Brand New..

[ColbyNTX]

Quote:
I have BBB and As long as you dont mind watching their weight and managing their nutrition they are fine. Mine have been some of the best pets i have ever had. So if you make an effort in their care, I dont think thats entirely true.

Never said they couldn't be pets but they are not good pets for most. Dolly is looking for a pet and not a project. Most people are not retired and can't put the effort into keeping a BB turkey alive with a good quality of life. That's great if you have some as pets but I can't spend that much extra time in keeping a BB alive. I have several types of turkeys and they free range most of the year and have free choice to 20% feed. Now if I had a BB that free ranged, it would never leave the feeder, get too fat and fall over dead or break a leg. Do your BBB's stay healthy and good egg producers for 6-10 years(serious question)? These heritage birds make good pets for 12-15 years with minimal effort.

 

[LadyTurkey]

Quote:
I have BBB and As long as you dont mind watching their weight and managing their nutrition they are fine. Mine have been some of the best pets i have ever had. So if you make an effort in their care, I dont think thats entirely true.

Never said they couldn't be pets but they are not good pets for most. Dolly is looking for a pet and not a project. Most people are not retired and can't put the effort into keeping a BB turkey alive with a good quality of life. That's great if you have some as pets but I can't spend that much extra time in keeping a BB alive. I have several types of turkeys and they free range most of the year and have free choice to 20% feed. Now if I had a BB that free ranged, it would never leave the feeder, get too fat and fall over dead or break a leg. Do your BBB's stay healthy and good egg producers for 6-10 years(serious question)? These heritage birds make good pets for 12-15 years with minimal effort.

Well I am not retired . Im a stay at home wife, soon to be stay at home mother. My turkeys are free ranged, and have free access to food, i do monitor them very closely and found that they do not sit at the feeder all day, they go out in the yard and eat grass or bugs ect. I am not sure how they would be 6 years from now, as I have not had them long enough to make a proper judgement on that. I was just simply stating that BBB can be pets if you are willing to monitor them. I guess im lucky that I have fairly lean BBB's then, because they can jump up to the coop roof and off again without hurting them selves thus far.

 

[ColbyNTX]

Quote:
Never said they couldn't be pets but they are not good pets for most. Dolly is looking for a pet and not a project. Most people are not retired and can't put the effort into keeping a BB turkey alive with a good quality of life. That's great if you have some as pets but I can't spend that much extra time in keeping a BB alive. I have several types of turkeys and they free range most of the year and have free choice to 20% feed. Now if I had a BB that free ranged, it would never leave the feeder, get too fat and fall over dead or break a leg. Do your BBB's stay healthy and good egg producers for 6-10 years(serious question)? These heritage birds make good pets for 12-15 years with minimal effort.

Well I am not retired . Im a stay at home wife, soon to be stay at home mother. My turkeys are free ranged, and have free access to food, i do monitor them very closely and found that they do not sit at the feeder all day, they go out in the yard and eat grass or bugs ect. I am not sure how they would be 6 years from now, as I have not had them long enough to make a proper judgement on that. I was just simply stating that BBB can be pets if you are willing to monitor them. I guess im lucky that I have fairly lean BBB's then, because they can jump up to the coop roof and off again without hurting them selves thus far.

Yes, there are different genetics with BB's as well as any other turkey. Yours may be a BB crossed with a standard bronze. If they start laying fertile eggs for sure you will know that they are not full BB's unless you have a heritage tom. A true BB usually can't fly up on a coop at night after they are about 6 months and they do eat all day if you will let them. That is good for you and your birds. How old are they?

 

[LadyTurkey]

They are about 10 months old. I just have two hens, we got them at the feed store. They have laid eggs...I wouldnt know if they were fertile or not lol.

 

[jasonm11]

If they are 10 months and jumping up more than a few feet then you can rest assured that they are not broad breasted birds. Most likely just regular bronze. This is a good thing, take care of them you will have them a long while.

 

[ColbyNTX]

Quote:
I can tell you if you only have 2 hens and no toms then you don't have fertile eggs. A BB tom can't breed a hen because he will be to big to mount the hen. As Jason said, if they are flying to the top of the coop, there not BBB's. A 10 month BB hen would be 30lbs or so by now. Can you post a pic of the girls?

 

[LadyTurkey]

Well we did have 3 hens but ate one for thanksgiving. She dressed out at about 24lbs. I try to not let them fly up to the top of the coop roof, i have always been nervous about them jumping down, because i didn't want them to hurt their legs, so i try and get them in their coop for the night before they decide they want to roost outside

Here is a picture of the last two girls we have currently.