Hi. My first year for turkeys.....
I've purchased a total of 11 bourbons from the local farmstore ....the first two were purchased on April 6th this year - 1 bourbon and 1 BBB..... the BBB is for our table and the bourbon was to be for my new flock start.... (they only had two left when I got them)... they are now 17 weeks old.
The next 8 are all bourbons for the flock, purchased on May 18...they are now 11 weeks old. My hope was that there are more hens than toms but I do believe 4 are toms and 4 are hens.
The next 5 are 2 bourbons and 3 BBB purchased on June 15 and are now 7 weeks. Just introduced them to the group and surprisingly all is going good. The bourbons are for the flock and the BBB's are for the table. I can't tell the gender of these yet though but hoping the bourbons are girls...
So, problem is that at this point, I do believe that I will have at least 5 toms to 4 hens.... as much as I've read so far....this is not a great idea....
Even if the last 2 bourbons are girls, that leaves 5 toms and 6 hens.....still not a good ratio...or will it be ok?
They are free range and I try to keep them in the 'turkey coop' at night together....of course skirmishes on the roosts by the older ones to the younger but havent seen any true fighting at this point. Although the 17 week old likes to act like he is biting off the younger ones heads every so often which terrifies me... so far no real damages.
What am I to expect and please give me suggestions on what to do from this point forward.
Thanks so much! ~Tammy
I've purchased a total of 11 bourbons from the local farmstore ....the first two were purchased on April 6th this year - 1 bourbon and 1 BBB..... the BBB is for our table and the bourbon was to be for my new flock start.... (they only had two left when I got them)... they are now 17 weeks old.
The next 8 are all bourbons for the flock, purchased on May 18...they are now 11 weeks old. My hope was that there are more hens than toms but I do believe 4 are toms and 4 are hens.
The next 5 are 2 bourbons and 3 BBB purchased on June 15 and are now 7 weeks. Just introduced them to the group and surprisingly all is going good. The bourbons are for the flock and the BBB's are for the table. I can't tell the gender of these yet though but hoping the bourbons are girls...
So, problem is that at this point, I do believe that I will have at least 5 toms to 4 hens.... as much as I've read so far....this is not a great idea....
Even if the last 2 bourbons are girls, that leaves 5 toms and 6 hens.....still not a good ratio...or will it be ok?
They are free range and I try to keep them in the 'turkey coop' at night together....of course skirmishes on the roosts by the older ones to the younger but havent seen any true fighting at this point. Although the 17 week old likes to act like he is biting off the younger ones heads every so often which terrifies me... so far no real damages.
What am I to expect and please give me suggestions on what to do from this point forward.
Thanks so much! ~Tammy