Turkey cross-breeding speculations

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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[gypsy2621]

So I'm considering two experiments.

Option A:
Cross my standard breeds next spring (Bourbon reds and Narragansetts). See if the crossbred offspring grow more quickly and make a good table bird by Thanksgiving.

Option B:
Acquire some broad-breasted hens and breed them to my standard toms next year. See if the crossbred offspring grow faster than the standard parent and are also competent living out on range.
Has anyone tried the above (or had the birds try it for them)?

I have been concidering this my self, mainly because I am having such a hard time finding breed age Buff Hens,
I dont free range my turkeys as yet, but then again I am on a fast road where people have no respect for the speed limit let alone animals.

From what I have read and seen on some of the weird DIY type shows, it isnt the hen that isnt able to breed its the boys, so I dont think there would be much of a problem crossing the hens with the more rare breeds for the table,( normally I am a stickler for sticking to the respective breeds, but when there is no way to do this One has to concider other options even if it goes against the grain.

I have the Buff Tom and 2 Black Slate, 3 Blue Slate 1 Lavender Slate,1 Naragansette, and 1 Royal Palm, and no one is giving up which gender they are, except the Buff and the 2 Black Slates so I have no clue if I even have a hen.
The Buff being older by a few months is a great babysitter for now but I fear as breeding season comes around he will squish the smaller turkeys. One reason I am concidering aBB hen.
Keep us updated on Your progress, I am curious if we will both come to the same conclusion come Tday dinner.

 

[brandywine]

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As I understand it, the need for AI in broad-breasted turkeys has to do with a ... ahem ... mechanical problem created by the tom's enormous avian man-hooters.

I was also considering heritage tom on broad-breasted hen because it's my second-hand understanding that BB hens are easier to keep alive as mature birds because they are not as heavy as toms and don't break down under their own weight in the same way.

I also figured I could buy BB poults straight-run next spring, eat the toms in the fall, and carry the hens over for breeding.

I have the Buff Tom and 2 Black Slate, 3 Blue Slate 1 Lavender Slate,1 Naragansette, and 1 Royal Palm, and no one is giving up which gender they are, except the Buff and the 2 Black Slates so I have no clue if I even have a hen.
The Buff being older by a few months is a great babysitter for now but I fear as breeding season comes around he will squish the smaller turkeys. One reason I am concidering aBB hen.

I'm sure that by breeding season your smaller birds will have caught up just fine.

You have quite an assortment. It is highly unlikely that you have NO hens. In any random group of six animals (the # you have unsexed now), the chance of them being all one gender is roughly 1 in 64. (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2). Meaning there's less than a 2% chance that you have no hen, unless the hatchery was playing fast and loose with you.

Keep us updated on Your progress, I am curious if we will both come to the same conclusion come Tday dinner.

Well, realistically this is a medium-term project for me. I can do the heritage cross-breeding experiment next spring and report in November 2010 on that. Unless someone sells me adult BB hens or I stumble on BB poults in the next couple months, I can't execute the full experiment until November 2011 (grow-out of BB poults in 2010, cross-breeding in early 2011, with grow-out of the terminal cross over the summer and fall.)

If you are raising birds as part of breed conservation, or to sell a consistent type for their specific attributes, then pure-breeding is important. But I cannot see the issue with cross-breeding for table birds or one's own whimsy. And there's no reason that cross-breeding can't take place side-by-side with a conservation breeding program.​

 

[onthespot]

I agree. And sometimes my mind wanders and I wonder how long it would take to make a midget bourbon red... wouldn't they be CUTE???!!! Nah, not gonna even try. I just enjoy them in my mine, like it is already a done deal... LOL