can't tell if my baby turkey is a broad breasted

[Vesperia]

Hello! I've been wondering if my baby white turkeys are broad breasted because I was planning to have my turkeys as pets.. I have had them for 12 days now and bought them at tractor supply. From what I have been reading broad breasted turkeys don't live long so I hope they aren't :'') So how do I tell if they are broad breasted?

 

[BirdManInMo]

More than likely if they are white and came from TSC they are bbw turkeys.

My first turkey was a bbb hen named Fluffy. She was sweet as could be. Like a lap dog always wanting to be held and petted. Here is a pic of my step son holding Fluffy when she was small.




The main thing you want to do is do not feed them all that they want to eat. Figuring out a strict ration/diet is the best thing you can do.

They make great pets and can grow up to be very tame but have health issues because they get so big/fat and their fast growth rate.

The main thing to watch for is leg issues.

Good Luck !

 

[Vesperia]

Thank you for the reply! It really sucks that they are bbw but I'll try my best to make them live as long as possible.

 

[ILuvMyFlock]

I am glad you are keeping your Turkeys as pets, I have around 20 Turkeys currently and they are all like family to me, so tame they'll sit on your lap, you can hold them and even pet them! You won't regret raising these critters for pets! Just try and put the Turkey on a diet if it's a broad breasted and give it all the love you can give it, love truly does go far, love can extend a birds life quite a bit. I wish you all the best! I wish there were more folk out there to keep Turkeys as pets instead of food, I have never understood it the whole keeping birds to slaughter and so forth but that's just me I suppose. I am a lover not a fighter.

 

[Vesperia]

Any idea when I should put them on a diet and what kind of diet?

 

[BirdManInMo]

After they get a little size to them take them off of any high protein chick starter and feed them 16% layer crumbles just like you feed a chicken.

Don't allow them access to any high protein dog food. My turkeys love dog food and would rather eat that than anything.

 

[Gray Farms]

Broad Breasted hens are more likely to live longer than males. You will need to ration their feed, but they can live "long" lives. I had a hen sometime ago that lived for 4 years and only died due to a freak accident. She was the sweetest thing ever and layed nearly every other day.

 

[Vesperia]

Thank you everyone!