Bronze Turkey's - what else are they good for? - pix included

[Stef82]

My husband picked up two adult Bronze turkeys last night. Maybe they are close to 6 months old? I looked up the bronze turkey online and noticed these birds aren't meant to breed due to that they are bred to be meat birds. I gave the sad news to my husband and he wasn't too thrilled hearing this. He LOVES his turkeys, and he was kinda hoping that they might mate. We have other turkeys that we know will mate, but they are only 3 months old. We have three Narragansett Turkeys (not sure on sex yet). So now he thinks maybe if we kull the male for thanksgiving, and breed the Narragansett male to the female bronze. Just I don't think you can really cross breed them? I don't know.
Besides of being a meat bird and just lawn ornaments, what else are Bronze turkeys good for? I'm kinda dissappointed in learning that they can't breed, but I'm hoping there is something useful for these birds.

Here's a picture of the birds

 

[canesisters]

I'm confused... WHY can't they be bred??? SOMEONE must be breeding them.... or cloning them.....

 

[Stef82]

I'm confused... WHY can't they be bred??? SOMEONE must be breeding them.... or cloning them.....

They use AI for reproducing.
Here's a thread on it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/144802/broad-breasted-bronze-turkeys-can-they-breed/10

 

[TV]

They look a little long legged to be BBB and if they are Standard Bronze they will mate and reproduce just fine.

 

[Stef82]

They look a little long legged to be BBB and if they are Standard Bronze they will mate and reproduce just fine.

What do you mean by long legged? what breed are they then? When we got them last night, the store's note said Bronze. They didn't say what kind of bronze.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I have a bbb thats a layer lol i dont have the heart to cull her lol

 

[Stef82]

I have a bbb thats a layer lol i dont have the heart to cull her lol

Are they fertile? If so, then there is hope on them reproducing.

 

[KrisH]

What do you mean by long legged? what breed are they then? When we got them last night, the store's note said Bronze. They didn't say what kind of bronze.

http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/bronze.html here is a link to the American Livestock Breed Conservancy

There are two distinct varieties of Bronze Turkey.

1 )Standard Bronze which CAN reproduce naturally

2)Broad Breasted Bronze basically FOOD, cannot reproduce naturally because of the size.

a standard heritage bronze may get to 30-36 lbs a BBB may get to 50+lbs if they survive long enough.

BBB pare prone to legs breaking due to extreme weight and organ failure, kind of like obese people. BBB may reach butcher weight in as little as 18 weeks where the standard bronze would be about 28 weeks

Disclamer... I am not an expert, just spitting out what I have read from many sources. We have started our second year with turkeys and have 17 growing up and 2 adults that are 3 years old.

RobertH

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Are they fertile? If so, then there is hope on them reproducing.

Nope as i dont have a tom as i processed him lol

 

[Stef82]

http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/bronze.html here is a link to the American Livestock Breed Conservancy

There are two distinct varieties of Bronze Turkey.

1 )Standard Bronze which CAN reproduce naturally

2)Broad Breasted Bronze basically FOOD, cannot reproduce naturally because of the size.

a standard heritage bronze may get to 30-36 lbs a BBB may get to 50+lbs if they survive long enough.

BBB pare prone to legs breaking due to extreme weight and organ failure, kind of like obese people. BBB may reach butcher weight in as little as 18 weeks where the standard bronze would be about 28 weeks

Disclamer... I am not an expert, just spitting out what I have read from many sources. We have started our second year with turkeys and have 17 growing up and 2 adults that are 3 years old.

RobertH

Ok, so these birds we have aren't the BBB's. These birds have to be close to 5-6 months old (or older). I'm a little relieved hearing that our turkeys are likely Standerd Bronze. My husband is happy too. So maybe we might get baby bronze turkeys this spring. Honestly these birds are addicting!