mating question

[hoosiergal]

how old are turkeys when they start mating? Mine are about 3 mo. too early I think.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

yes yours are way to young.

The lighter breeds will mature sooner 6 to 7 months the heavier ones longer 7 to 9 months. Unless you are in the deep south I doubt yours will mate this fall but they will be ready to go next spring.

Steve in NC

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

Yup next year, starting March or so all depends were you live and type of bird.

 

[hoosiergal]

mine are bourbon reds and I live in Indiana, which gets cold in the winters for a baby to be born. In my opinion, because I don't like the cold myself.

 

[pdpatch]

Last year we had a Our Red Bourbon pair. They were started in April of last year, the male was trying to mate in August, but the female would have nothing to do with him until January. Then she started to lay eggs and lay down for the male.

But out of they 28 eggs that we found non were fertile. We lost the female in March of this year and when we butchered the Tom this spring his testies where deformed.

We also had several that ended up being frozen because we didn't find them in time.

But what happened to us is not normal.