Is it true?!

[PineBurrowPeeps]

I have a Broad Breasted Bronze Tom turkey who has been raised with chickens and I swear he thinks he is a chicken. He has been housed with them since I only had the one turkey. He was meant to be Thanksgiving dinner but became a pet as a poult.
He is a sweetest thing and in the spring we're planning to give him his own area when we make the new chicken coop...
So I figured when I went onto Ideal to place my order for this year I would order him a wife (Think mail order brides

), then I read on the description that BBB turkets cannot breed naturally because of the conformation of the Tom

Tell me it's not true, poor guy! Should I even get him a girl now or would it just be "teasing" him?

 

[DTchickens]

i've always heard it was true.. Sorry, but i think they would still be able to... just have troubles here and there

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

lol Thanks

 

[shelleyd2008]

Those and the broadbreasted whites are not supposed to be able to because of their size. I think it would just be a tease, but you could try it. If it doesn't work, you would at least have some turkey eggs to eat!

 

[Darin115]

I have a male cat that has been fixed. I have a female cat that has not been fixed. He sure do have fun trying!!!

Buy the tom a wife!!!!

Darin

 

[jhm47]

I have had a BB white tom that did mate with some hens. They are very clumsy and slow, but sometimes it works out. I do feel sorry for the hens though. I would guess that it might work out for a BB Bronze tom, as they are not quite as large as the whites. Turkeys don't need to mate all that often, so if he does have a successful mating, it should be good for 7-10 days. Also, there are "turkey saddles" on the market, and you might want to try one of those, or you could maybe make your own. Good luck!

 

[Omniskies]

Just be careful, it may be teasing the wife, too. Turkeys are very slow when it comes to romancing. My heritage breeds would take forever to find the right position with the poor hen squashed for five or more minutes. You don't want her to get hurt and the hens do go through a period where they'll submit to anything just to get a little love. One of our hens would squat down whenever we went to pick her up.

This same hen had a bantam rooster lover who never satisfied her. He'd grab hold of what few feathers he could find on her head. I don't think he ever did figure out why he could never find her tail.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:

Oh the poor things....

Is there a larger breed hen I should try to get for him that might withstand his weight better? I would say that he's probably in the 25 pound range.

 

[MissPrissy]

The broad breast makes it physically impossible for them to complete the deed. One other thing is they get so big that over time their legs stop supporting them. Just like meat chickens his life time can be much shorter than you want. Sorry.

I raised 18 of these for Thanksgiving. We just did the last 4. They are 70lbs dressed. I had to use ziplock XXlg bags after we wrapped them in butcher paper and plastic wrap for the freezer. I have 2 turkeys in the freezer now. Nearly 140lb of meat. Can you believe it?

Mine were 32 weeks this last time. How old is your tom?

I have one small tom in the turkey house with 10 females. Bless his heart.

 

[Omniskies]

140lbs of meat? I planned on raising a few BB Whites this summer and assumed 25-30lbs each dressed.

Maybe I shouldn't raise a dozen...