opinions on turkey and best tips to raise them

[Jacobc85]

I'm wanting to raise some heritage turkey what breed would be the best for egg production and wont get in conflict with chicken hens.
What is recommended for the breed
what are some tips to raise them


I'm open to all opinions and tips
thank you
JC

 

[Alex#242]

I used to raise Royal Palm’s . I had 2 toms and 4 hens I raised them in the same pen with around 10 chickens. One thing to always remember is the size difference. I had a large feed trough so there never was any competition to get to the food bowl. Also turkeys are good fliers so if you want to keep them in a run you will need a top on it. As far as eggs go they’re all pretty good. So my suggestion is royal palms or bourbon reds.

 

[Jacobc85]

I used to raise Royal Palm’s . I had 2 toms and 4 hens I raised them in the same pen with around 10 chickens. One thing to always remember is the size difference. I had a large feed trough so there never was any competition to get to the food bowl. Also turkeys are good fliers so if you want to keep them in a run you will need a top on it. As far as eggs go they’re all pretty good. So my suggestion is royal palms or bourbon reds.[/QUOTE
thank you so much
so their good to be together as toms and hens will the toms fight any?

 

[R2elk]

If you only have a few turkeys it is best to only have one tom. I try to keep at least 4 to 5 hens for one tom. Keeping multiple toms with just a few hens can lead to poor fertilization and injured or dead hens. The injuries are most likely to occur during breeding season when one tom will knock the other tom off of a hens back. The hens can get sliced up from the sharp toenails of the toms and the hens don't get bred because the breeding act is interrupted.

Toms that are very equal will spend most of their time fighting trying to establish dominance. A young tom will avoid fighting an older dominant tom right up to the point that the younger tom feels he can beat the older tom. A dominant older tom that loses to a new or younger challenger can suffer from severe depression to the point that they can die due to their loss of status.

 

[Jacobc85]

If you only have a few turkeys it is best to only have one tom. I try to keep at least 4 to 5 hens for one tom. Keeping multiple toms with just a few hens can lead to poor fertilization and injured or dead hens. The injuries are most likely to occur during breeding season when one tom will knock the other tom off of a hens back. The hens can get sliced up from the sharp toenails of the toms and the hens don't get bred because the breeding act is interrupted.

Toms that are very equal will spend most of their time fighting trying to establish dominance. A young tom will avoid fighting an older dominant tom right up to the point that the younger tom feels he can beat the older tom. A dominant older tom that loses to a new or younger challenger can suffer from severe depression to the point that they can die due to their loss of status.

thank you so much this is very helpful

 

[Frazzemrat1]

@rjohns39 breeds heritage turkeys and can probably give you some tips as well.

 

[Alex#242]

Yes R2elk is right thats why I put the numbers in my post but apparently never said it in my post. With that few hens the toms would fight regularly to the point where eventually I had to separate them into separate runs. Just from my personal experience here in eastern Kentucky, Toms alone are very very hard to sell anytime other than Thanksgiving. Just something to keep in mind check your local sell pages to see if anyone has posted turkies that have been on there a while. Even if you don’t intend to sell,if you raise babies your bound to have toms that you will eventually have to get rid of.

 

[R2elk]

Yes R2elk is right thats why I put the numbers in my post but apparently never said it in my post. With that few hens the toms would fight regularly to the point where eventually I had to separate them into separate runs. Just from my personal experience here in eastern Kentucky, Toms alone are very very hard to sell anytime other than Thanksgiving. Just something to keep in mind check your local sell pages to see if anyone has posted turkeys that have been on there a while. Even if you don’t intend to sell,if you raise babies your bound to have toms that you will eventually have to get rid of.

If you sell day old poults you can come out pretty good financially. When you figure in the feed costs to raise turkeys to adults it pretty much impossible to break even let alone make a profit unless you are located in an area where people are willing to pay the high per pound price associated with processed heritage turkeys.

Coming into breeding season in the spring is another time when toms and hens can be sold as people look to replace the turkeys they lost through the winter.

 

[Welshies]

If you have chickens you should look into blackhead disease before you get turkeys.