I DID IT!!! Wild Bourbons!!!

[texascowboy1979]

So Last year I had a Female Bourbon Red Turkey, She layed about 15 eggs and I pulled each one... then She decied to lay again but this time she brooded in the woods and I could not find her and a bob cat killed her... but I was able to hatch the 1st 15 eggs and I kept 2 chicks from last years crop, a male and a Female. I called Last years crop "Wild Reds". They are Half Bourbon Red and Half Wild Turkeys. They look almost like wild Turkeys but have a slight red shade to them. Alone you cant tell them apart from wild turkeys, but when you put them next to wild turkeys, you can see the difference.

This year, I got a new female Bourbon Red turkey and I put her in a pen with "Wild Red Turkey Pair". They have been laying eggs good since late Feb early March. I can tell the difference between who laid what egg. The Wild Red Turkey Female lays eggs the size of a Wild Turkey Egg. The Bourbon Red Turkey lays eggs that are quite larger and more plump. They look Delicious, Im just saying.

So anyways, I lable all the eggs as they go into the incubator from what breed.

Example.

Wild Turkey Eggs are labled: W
Black Spanish Turkey Eggs are labled: B
Wild Red Turkey Eggs are labled: R
Bourbon Red laid eggs are labled R1.

So I Hatched out R and R1 Eggs and guess what!!!

Out of 15 chicks... 2 are RED!!!!! The 13 chicks have a reder shade than last years crop, and the 2 chicks are red and call them all "WILD BOURBONS" since they are 3/4ths Bourbon Red and 1/4th Wild Turkey. What do you think!! Arnt they Cute!!!

Photo 1 shows the Wild Turkey chick and the Wild Bourbon chick... can you see the difference? the Wild Bourbon has a redder shade.

Photo 2 shows the Wild Bourbon chick that came out RED!!! WOO HOO

 

[scratch'n'peck]

congrats. They look great.

 

[texascowboy1979]

Thank you... I was not expecting red chicks until next year.. I thought it was going to be a progressively getting red chick. Im glad that I was able to get a red chick so soon!

 

[lilchick]

I have an auburn eastern wild turkey hen. Out of all the poults hatched she was the only one colored that way.

A person who hunts turkeys said it is rare but you do see the auburn coloring in the wild. Does your "wild reds " from last year look like her? Could you post pics. of the adult birds? I would be very interested in raising this color.

 

[MissTurkey4]

I would like to compare the first generation to a normal Red Bronze.

 

[texascowboy1979]

Quote:
Here are my "WILD REDS", which is half Wild and Half Burbon Red. They are Last Years Crop. I will post pictures of This YEars crop when they get older to see the color difference.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Those are some really beautiful birds.

 

[Lagerdogger]

Those are beautiful turkeys!

The difference between your two birds that are both 1/4 wild and 3/4 bourbon red is that one of them has one red gene and one has two. Bourbon reds have two red genes. When you crossed the BR with the wild, all the offspring had one red gene from the BR and one "not red" gene from the wild. Then you crossed them back to bourbon reds. All of those offspring got one red gene from the red parent. But the wildXred parent had one red gene and one not red gene. So half the offspring got a red gene form the wildXred parent and half the offspring got the not red gene. So..half the offspring from that cross have two red genes, and will look like bourbon reds, and the other half only have one red gene, and will look like red bronzes. Wild turkeys look kind of like red bronzes anyway, even without a red gene, so the offspring with only one red gene will look a lot like the wild turkeys.

 

[Soaring Chicks]

very nice! Love the color I hope things keep working out for you!

 

[texascowboy1979]

Quote:
Out of the 15 eggs that came from the female Bourbon Red and the male Half and half, only 2 babies came out red, while the others came out wild looking but show more red than the babies from last year.