Raising a Pair

[mrbstephens]

Would having just one pair of turkeys (one tom and one hen) work out OK or will the hen become injured?

 

[mrbstephens]

anyone??

 

[PalmRoyal]

A lot of people are able to keep one tom and one hen successfully. However, with my Royal Palms, it never works out. Even with one tom and five hens, one of my hens became injured. However many you plan to keep, I always suggest turkey aprons just to help protect the hen.

 

[mrbstephens]

THank you for your reply! We were given one 4 month old turkey and they told us it was a male, but it's looking like a female to us and it's lonely. They have more, so I'm thinking of getting it a friend. They are BBBs.

 

[PalmRoyal]

I would suggest against keeping Broad Breasted Bronzes. They get to a point where sometimes it is more humane to have them processed or euthanized. Just like Cornish X chickens, they are Frankensteins of the poultry world and are only bred for getting very large in as little of time as possible. The breeders do not care what problems they have after 20 weeks (butchering age) and if they have heart troubles, their bones starting to break because of their weight, or stroke, they could care less. I would also highly recommend getting rid of all of the toms because if they try to mount your hen, they can severely injure her because of their sheer weight. These can also not breed naturally because they are just too large. It is a very sad thing to do and even sadder because so many people get these as pets or to breed for meat, then learn the truth later on that these are just animals that people have bred so far away from the original turkey, that they just eat, get big, then need to be butchered. I was told that it becomes so much of a strain for the females to lay the eggs, that they often will injure themselves trying to lay an egg and their reproductive organs will hang out of their bodies and then they will need to be put down or processed.
Switching to a heritage breed would be your best bet. I suggest Bourbon Reds as a meat bird. I believe those would fit your needs the best.

 

[mrbstephens]

Well, I was given the one because they thought they had too many males. I think it's a female and I'll be keeping her by herself. I won't be getting anymore. Thank you for your input and I totally get it.

 

[PalmRoyal]

Well, I was given the one because they thought they had too many males. I think it's a female and I'll be keeping her by herself. I won't be getting anymore. Thank you for your input and I totally get it.

However, since you are so committed on keeping them- kudos to you- might I suggest some alternatives on helping make them comfortable and prolonging their lives? I highly suggest allowing free range for your birds and then limiting them to as much calcium as they want and lower protein foods. Whenever it gets hot outside, I always make sure that mine have a wading pool of fresh water to "swim" in (you will need to teach them how to step inside and cool off). My Broad Breasted White hens receive around 12-15% protein feed (that I mix myself) and won 4th place market turkey out of around 20 at our local fair (so condition is not suffering and they are extremely healthy). You just have to be cautious when you have them as pets, just because they are not made for living past 20 weeks of age and often suffer from many ailments.