Keeping a broad-breasted bronze turkey as a pet

[Bettacreek]

I've got both BBW, a BBB/royal palm mix AND cornish cross as pets. The breeder I got the bbb/royal palm tom from had a BBB tom and a royal palm hen. I'm not sure how old he was, but he was in fine shape (probably younger). The hennies are all fine at about 8 months old. The cornish cross are the same age, and the hennies are in great shape, though the roo, I'm not so sure about... I picked him up the other day and almost killed him, he took a big gasp, dropped his head and couldn't stand up for awhile. So, I've got bresse eggs coming in the spring that I plan to use over the cornish cross hens. Anyways, moral to the story, free-range and limit feed and you can keep them.

I'm not sure what the fertility rate was for the breeder with the BBB over the royal palm, but our's here has been 100%, minus one egg that had frozen, lol. I'm only getting one egg per day from two hens though, and on Friday, I got a double yolker, a regular egg the next day and then two days of no eggs. I'm looking at picking up another nine BBB/BBW hennies for breeding.

 

[jellobutt]

We had to put the eggs under a chicken as our BBW broke her eggs when she sat on them.
We have 1 so far!

 

[CrxyChickLdy]

Hello, I appreciate all the insight everyone has posted on keeping a broad breasted bronze as a pet. We ended up with two this year - a tom and a hen that imprinted on us right away and follow us like our dogs. Needless to say they did NOT get sold at the 4-H auction! My question is how do your BBB handle winter weather. My hen seems to be doing well but Henry, the tom, seems like he is always hot. Even today (its about 10 degrees out - and he lays outside the coop. My husband keeps trying to lock them up early because to him it's cold but I try to tell him that they will know when they should go in. Any thoughts from anyone? Thank you!

 

[ivan3]

Hello, I appreciate all the insight everyone has posted on keeping a broad breasted bronze as a pet. We ended up with two this year - a tom and a hen that imprinted on us right away and follow us like our dogs. Needless to say they did NOT get sold at the 4-H auction! My question is how do your BBB handle winter weather. My hen seems to be doing well but Henry, the tom, seems like he is always hot. Even today (its about 10 degrees out - and he lays outside the coop. My husband keeps trying to lock them up early because to him it's cold but I try to tell him that they will know when they should go in. Any thoughts from anyone? Thank you!

So long as turks are protected from the wind, they'll usually do just fine. With the BB's it's more important to keep them off of roosts. If your pair is being kept in an unheated barn/shed then put them away whenever convenient in the evening - so long as they have access to water/feed/soft bedding, and sufficient room/light inside? They can be kept enclosed without issue.

If Henry is panting/minimal activity level when it is only ten degrees, then Henry's heart might be stressed from wt. Otherwise? We've only had one tom that would voluntarily retreat to the shed even in blizzard conditions - though when they see me coming off to the shed they go.

 

[Calen]

My BBB were pretty big. I even tried to feed them a low weight diet, but nope, it did not help. I had two males, who both started to pant. I am pretty sure it was their weight. One died one year at about 2, and then the other one a year later. My female lived to be 4. The cold weather did not bother them, but I live in Central Georgia so we do not get bad winters. They did have a pen inside of our chicken coop so they were protected from the wind, and I put up heat lamps. I would find them sitting on the other side of the pen away from the light. I tried to get them out and moving, but they were fat, slow and just not interested. The female would walk with me much more. I really liked them, and I want to get more. They were funny. I think if I get another turkey, I will get something that does not put on that kind of weight.

 

[pooders poultry]

I have a very sweet BBB TURKEY HEN THAT NEXT MONTH WILL BE 5, WE CALL HER GRANDMA AND LOVE HER DEARLY, SHES HUGE ABOUT 50 LBS, I HAVE RAISED TURKEYS FOR YEARS HERITAGE AND BB AND THIS IS THE LONGEST A BB HAS LIVED FOR ME. SHES THRIVING AND STILL GIVING ME 3-4 EGGS A WEEK OF COURSE NONE OF HER EGGS ARE FERTILE DO TO HER SIZE BUT MY TOMS TRY BUT USUALLY FALL OFF. LOLOL

 

[bsj719]

i got 2 BBWs with my chicks 2 years ago. the first one I processed at ~9 months and he came out at 42.5 lbs processed (Holy... cow....). He was the smaller of the two. The big guy is still around, he's my guard turkey. He's scared off Raccoons, skunks and other varmints, and i've actually caught him cornering raccoons that broke into the coop away from the chickens. He's very protective of my one runt hen that he was raised with.

I know he'll die from a heart attack any day. He pants, he eats, he doesn't grow chest feathers anymore because he can't roost (even a branch laid on the ground). But he's still happy to see me and hang out and living good. He's so old and fat He won't get eaten by me when he goes, but i'll process the breast meat and fillet what i can out, grind it, and save it for the next time the dogs need a bland diet.

They're great birds, and have outlived expectations.

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

This post is old but I am encouraged. I got a BBB in my Cackle surprise mini box last week, and we have named her C'est la vie. Right away I could tell a difference between her and the chicken chicks, she is either very sweet or very stupid, but she knows her name at least. I am hoping I can leash train her to walk with me, wouldn't that be hysterical?

 

[R2elk]

This post is old but I am encouraged. I got a BBB in my Cackle surprise mini box last week, and we have named her C'est la vie. Right away I could tell a difference between her and the chicken chicks, she is either very sweet or very stupid, but she knows her name at least. I am hoping I can leash train her to walk with me, wouldn't that be hysterical?

If you are feeding it the same chick starter as the rest of the chicks, you can expect it to develop leg problems. Chick starter does not have the needed amounts of lysine, methionine, niacin or protein that turkey poults need for proper development.

 

[Molpet]

If you are feeding it the same chick starter as the rest of the chicks, you can expect it to develop leg problems. Chick starter does not have the needed amounts of lysine, methionine, niacin or protein that turkey poults need for proper development.

X2
A friend fed chick feed and had leg problems. Spent $$ at the vet for b vit and selenium shots... still had to culle