How Do I Breed Turkeys

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hi im starting a little hatchery (hopfully it will get bigger) I already breed chickens and I was wanting to no how to breed turkeys because IM wanting to get some bourbon red turkeys and some narragansett turkeys (probly 3 of each) so how do i breed them

 

[jasonm11]

Soft Music And LOWER THE LIGHTS

 

[yinepu]

well.. you get a mommy turkey.. and a daddy turkey.. and when they love each other very very much............



















seriously though.. are you looking for run ideas?.. male to female ratios?... or just what?..
(I really wanted to reply that this is frowned upon in polite society.. and I am fairly certain it's illegal in most states.. but I am trying to behave myself today...)

 

[Jocasta]

I'm sorry but you asked for those responses haha!

Basically it's exactly the same process for turkeys as for chickens, although the eggs take an extra week. The turkey laying season is much shorter though and fertility is lower at the very start and the end of the season. One stag/tom should be plenty for five to six hens for a decent fertility.

There's no way to make a hen go broody so the easiest option would be to incubate the eggs artificially. Make sure that the mama bird is getting a nutritious well balanced diet and that's pretty much it.

Incubate the eggs at 37.5 for 28 days, turning at least three times every 24hrs. Humidity should be around 40-50% for the first 25 days and then stop turning and whack the humidity up to 70% minimum. Don't open the incubator during lockdown - only open it when all the eggs that are going to hatch have hatched. Turkeys can live comfortably for up to three days without food or water after they've hatched so don't feel too eager to get them out if there are eggs that have pipped but haven't hatched yet.

Turkey poults aren't the sharpest tool in the box so you will need to take each bird individually and dip their beaks in the water and take them to the food. Do this several times a day with each bird for the first couple of days - turkey poults have been known to starve to death in front of a full feeder because they are too stupid to figure out how to eat. Sprinkling the crumb on foil can help.

They are far more susccepitible to the cold too so make sure that they stay warm and dry. You need to start them out roughly 100f and reduce the temp by 5degrees each week until they are fully feathered. There's a saying "A cold poult equals a dead poult" the same can be said about a wet poult.

That's all I can think of right now. Have you got any specific questions?

 

[[email protected]]

how long do I incubate and is 2 hens good for 1 tom

 

[Arielle]

Yes, to the trio and 28 days to hatch.

 

[[email protected]]

thanks

 

[amisner]

If my momma Turkey produces eggs why can't I just let her hatch them out? Why do you have to have a incubator? I am not planning on breeding them but I do have a male and a female and I wouldn't mind little baby turkeys.

 

[Jocasta]

Quote:
You can let a mama bird hatch out her own eggs - it's just that you can't guarantee if/when they'll go broody so there's no guarantee you'll get any babies. If you're wanting to breed turkeys, you'll need an incubator to guarantee this. However, if it's just a case of "I don't mind if we get babies" then just leave them to it.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet.

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy Heritage Turkey Manual
http://www.albc-usa.org/downloads.html

The best single source of turkey info that I know of anywhere.