Feed store bronze reproducing???

[Paegglvr]

This is my first time with turkeys. Impulse buy at the feed store. However, these turkeys are COOL. I like their personalities. I am actually contemplating raising turkeys next year instead of meat birds. Meat birds just plop and eat. The turkeys follow, chat, and are just neat to watch. Why not enjoy raising your food, huh.

Same here, went to the feed store to get a duck to replace one that died, and came back with three ducks and six turkeys.

I agree with turkeys being cool, my wife is attached also... every evening we take our son out of the lawn and hang with the turkeys. We bought them for thanksgiving dinner & it's going to be tough dispatching them. They are way better than chickens (no offense to chicken lovers intended). I guess I will look at my last bill for all the feed these guys eat & that will help me get over it.

My neighbor is raising 50 eastern wilds... maybe I can get some eggs off of him for next year...​

 

[pdpatch]

BB bronze and great whites are breed to be raised in a commercial enviroment that has there own mill to make there own feed or buy in large quantites. When you buy the components for feed in bulk or raise it your self it's really cheap compared to bagged feed.

When you compare the amount of feed a BBB or Great white in the end it not that much difference. But just compressed into a shorter time frame.

Althougth it's possible for BBB or Great white to breed naturally it's not recommended, male's and females do need to be seperated out to prevent females from becoming injured. Of course last year we had one female BBB and almost a dozen male BBB and Great Whites, all that attention turn the female mean, even after we seperated them.

The idea behind getting BBB or Great white is to get the most meat in the shortest time. My personal advice would be, If you have time and planned things out don't get BBB or Great white turkeys.

Personally I don't think I would ever raise them again, since our goal is not to get the biggest bird in the quickest time, and I won't use AI to get more poults.

Last year we had BBB, Great white, Red Bourbon's, and Blue Slates, hands down winner for tenderness and taste was not the BBB or Great white by a long shot.

Tenderness and taste is an objective thing for most people, I prefer the more richness of other breeds/sub species then the BBB or Great white have. But then again a lot of people have been raised on store bought turkeys and like the taste of the BBB and Great white.

Around here we have the luxury of taking our time.

Tom

 

[HappyHatch'en]

I like the turkeys as "live" yard art and we will see about November's meal when November comes along. I try to allow my birds as much free ranging time as possible, trying to keep the food bill down some.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
if this was done you would no longer have BB turkey.


Also nothing wrong with BB turkey, just like cornish X rock chicken they have there place. Both produce more meat per pound of feed than any other, in a faster time. Thats what they are breed for meat, and more meat. Long as people know thats their purpose, not everyone that raise turkey to eat, need to breed them, just like the meat chicken.

I order Rock X Cornish every year to butcher, would do the same with turkeys. If i want to raise either turkey or chicken plenty of breeds to do so.

Myself i think its great the way these 2 have been produces.

Lot of beef are also AI.

 

[deerman]

Another point, why use incubators to hatch, we are raising birds that loose the broody knowledge. If only natural breeding, should only natural setting and brooding be used.


Its sad we breed chicken, that cant raise their own younge.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
if this was done you would no longer have BB turkey.


Also nothing wrong with BB turkey, just like cornish X rock chicken they have there place. Both produce more meat per pound of feed than any other, in a faster time. Thats what they are breed for meat, and more meat. Long as people know thats their purpose, not everyone that raise turkey to eat, need to breed them, just like the meat chicken.

I order Rock X Cornish every year to butcher, would do the same with turkeys. If i want to raise either turkey or chicken plenty of breeds to do so.

Myself i think its great the way these 2 have been produces.

Lot of beef are also AI.

Size does not make a BB turkey. If tom and hen are BB then the offspring is BB, as long as you breed pure bloods It's very easy to increase or decrease the bird size thru breeding, yes?

 

[NakPakChick]

HappyHatch'en :

I like the turkeys as "live" yard art and we will see about November's meal when November comes along. I try to allow my birds as much free ranging time as possible, trying to keep the food bill down some.

Same here. We got two BB chicks, one for thanksgiving, one for christmas, and now hubby says he's not sure he can do it. They are cool birds. They follow us around the yard, play in the sprinklers with the kids, and in general like to hang out with us.​

 

[geepy]

Same here. All of my critters are living yard art. Nuttin better then grabbing a beer and sitting on the porch and watching all the art.

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

It's very easy to increase or decrease the bird size thru breeding, yes?

No this is not true, it often takes years of dedicated line breeding to achieve a such thing. It takes alot of education and knowledge to do a such thing and be effective, sure any Joe can breed x with o and make them smaller, but very rarely does he make it bigger, and keep all the other traits the same or improved.​

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
No this is not true, it often takes years of dedicated line breeding to achieve a such thing. It takes alot of education and knowledge to do a such thing and be effective, sure any Joe can breed x with o and make them smaller, but very rarely does he make it bigger, and keep all the other traits the same or improved.

Breeding poultry is not rocket science - and it's quite obvious it takes years of breeding since it takes a year+ for each generation in turkeys. It also doesn't take dedicated line breeding - by simply introducing larger or small birds into an exsisting flock the overall size of the birds in the flock can be changed quickly - that's breeding 101. Careful record keeping and proper breeding is all it takes and yes any Joe or Jane can do it.

Steve in NC