mating ratio

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

mine do stay in the same 25 x 50 foot pens year round

they look something like this

 

[kuntrygirl]

WOW. I have so much I still have to learn.

 

[Tunastopper]

Quote:
What are your plans with your turkeys? Are you breeding them to eat? In that case it might not make much of a difference.

Inbreeding is the breeding of Father to daughter, Mother to sons, or siblings together. Inbreeding depression is why most people do not inbreed poultry. If you have never heard of it, google inbreeding depression in poultry. In some causes it caused problems in the second generation. People all worry about fertility, but hatchability and rate of lay should also be a concern. Inbreeding depression also will slow the growth rate of poultry and could effect the final size.

In the past I have bred 20 hens to one tom. It worked perfect with great results. I think it is impossible to keep exact pedigrees if multiple toms and hens being in the same pen.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
What are your plans with your turkeys? Are you breeding them to eat? In that case it might not make much of a difference.

Inbreeding is the breeding of Father to daughter, Mother to sons, or siblings together. Inbreeding depression is why most people do not inbreed poultry. If you have never heard of it, google inbreeding depression in poultry. In some causes it caused problems in the second generation. People all worry about fertility, but hatchability and rate of lay should also be a concern. Inbreeding depression also will slow the growth rate of poultry and could effect the final size.

In the past I have bred 20 hens to one tom. It worked perfect with great results. I think it is impossible to keep exact pedigrees if multiple toms and hens being in the same pen.

My plans for my turkeys are to just have around. I have never eaten any of my turkeys and I don't plan to. I don't like turkey meat.

. However, I do have people who stop by when they know that I have poults for sale and they buy them. For some reason, Bourbon Reds are a popular breed in my neck of the woods and I am one of the few people have have BRs. So, I guess to answer your questions, my plans are to just keep around and sell them to people who want to buy them.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
What are your plans with your turkeys? Are you breeding them to eat? In that case it might not make much of a difference.

Inbreeding is the breeding of Father to daughter, Mother to sons, or siblings together. Inbreeding depression is why most people do not inbreed poultry. If you have never heard of it, google inbreeding depression in poultry. In some causes it caused problems in the second generation. People all worry about fertility, but hatchability and rate of lay should also be a concern. Inbreeding depression also will slow the growth rate of poultry and could effect the final size.

In the past I have bred 20 hens to one tom. It worked perfect with great results. I think it is impossible to keep exact pedigrees if multiple toms and hens being in the same pen.

That is not true Tuna and I started a thread about breeding to clear up many breeding questions. How do you think people keep closed flocks of birds for 10, 20 years or so?

Steve

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
What are your plans with your turkeys? Are you breeding them to eat? In that case it might not make much of a difference.

Inbreeding is the breeding of Father to daughter, Mother to sons, or siblings together. Inbreeding depression is why most people do not inbreed poultry. If you have never heard of it, google inbreeding depression in poultry. In some causes it caused problems in the second generation. People all worry about fertility, but hatchability and rate of lay should also be a concern. Inbreeding depression also will slow the growth rate of poultry and could effect the final size.

In the past I have bred 20 hens to one tom. It worked perfect with great results. I think it is impossible to keep exact pedigrees if multiple toms and hens being in the same pen.

That is not true Tuna and I started a thread about breeding to clear up many breeding questions. How do you think people keep closed flocks of birds for 10, 20 years or so? Your post sounds exactly like two other members.

Steve

yep, and in addition people do it with all forms of animals, dogs (with pedigrees) horses, cattle, you name it, it's not just a chicken thing. Sibling to sibling is you main cause for watching, and you MUST keep good records of your stock.

 

[MovieFanz]

Jeeze Why the hostility? We can all have a opinion here.

I just Googled Inbreeding Depression and Storys Guide to Raising Chickens says the same thing. http://books.google.com/books?id=GxoH_NRDxe8C&pg=PA258&lpg=PA258&dq=Inbreeding+depression+poultry&source=bl&ots=0Sa9XIZh8h&sig=xt0ZJlo-AmMfR5M9M--zbQek0Js&hl=en&ei=2RItTc_4HIy4sAPctaD3BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Inbreeding%20depression%20poultry&f=false

I have been reading the 700 pages on breeding in Turkey Management. It says on this page and the ones before it that inbreeding and line breeding should not be used by anyone that is not a skilled breeder. http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=chla;cc=chla;q1=Inbreeding;rgn=full%20text;idno=3317008;didno=3317008;view=image;seq=139;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset;

If you put in the search frame at the top you can find all the ways that inbreeding effect turkeys.

 

[Dogfish]

Steve has been there and done that. He raises birds for a living and isn't really questioning the actions of others, more than he is defending his practices. I don't see any hostility on his part, and I believe that he is actually being rather restrained on the issue. I would guess that Steve would be labeled a skilled breeder.

I mean no disrespect MovieFanz, and I would be happy to be corrected, but just what is your level of experience raising turkeys? Did you read it in a book, have a few sucessful hatchings with a few birds over a few years, or have you successfully run a commercial operation over a period of years hatching hundreds (if not thousands) of poults, and are you a published author on the subject? Please, enlighten us all.

The day I stop learning is the day I die, so I am always willing to learn something from everybody. Me, I'm a rookie. I'm here to learn, but also to share my successes and failures.

Best of luck!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
I agree and would like to add from what I have seen here, there has only been 1 poster on here with hostility in their post.

 

[kuntrygirl]

MovieFanz, I would love to see your set up as well as some of your turkeys. I love looking at pics and getting ideas from other breeders. Can you post some pics please? Or do you have a website I can click on? Thanks a bunch.