turkey weight

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

They didn't look small. most of the toms had big spurs and beards. I thought surly as big of beard as mine had that it would weigh atleast in the 20s

It is pretty hard to judge the weight of a bird by their looks and age. Unless one has alot of experience with judging weight by holding the bird this also is not a reliable way.

I have a portable digital scale that I weigh the birds with. One of theses or a bath room scale is a good idea when going to purchase birds from a breeder, so that way their is no surprises when you get home.

A 4 year old bird should be at least 30 lbs on the average turkey. A well bred bird could be 40+lbs at age 4. Of course the bigger varieties you need to add about 5-10 lbs on and smaller same thing 5-10 lbs minus.​

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

A 4 year old bird should be at least 30 lbs on the average turkey

So if I get this correct a 4 year old should be 30 pounds plus or minus a max of 10 pounds either way? So if a turkey weighs between 20 and 40 pounds they are good to go and considered average. Turkeyman - put two pounds on your tom and you are there.

Steve in NC​

 

[turkeyman]

A 40+ pound heritage tom is HUGE. Thats up there with the broad breasted bronze and white ain't it?

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Not really, a mature Standard Bronze or White Holland tom get huge. A Broad Breasted type can go 60 pounds or more.

Steve in NC

 

[turkeyman]

Would a heritage Tom that big have any leg problems? I no they grow slower but a 40lb turkey is alot of weight. I havnt had any probs with my turkeys flying but It looks like a 40 pound turkey would have a hard time getting airborn.

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

So if I get this correct a 4 year old should be 30 pounds plus or minus a max of 10 pounds either way? So if a turkey weighs between 20 and 40 pounds they are good to go and considered average. Turkeyman - put two pounds on your tom and you are there. smile

No Take a Br, Bs, narri,etc 30lbs then Rp, beltsville, midget,etc 20lbs
then a bronze, holland, etc 40lbs. Now these would of course be on an average bred tom of the med and large sizes. A tom bred for weight and gain could be 50-60lbs on the large and 40-50lbs on med at the age of 4, of course this is all in my experience.

Would a heritage Tom that big have any leg problems? I no they grow slower but a 40lb turkey is alot of weight.

No they never develop leg problems because they grow slow and the bones develop while they gain weight so everything is evened out. Now on the BB turkeys they get that big under a year and the bones never develop fast enough to sustain the weight, either do their organs.

I havnt had any probs with my turkeys flying but It looks like a 40 pound turkey would have a hard time getting airborn.

Our Toms can still fly up on to a 6' roost every night. Our heaviest Tom, right now is 3 years old and he weighs in at 42lbs and he is a bourbon red. Just weighed him 2 days ago when we entered him in the county fair. We have a Wishard Bronze that is 1.5 years old and he is closing in on him fast he weighed in at 38 lbs. and they all fly up on to the roosts at night. Now if you leave them confined and they don't get to use their muscles alot they will not be able to do this. But we free range all our birds except during breeding season. and they roost on a roost made for them at 6' high​

 

[turkeyman]

Yea If they fly evernight to roost that high they should be able to fly fine. I've had wild ones thats been in a pen there whole life and could hardly fly.

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

Well they don't fly, like a real bird just up and down not horizontal much at all

 

[turkeyman]

Yea but they prob could fly well if they needed to, like a dog chasing them.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

No Take a Br, Bs, narri,etc 30lbs then Rp, beltsville, midget,etc 20lbs
then a bronze, holland, etc 40lbs. Now these would of course be on an average bred tom of the med and large sizes. A tom bred for weight and gain could be 50-60lbs on the large and 40-50lbs on med at the age of 4, of course this is all in my experience.

Now I'm really cofused? So a BR, narri or standard bronze for an average 30 pounds plus or minus the 10 pounds you stated before could weigh in from 20 to 40 pounds and be average? A BSW or Midget could weigh in at 20 plus or minus 10 so that range is 10 to 30 pounds? I don't think so. To clear up any confusion here are THE weight standards from the APA.

old tom young tom old hen young hen
Bronze 36 lbs 25 lbs 20 16
Narri 33 23 18 14
Holland 36 25 20 16
Bourbon 33 23 18 14
Beltsville 21 17 12 10
Palm 22 16 12 10

Your 42 pound BR would actually be disqualified by an APA judge as being overweight. Quote from the APA standard - "Any bird (except the Beltsville Small White) that deviates more than 20% either up or down from the weight listed for breed, sex and age should be disqualified" - page 33 of the APA standard 2001

Steve in NC​