Heritage - Broad Breast crosses

[Molpet]

Found this youtube video of an ocellated Tom making the rounds with the ladies... His dance is a little different from a regular turkey...

Cool thanks for sharing
Sounds different too
But in true turkey fashion, the hens are not impressed

 

[BreanneRN]

I have incubated most of my girls eggs and so far only 3 are developing. I just put 6 in over the weekend so it's a little early to say but still. 2 of hers are due may 27 and 1 June 2, so time will tell what we end up with

Any update on your eggs? Hope to see more of that uber cute Spudley...

 

[aliciaplus3]

Any update on your eggs? Hope to see more of that uber cute Spudley...

Sadly none out of that batch hatched..... I am still blaming the air conditioner and temp swings.... I have a few more in the bator, I think a few are hers but others came from some new girls I traded for.....

here you see darling out in front inspecting the new coop and new residents.... she was not impressed for several days. You can see her new boyfriend inside there. All seems to have fallen into normal patterns now.
Spudley is doing quite well... sadly I think it is camera shy or at least I have failed to capture any recent pics.... so fat it looks to have quite the barring

 

[BreanneRN]

Thanks for the update and the pics, new coop looks good! Sorry about the hatch, but glad that Spudley is doing well... Time will tell if you have to rename him Spudlene! But he really does look like a boy, though... He just looks strong somehow... Maybe hybrid vigor!

 

[aliciaplus3]

a couple of quick pics from this morning of spudley

 

[Indyshent]

Chiming in with my two cents.

RP + BB = Midget White, eventually. Midget White over larger heritage breeds made some big chested toms here. The hen wasn't broad breasted and was the dinkiest hen I've ever seen to not be imported from Mexico.

The huge chest makes it pretty much impossible to get fertile eggs in my experience. I've had three hatch from those toms (out of many dozens of eggs over two seasons) and all died as poults. Once the boys get big enough to breed, they're too big to breed, pretty much. I've never seen a successful mating with these guys because he just can't seem to get low enough and winds up stomping the poor hens into the ground. Midget Whites have the big chest but are purposefully bred very small to keep them able to breed naturally. Upscaling that bird makes it pretty much impossible to keep a breed going without artificial insemination.

You can get fertile eggs out of BB hens but not as easily as you would out of heritage. Poult quality may suffer. Some are hardy as horses, and others just aren't. We had one born with closed nostrils so it had to breathe through its mouth. Might not have had anything to do with the cross, but it was heartbreaking.

 

[BreanneRN]

Wow, Spudley has grown! Still super cute though! Thanks so much for the pics and updates... Still wondering if any of Bridget the BBB's nest of eggs will hatch. I think some got rotten, but nothing smells out there now. She is more careful not to walk on them. She settles around them ever so carefully. I hope some hatch for her sake. She has been a dedicated mom. Not sure when they are due though, as Ivory the BB white may have kept laying eggs in the nest after Bridget began setting.
Time will tell.

 

[BreanneRN]

Chiming in with my two cents.

RP + BB = Midget White, eventually. Midget White over larger heritage breeds made some big chested toms here. The hen wasn't broad breasted and was the dinkiest hen I've ever seen to not be imported from Mexico.

The huge chest makes it pretty much impossible to get fertile eggs in my experience. I've had three hatch from those toms (out of many dozens of eggs over two seasons) and all died as poults. Once the boys get big enough to breed, they're too big to breed, pretty much. I've never seen a successful mating with these guys because he just can't seem to get low enough and winds up stomping the poor hens into the ground. Midget Whites have the big chest but are purposefully bred very small to keep them able to breed naturally. Upscaling that bird makes it pretty much impossible to keep a breed going without artificial insemination.

You can get fertile eggs out of BB hens but not as easily as you would out of heritage. Poult quality may suffer. Some are hardy as horses, and others just aren't. We had one born with closed nostrils so it had to breathe through its mouth. Might not have had anything to do with the cross, but it was heartbreaking.

Yes, I'm aware of all the issues, but it has been successfully done by people on this thread and continues to be. It is my plan to buy some midget whites to blend in with the others... I love midget whites and like the size, but I love color! All white birds are boring! So, I want midget whites with color, Heritage birds with some breast meat, and I don't want them to be able to fly over a 6 ft fence onto the garage roof. The one I bought that did that was dinner for the neighbors St. Bernard! So, yeah, people on here are independent and doing our own thing. I am retired and creating a turkey that works for me, that is small enough to be manageable, large enough so the adults can't fly, meaty enough so it isn't an embarassment at thanksgiving, has a great temperament, and comes in wonderful colors, like pencilled sweetgrass and golden narragansett, and can free range over my chainlink fenced 2 1/2 acres. Not my plan to coddle them much after about 8 weeks. And frankly the journey is part of the joy, if I get there too soon, I won't have anything to look forward to! When I am done I will have a turkey that is right for me and adapted to the climate and terrain here, and the food the area has to offer. But then I will have to find something else to work on... But I do appreciate your input and advice. Like I say, I have specifics in mind and I am not in a hurry.

 

[Indyshent]

All white birds have a host of recessive and otherwise hidden genes. None of the poults from our Midget White tom were white. We had one bronze tom (he had very clear lovely stripes), one red slate tom, and one hen of indeterminate color (close to a silver auburn, very pretty). Birds have to have two copies of white (cc) to be white, so first generation turkeys with one white parent aren't likely to be white, and only about 25% of your F2 crosses will be white when breeding your F1 together (if you can them to hatch).

I had miserable fertility even getting MW tom over heritage hens and abysmal fertility with F1 crosses. I never got BB crosses to work (The RP tom was never in the mood for big boned ladies). You might try a lovely color tom over a MW hen or a BB hen. Palms work pretty well and come in many colors now, and their lessened weight is easier on hens of both big chested breeds.

 

[Indyshent]

All of the MW crosses could roost in trees, no matter how huge their chests got. I've even had BB who could clear 4 ft fences and loved to roost on grills and other higher perches. Thankfully, not many were able to do that and I don't recall them being able to do that by egg-laying time.