Turkeys and Electric Netting

[Molpet]

So the turkeys are doing well still, getting bigger and there are more battles between the males happening… which made me wonder, how does one select the right tom for the flock? Do you pick the friendliest, the largest, most dominant? How are you all selecting your toms?

I'm looking for food, so size. I have gh owl issues so I have been keeping a trio. A dominant and 2 spares that keep each other busy when the dominant is breeding. But any bird that is aggressive gets invited to dinner.

 

[Berd Man]

I'm looking for food, so size. I have gh owl issues so I have been keeping a trio. A dominant and 2 spares that keep each other busy when the dominant is breeding. But any bird that is aggressive gets invited to dinner.

Okay. There does seem to be one tom that is slightly larger than the other four and typically doesn’t fight much. Maybe he’s the dominant one? There are other sibling toms around him that do squabble a bit.

May I ask, what is your tom/hen ratio?

 

[R2elk]

Okay. There does seem to be one tom that is slightly larger than the other four and typically doesn’t fight much. Maybe he’s the dominant one? There are other sibling toms around him that do squabble a bit.

May I ask, what is your tom/hen ratio?

I try to keep at least 4 to 5 hens for one tom.

 

[Berd Man]

I try to keep at least 4 to 5 hens for one tom.

I will have to see if I can find some more hens then, as I only have two currently.

If I’m unsuccessful finding additional hens I may just have to keep a breeding trio until I can try to hatch out my own next spring.

I’m assuming that the hens get their feathers scratched out and basically chased by toms constantly? Perhaps I need to get some hen aprons

 

[R2elk]

I will have to see if I can find some more hens then, as I only have two currently.

If I’m unsuccessful finding additional hens I may just have to keep a breeding trio until I can try to hatch out my own next spring.

I’m assuming that the hens get their feathers scratched out and basically chased by toms constantly? Perhaps I need to get some hen aprons

Hen aprons are a good idea.

The toms should not be allowed access to the hen's nests. They take the hens laying on the nest as an invitation to breed. The least that can happen is broken eggs. The worst that can happen is a dead hen.

 

[Molpet]

Okay. There does seem to be one tom that is slightly larger than the other four and typically doesn’t fight much. Maybe he’s the dominant one? There are other sibling toms around him that do squabble a bit.

May I ask, what is your tom/hen ratio?

This year I had 12 hens 3 breeding toms, a lame tom and a few jakes. The dominant tom did the breeding and the rest fought their equals. Then one of the subordinate toms won and the dominant tom became the least. I sold a couple hens and jakes... one hen disappeared with the poult I left her. Probably coyote....rest of jakes and lame tom were invited to dinner.
Right now I have 8 hens. 3 toms, 19 poults and a hen on 12 eggs in the weeds. She'll probably be coyote food too. The other hens picked on her.

 

[Chicken Heel]

As a newbie to raising turkeys, I continue to appreciate the information in this thread. My 13 poults will be 8 weeks old on Monday and continue to do well. They have really grown in size over the last week or so since they gained access to the run. It appears that a Sweetgrass jake is the most dominant at this point. He has been strutting around like nobody's business the past couple of days.

 

[Berd Man]

Hard to believe that around 14 weeks ago these were two inches tall!

The “gang” of five toms has a clear alpha. He’s the largest of the bunch and displays more often. He accepts challengers daily but so far he’s undefeated in wrestling. I’ve even seen him just go straight down the line and whip the other four in sequential order lol “OH, YOU WANT SOME TOO!?” — at least that’s what I think it sounds like he’s saying.

Unless the others all of a sudden have growth spurts and surpass him in snood biting/wrestling imagine he’s going to be the tom I end up retaining.

In other news….as some of you recommended I sourced some more turkeys. My neighbor has two more Narragansett hens I can buy and I also found out that Porter’s Heritage Turkey’s was having a sale….. so I got 15 of the mixed cross breeders choice and will have more poults later this fall. My intentions are to retain a few extra hens and get closer to an ideal tom/hen ratio and then to stock the freezer with the rest. at $7 a poult the math was right for some turkeys this winter.

I’m going to keep at it with the electric netting…For me in my situation it works well. YMMV but the turkeys have so much space they really never fly out. Unless it’s really windy and they get zoomies… which getting to watch makes the walk to escort them back to a gate worth it.

 

[R2elk]

the turkeys have so much space they really never fly out.

This is the most important part. They need lots and lots of room.

 

[Berd Man]

This is the most important part. They need lots and lots of room.

exactly, I started with one 164’ strand and kept increasing until they were kept busy enough to stay in. Ended up with a “happy zone” of 5-6 164’ strands depending on where in my yard it goes. Now, I’m sure if I left it in place semi-permanently they would seek forage and greener grass on the other side again. But rotating it around every few weeks they seem to do just fine.