Question about male to female ratio.

[briana1975]

We stated out with turkeys last March? Everyone was so helpful. Those 2 are now in the freezer for the hoildays. One 21lb and 1 28lb BBW turkeys. Well now we have 4 more. Two Sweetgrass, one male, one female, and two Bourbon Reds also one male, one female. So 2 breeding pairs. But from reading the turkey pages over it sounds like I am gonna have problems come next spring. Everyone is together with the chickens. Will I need to get a couple breeding pens to seperate the pairs? Will there be fighting if I don't? And can they all go back together again later? Would it be better to trade one of the toms and have 3 hens? A lot of questions I know but I haven't lost a poult yet due to all the great advice here. The SG are over 3 months and the BR are 2 months and they are all doing very well.

 

[MidnightChickenLover]

um, I beleive you can have one tom successfuly mate with 15 females. Breeding pairs are what they are, pairs. To keep them from mix breeding or only one tom breeding you must separate them. I'm a little confused about what your asking though.. please rephrase.

 

[briana1975]

Ok. I know if I want true Sweetgrass or Bourbon Reds I will HAVE to seperate into smaller breeding pens. How long would I need to keep them seperate and will I be able to put them back together as a group after breeding season without fighting. Also if I didn't care about breeding true, can they all stay together even during breeding season without to much fighting. Also I may be able to trade the tom for a hen. So I would have only 1 tom to 3 hens. So I would get Bouron Reds and Sweetgrass mixes. Would I keep myself from a lot of headaches this way.

 

[Struttn1]

If you want two pairs to breed pure you will have to house them in seperate pens to prevent mixed breeding. Also if you do not seperate them as the breeding season nears the toms will fight to settle who is the dominate tom and that dominate tom will breed both of the hens. You also would be wise to seperate the toms from the hens once the hens are sitting the eggs to avoid new hatched poults being trampled by the toms.