Midget white and BSW uniformity

[()relics]

I have a flock of small turkeys that I'm nearly positive are Beltsville, that originated from the original Canadian strain. The "old timer" that I bought them from had an elaborate story of how he had over the years obtained birds/eggs from this source and the next, he said he even drove to somewhere north of the border to look at some birds in a resaearch flock and ended up with some eggs that he "pirated" back here....Yeah...you just never know...Anyway...the flock contains 24 birds...11 hens,13 toms....I'm sure that some of them are not "pure" beltsville, they just don't look like it to me...but some are, as I said eariler, as close as I've ever seen...
Now to the question: The old timer said " you can tell these are pure beltsville because they will lay eggs that are fertile without ever contacting a tom. Just take the poults seperate them, let a hen sit on some of her own unfertilized eggs and SOME of them will hatch. But just so to go the extra step everyone of the chicks that hatch will be a tom."....well the experiment is in progress....Anyone ever heard this before? Is he nuts? Am I nuts? Is there a way to be 100% sure a flock is beltsville rather than midget?

 

[wilds of pa]

You's are not nuts

Haven't read or seen any modern studies proving self fertilization (Parthenogenesis) in big Numbers in turkeys, but Ive read it a few places on the net talking about it and even one study ive seen and i guess a % of hens can pull this self preservation off and it also goes for the wild type turkeys and other species of birds as well.
However Only thing they can supposedly produce are male offspring from what Ive read.. Never tried any experiments my self, beings i have males already.

small quail study
http://ps.fass.org/cgi/content/abstract/88/4/784

A History of the Midget White Turkey

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/History-Midget-White-Turkey.aspx

 

[sandspoultry]

You are not nuts and Wilds of PA is correct. They can only produce male offsprings. Have you had any of the eggs hatch from Parthenogenesis? We tried the experiment but never got any of the eggs to hatch. We did get some to develope.
I can not think of any way too tell 100% that the flock would be Beltsville or Midgets. You can take some estimated guesses by looking at them. Steve posted some pictures on the body shape. Also the MW have a much better taste then the BSW. The BSW are great layers. They will lay and lay almost all year long. The MW are more seasonal layers, Spring and then again in the Fall. We have some pictures of both on our website.
Good luck!
Sharon