominate trait. Hope this helps and please let us know how it turns out,
Celie

 

[Lagerdogger]

I'm not sure what the base color is of broad-breasted white, or what other genes might typically be carried by BB whites.. If they are a bronze based bird with two white genes and nothing else involved, then the "not white" gene inherited from the Bourbon Red will mask the recessive white gene from the BB. However, they will not look like bourbon reds becasue the offsprng will only inherit one red gene from the red parent (Bourbon reds have two red genes). In this case, they will look like red bronzes. If BB whites are black based, they will look like black turkeys with a single red gene. There is a name for that color, but it eludes me right now. There have been several pictures of this color posted on this forum, and they probably would not be hard to find with a little searching.

 

[Cbishop58]

I have a red bourbon male he has been trying to mount my female Narrengsett several times. She lays down for him but he taps his foot on her wing, I can't tell if he is successful at it.
He has tried twice and she went to perch away from him.
Do turkeys instinctively know how to breed ? He is 3 his first time with females.

 

[R2elk]

I have a red bourbon male he has been trying to mount my female Narrengsett several times. She lays down for him but he taps his foot on her wing, I can't tell if he is successful at it.
He has tried twice and she went to perch away from him.
Do turkeys instinctively know how to breed ? He is 3 his first time with females.

It is instinctive but not all toms are good breeders. In my experience, the ones that are not good breeders at the start do not improve with practice.

 

[Cbishop58]

It is instinctive but not all toms are good breeders. In my experience, the ones that are not good breeders at the start do not improve with practice.

He finally made contact both my hens have eggs. My Narrengansett has 2 so far she is laying every other day. The other has 7.