Non water-resistant turkey

[suzc]

I have 4 bronze turkeys and 1 bourbon red, they are all young adults about 7-8 months old, we have been having a lot of very wet weather and I have noticed that the bourbon red looks very wet and bedraggled lately whilst the bronze turkeys seem to have lovely shiny waterproof feathers - the bourbon red is the larger dominant male if there likely to be a problem with him ?:/

 

[retlaw]

No problem.
As long as they have an area where they can go to dry off they know when they need to.

 

[suzc]

Yes they have a shed and an open undercover area as well as their uncovered perch - I think I may put a perch in the covered area but it is small and the roof is only about 5 feet high so they won't be very high whilst in there - it was really intended as a slightly sheltered area as I live on a Welsh hill top and it is quite exposed - especially with all the storms we have been having this winter

 

[ivan3]

Could be he was walking around with feathers erect while it was raining. Our toms will often look bedraggled after slow, constant, rain as they simply can't quit attempting short displays (strutting), hens always remain `well dressed'. Try putting up a roost at 3.5ft. from the ground in covered area. They can squeeze themselves in some pretty tight places in order to roost

 

[retlaw]

Bronze and burden red eh....
are you going to breed then together/
Have you seen this thread?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/493140/i-did-it-wild-bourbons
They make an outstanding crossbreed.

 

[suzc]

Thanks - that explains it - the bourbon red is anTom and does display a lot and it has been raining almost constantly for a month now :-( at the moment 3 Toms the red and 2 bronzes are in with 2 bronze hens - the red is dominant so let's see what happens with breeding - I may have to take the other 2 Toms out if the fighting gets too bad but they have a large wired run about 200 m square so I am hoping they can all stay in together.

Anybody know when I might expect eggs in the UK ? I noticed the hens have slightly ruffled feather on the backs of their necks so the Toms may already be showing interest - the hens are about 6 months old now.