Can heritage Tom breed with hen broadbreast

[Viking84]

I know that a broad breast Tom cannot breed because his chest is too large. Was wondering if a heritage Tom could breed with a broad breast hen. Anyone tried this?

 

[R2elk]

I know that a broad breast Tom cannot breed because his chest is too large. Was wondering if a heritage Tom could breed with a broad breast hen. Anyone tried this?

Each individual case is different but Broad Breasted turkeys were bred naturally before artificial insemination became popular. AI is used in the BB turkey industry because of convenience and improved egg fertility along with fewer injuries to hens. Prior to AI, the recommendation was to use yearling toms and yearling hens for the natural breeding. Some people are still breeding BBs naturally.

Many people have used heritage toms with BB hens. It works best if the hen is a yearling as it is easier for a younger more supple hen to do her part in the mating. I had a yearling Bourbon Red tom successfully breed a yearling Broad Breasted White hen which produced a gorgeous Red Bronze tom that was nearly as big as the BBW toms I was raising.

If you do a search in the Turkeys forum, you will find a number of threads on this topic.

 

[Quackter]

2nd hand, the local "deity of poultry", (this guy keeps and sells hundreds of birds, of all types), said, "If you are going to try to breed BBB, keep them away from the feeder." He says they get to lazy to do the deed. Probably didn't help, but maybe....lol

 

[R2elk]

2nd hand, the local "deity of poultry", (this guy keeps and sells hundreds of birds, of all types), said, "If you are going to try to breed BBB, keep them away from the feeder." He says they get to lazy to do the deed. Probably didn't help, but maybe....lol

When I was raising BBs, they always had access to the food but also spent most of the day free ranging. I can see where keeping the toms on a diet could be beneficial. The most important part is sticking to the youngsters for the breeding.

 

[HeritageHenNut]

I have some young BB hens with one of my heritage bronze turkey boys. I'll be setting eggs this weekend, and the few I cracked earlier looked fertile. So we'll see.