Heritage & Exhibition Turkey Thread

[elizmartin]

I never saw my tom mating either, but I had dozens of poults from him though! Never saw my rams either.

Some Turkey stories.......Well, You haven't lived till you see one trying to mate with a basketball.....We couldn't stop laughing. He is a real good father and sheltered the older poults when they were not with the hen. Not smart enough to fly over or walk through a 4' gate to follow the girls..My older hen died running away from the nest under some branches i think to protect the younger hen where they nested with the eggs when a coyote slipped into our yard...After that the younger hen has started to act and look more like a tom with her tail and her head has more color and burbles on it now.....No wild turkeys here and except for the Tom, often fly on top of the coop roof (7' ? ) but cannot find their way out of the 6' chain link fenced run. they love to be in the small coop with the chickens but often pick on them. Mine stay because of food and companionship......White midget turkeys...White is a vulnerable color thou......

 

[ashandvine]

I have a story!!!
My son and I finally saw the turkey mating!!!! Its done ON the nest! She goes in to lay an egg and he goes over to be sure they are fertile!!!

 

[R2elk]

I have a story!!!
My son and I finally saw the turkey mating!!!! Its done ON the nest! She goes in to lay an egg and he goes over to be sure they are fertile!!!

Wrong. This is how many hens end up getting killed by the toms. Hens on their nests need to be protected from the toms. The hens typically do not fully cooperate when on their nests and the tom in his excitement can and does often slip off and in the process rips the hens side wide open with his spurs.

When mating under proper circumstances the hen will lie down in front of the tom and will cooperate as he gets up and stands on her back. Once the hen starts sitting on her egg, a tom with only one hen available will seek her out and because she is already lying down will proceed with the unwanted (by the hen) mating whether or not she cooperates.

I have had toms who would seek out the nests and stomp the eggs just to get the hens back into the breeding mode. I have had other toms kill setting hens in the mating attempt. Toms are for the most part just like guys. They like men often seem to only have one thing on their minds (sex).

 

[Arielle]

Has anyone raised Auburn turkeys? Or Blue Slates? What are their temperament and can they weather high temps?

THis is my first year with Auburns so I don't have much to share. SO far mine are just like the others, ad definitely hog at the feeders. THey are the largest by far. THey are still young so I don't have anything to relate about temperament of the toms. I do like the size and the color is very interesting. A reddish -chocolate color, with barring in the wings. Lovely.

 

[ashandvine]

Wrong. This is how many hens end up getting killed by the toms. Hens on their nests need to be protected from the toms. The hens typically do not fully cooperate when on their nests and the tom in his excitement can and does often slip off and in the process rips the hens side wide open with his spurs.

When mating under proper circumstances the hen will lie down in front of the tom and will cooperate as he gets up and stands on her back. Once the hen starts sitting on her egg, a tom with only one hen available will seek her out and because she is already lying down will proceed with the unwanted (by the hen) mating whether or not she cooperates.

This is extremely disappointing. We have been watching and watching and never see them 'at it' until the other day. How do you suggest protecting her from the tom? She seems fine so far and so far all of the eggs as well.

 

[R2elk]

This is extremely disappointing. We have been watching and watching and never see them 'at it' until the other day. How do you suggest protecting her from the tom? She seems fine so far and so far all of the eggs as well.

Just because you didn't see them mate does not mean they had not mated until she was on the nest. They completed their mating rituals long before she started laying eggs. My turkeys have been mating for at least two weeks but are still two weeks away from starting to lay eggs.

If your tom is a jake (yearling) you have a better chance of him not injuring the hen because his spurs are not yet developed. For the sake of the hen and the sake of the eggs it is best to separate your tom from the hen. She has already been bred. They don't need a separate breeding to fertilize each individual egg.

If you have another pen that you can put the tom in would be ideal. If not possibly fence in her nest area and provide her with enough room to get off of the nest and food and water. Good luck.

 

[ashandvine]

I hadn't read this anywhere and this is OBVIOUSLY our first year trying to raise turkeys. She will have a separate area tomorrow. I had her penned off but she kept trying to get back out that I figured she wanted to be with him and I try to let the animals lead me in what to do. Yes, he is a jake. Alright... humiliating lesson learned.

 

[txrobnla]

Quote:
Love love love our Blue Slates. We live in a fairly hot summer area and they do just fine. Our Tom Jasper is the ham on our little ranch. He loves getting attention and I think would follow us around everywhere if we were able to let him free range. We had friends in town from Texas this weekend and were hanging out in the backyard around a fire pit. I had Jasper out so the kids could play with him and he sat on my lap for a good hour in front of the fire. Wolf whistle at him and he gobbles back.

 

[elizmartin]

I hadn't read this anywhere and this is OBVIOUSLY our first year trying to raise turkeys. She will have a separate area tomorrow. I had her penned off but she kept trying to get back out that I figured she wanted to be with him and I try to let the animals lead me in what to do. Yes, he is a jake. Alright... humiliating lesson learned.

Might be easier to pen him rather than her ? at least in my case, the Tom is the one that has trouble going over low fences, and if she already has a nest area in mind it may stress her unless it is not a good area for you???

Anyone out there have experience with a hen that has decided to become more male like???? half the time mine puts her tail up and her head colors out like a boy but she has had 2 successful clutches. I have 2 almost grown youngsters that are shaped like girls but am not sure and one other that i thought was going to be a boy is rounder and has a small tassel in its chest but flattens itself to be bred every time i come close.

First year to have all this weirdness......

 

[aguilera]

2 of my hens have started laying eggs, but I haven't seem them mating with the toms. I was wondering, what if the toms don't know how to mate since it's their 1st year and they don't have any experience and they haven't seen other toms mating so they don't know how to do it????