Breeds

[Morgk]

Does anybody have turkeys as pets? What breeds work the best?
what breeds are good for thanksgiving?
can u have a breeding stock then hatch there eggs, raise them poults up and butcher? Or will it take to long?

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Royal Toms are good meat turkeys.and the wild type.

 

[R2elk]

Does anybody have turkeys as pets? What breeds work the best?
what breeds are good for thanksgiving?
can u have a breeding stock then hatch there eggs, raise them poults up and butcher? Or will it take to long?

All domestic turkeys are the breed Turkey. There are many different varieties of turkeys.

Check out Porter's Rare Heritage Turkeys to see many of the different varieties of heritage turkeys.

For a fast growing turkey that can reach processing size within 4 to 6 months, stick to the broad breasted varieties. If you want to breed and raise your own turkeys, stick to the heritage varieties which can and do breed successfully on their own. The heritage varieties will never get as big as the broad breasted varieties and will take much longer to grow to a marketable size.

For specific questions, try using the search function while limiting your search to the Turkeys forum. Almost any imaginable question has already been asked and answered many times.

To learn how one woman turned adult turkeys into pets, read the Memphis Tribute thread.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

All domestic turkeys are the breed Turkey. There are many different varieties of turkeys.

You’ve got me scratching my head on this, lol

That seemed right at first, but then it’s not really any different than chickens and we call different chicken varieties “breeds“

So I’m thinking all domestic turkeys are the same “species“... but the varieties are considered breeds aren’t they?

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Does anybody have turkeys as pets? What breeds work the best?
what breeds are good for thanksgiving?
can u have a breeding stock then hatch there eggs, raise them poults up and butcher? Or will it take to long?

I’m not affiliated with this link, but have had it come up several times in the last several months when searching for something turkey related... it seems to be pretty solid information, at least from what I’ve seen.

https://www.petturkeys.com/

 

[R2elk]

You’ve got me scratching my head on this, lol

That seemed right at first, but then it’s not really any different than chickens and we call different chicken varieties “breeds“

So I’m thinking all domestic turkeys are the same “species“... but the varieties are considered breeds aren’t they?

The APA recognizes one breed, that breed is Turkey. They recognize 8 varieties of turkeys but there are many more varieties.

Turkeys are far more closely related to each other than chickens are. They do not have the same amount of genes that chickens have. All domestic turkeys are descended from the same haploid group.

The term breed has so many different definitions that it cannot be standardized. Cattle have their own definition, dogs another as well as chickens and ducks. Do not apply the definition of breed across the board. As it applies to domestic turkeys, they are all the breed Turkey.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

The APA recognizes one breed, that breed is Turkey. They recognize 8 varieties of turkeys but there are many more varieties.

Turkeys are far more closely related to each other than chickens are. They do not have the same amount of gene that chickens. All domestic turkeys are descended from the same haploid group.

The term breed has so many different definitions that it cannot be standardized. Cattle have their own definition, dogs another as well as chickens and ducks. Do not apply the definition of breed across the board. As it applies to domestic turkeys, they are all the breed Turkey.

gotcha

I suspected maybe you had not said that originally by accident... but I wasn’t aware that the term breed was technically inaccurate for turkeys