Wild breed Identification-Merriam's?

[Huntmaster]

From some of those pics in the brighter light they do look to be whiter than your first pics. And from what I can see from their lower wing barring it does seem to have wide white barring Merrium's also have wide whiter wing barring but so hard to really tell from pics and different lighting I couldn't tell you for sure without actually seeing them in person. The thing that doesn't look like most Merrium's is there doesn't seem to be much white on their lower back feathers leading to tail but like you stated they seem to be missing a lot of those feathers and tail tips but there isn't much there and might show up better after a molt they are a little ragged in those areas. On a good note, from what I can see I don't see anything that would say they definitely are not. Do they seem to have longer legs/taller leaner body's than your heritage varieties?

 

[GJRacingGirl726]

They do seem longer legged than my other turkeys, and did as poults as well. They are also lighter (weight) than my Black Spanish or Blue Slates. Clouds rolled in but maybe I can get videos of them tomorrow. Heres a few pictures I took of the female's wing earlier, but the wind is howling and kept blowing her wing down. Its difficult to hold a turkey and take pics while trying not to blow away.

 

[Huntmaster]

Yes, they do have wide white solid wing barring.

 

[Huntmaster]

Like I stated earlier not seeing anything definitive that says they are not Merrium's. Is there a reason you don't trust seller?

 

[Huntmaster]

Just curious about your username what type of racing are you into if you don't mind me asking. I used to race Motocross in my prime but haven't been on a dirt bike in awhile.

 

[GJRacingGirl726]

It isn't so much that I don't trust the seller as I don't want to advertise Merriam eggs or poults and mislead anyone if they aren't truly Merriams. I was trying to research Merriam's on my own and the more I searched, the more, (or less) I could find about there being many good places to find them available, which made me question if it was truly what I had.

My husband used to race dwarf cars when we lived in Wyoming. Now we, or I should say *I* have a small GJRanchette in AZ. He builds the coops/runs/etc and I love, buy, breed, (collect, haha) the animals. He sold his dwarf so we could move here and we just haven't been able to get back into racing yet.

 

[Huntmaster]

I love, buy, breed, (collect, haha) the animals.

Seem to have that addiction myself

 

[Huntmaster]

From looking at your pics looks like my back pasture full of turkeys. Just love raising/breeding/crossing my heritage varieties. Starting to get hard to keep track of how many varieties I have out there. Just started yesterday separating them into breeding groups/pens never enough breeding pens Always saying I'm going to downsize but always cross breeding for new varieties each spring just can't help myself.

 

[GJRacingGirl726]

From looking at your pics looks like my back pasture full of turkeys. Just love raising/breeding/crossing my heritage varieties. Starting to get hard to keep track of how many varieties I have out there. Just started yesterday separating them into breeding groups/pens never enough breeding pens Always saying I'm going to downsize but always cross breeding for new varieties each spring just can't help myself.

I had 3 BBW ladies slated to go to freezer camp once it wasn't blistering hot outside. I kid you not, the week of processing, they started laying eggs, so I pardoned them for a bit. I crossed them with a random heritage tom (came from what the lady claimed was a Black Spanish egg). Ive got 11 poults varying from 2 weeks to 2 months from them. Hubs thinks Im looney for hatching over winter, but I couldn't resist!

That guy graced our Thanksgiving table with his presence, so I put a different Tom in that is pardoned because I like his pattern (came from a "blue slate" egg but looks almost sweetgrass, maybe?). Hes dumber than a box of rocks. Ignores the ladies. Likes to fly out of his pen (its not covered because those hefty girls for sure aren't ever gonna fly) and then cry and pace the fence wanting back in.

I "downsized" alot of my Toms for the holidays, but now have more turkeys than before thanks to my BBW crossed poults, and it isn't even breeding season! I plan to keep some Black Spanish and Blue Slates to increase my # of laying ladies (of the 6 I kept from Black Spanish last year, 5 were toms )

I think turkey math is worse than chicken math!

 

[Huntmaster]

I think turkey math is worse than chicken math!

Definitely, turkeys are so much more personable. I have around 75 to 100 birds at any given time and hatch up to 200 poults each spring.