Would this be counter-productive?

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Kelsey2017

Kelsey2017

Songster
8 Years
Jan 30, 2011
146
4
101
Two Harbors, MN
If the goal is to raise heritage turkeys would it be silly to jump start my turkey venture with mixed breeds? I still am going to get Bourbon Red turkeys this year probably 15, but I just found on craigslist a 2 year old BR tom and some year old hens (his daughters) that were hatched by a BLack Spanish female. They are a mix, so not really the purebred heritage turks that I wanted to raise, but they are already old enough to brood their own chicks that will be 3/4 Bourbon Red this spring. Also BR tom may be more likely to serve my poults that will be old enough next year, so I'll have pure BRs next summer. What do you think? He is asking $45 for the tom but I asked him to think of a deal price if I was to take two hens as well. I don't want to pay over $110 for the trio. I like the fact that his turkeys hatched these chicks. I think that is as good a goal as any, even if they are not pure BRs. He did say that he was selling the extras (which these are) and had picked out his favorites. What questions/things to look for would you ask/look at if you were considering them? This sounds silly but I have never been within 3 feet of a (live) turkey
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so I don't know what to look for other than normal healthy animal stuff. I have no poultry on my property as of right now and will be keeping the turks away from previous chicken areas. FYI
 
I did the same as you are contemplating. I am happy with my decision. I have spent more thatn I should have on some, but all in all I am happy. I just got my 2yr old BR tom- he is gentle and freindly to put with my two br hens. Now i just have to get rid of my merriams (they are too flightly for my purposes) and I will be set. I plan on getting fertilized bb bronze eggs to have the hens hatch out for meat and any BR eggs they hatch will be part of my stock for next year. The BR temperment is great from what I have experienced.
 
Bourbon Red Tom (b+b+rr) X Black Spanish Hen (BB)= 50% Black Spanish split bronze (Bb+) and 50% Rusty Blacks split bronze (Bb+Rr)

Do you know what color the hens are? Do you know how the Jersey Buffs where recreated using Bourbon Reds and Black Spanish crosses? Maybe I can be more help if you explain more about your goals, and why you want to raise Heritage turkey.
 
I was just getting in to the turkeys for the meat and raising birds that will raise their own young. I wanted the BR because they were supposed to taste super good and well I hate to admit it but my boyfriend and I like Jim Beam Bourbon. When we started looking in to turkeys it seemed like an omen! lol! The guy that is selling them wanted BRs after he order a mix of breeds, but the only BR hen he had didn't make it to adulthood, so he bred what he had.He wants to breed some together to come up with a BR. From my conversations with him it sounds like he has black spanish and red palm females and the hens he will sell me are black spanish crossed with BR. I didn't know thats how it worked. I don't see how that can be; you can come up with the color of a BR but they won't breed true so they are not truly a breed just a color, right? I don't know but I'll figure it out. I am just excited to start breeding and getting going instead of waiting for next spring to start. Plus the fact that they are already raised seems worth the extra money since they are already proven breeders. I want to breed something good eventually; not just mutts.
Thomasturkey I didn't ask what color the hens were but he felt that if I was selective with the offspring I would get some with the BR coloring. Can you suggest some reading or webpages on turkey genetics? I find it all very interesting. BF and I just did our first breeding with dogs based on what we researched and bred the most beautiful Siberian huskies I have ever seen, however they were a bad idea for poultry lovers, because mom promptly killed all but 4 of them and 3 days after I rehomed her one of the pups wiped out the remainders. SOOOO, now we are done with that venture, Dad husky is getting neutered and mom is in a place with no chickens, so we are on to things we can eat and enjoy breeding for years to come.
 
I’ve raised Bourbon Reds for several years now and I really love them. Both their temperament and their taste. Last year I had some other breeds that I added to my flock and just kind of let them all run together. I had 2 toms, and bourbon red and a Spanish black. Also had a Bourbon Red hen and a Blue slate hen. I’m not the gene specialist, but between them, they pretty much contain all the genes, just how you mix them determines the color. I learned to tell the eggs apart, so I knew which hen laid which eggs, but not who the dad was.
When they hatched, that was pretty easy. Some of them look like true Bourbon Reds, so I’m assuming that dad was the red. Some were black, which is the dominant gene, and the Spanish black was the dad. I also got what I call the chocolate slate, the regular slate with a red hint to the feathers, so I’m assuming dad was the Bourbon Red.
When we harvested some of them in the fall, once the feathers come off you really can’t tell the difference. The black feathers are just a little more difficult and they show more, but the birds were still the same. So from that perspective wouldn’t worry about mixing them. They are all heritage breeds. For me, this year I’m going to have fun breeding them and see what I come up with. I now have 9 birds, 3 toms and six hens, so I’ll put 2 hens with each tom and pen them up so I can control the crosses. Have a trio of reds that I will keep separate and they others are just kind of random.
Hope that helps. Have fun and enjoy the birds.
This is my new tom from my cross. Think he looks like a Royal Palm or Narrangasett. Sure is good looking.
44098_new_tom.jpg


This is my Red Tom. He is so mello but it's his yard. Just ask him.
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Fun Fun FUN!
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I can't wait! I am going on Mon or Tues to pick up my Tom and pick out two or three hens. I'll keep you posted! Going to rearrange stuff and fix up some roosts in the barn tomorrow. If I keep them locked up in there for a week with food and water will they stick around? I want them to learn to be in the barn at dark so they don't get eaten by coyotes. I will put them in the same fence with the sheep during the day and I thought they could probably be trained to follow them (or maybe a bucket of treats) in to the barn at night. We'll see, I guess!
 
I love the pictures, I think it will be more fun to get some variety, especially if they all taste good! I can just keep the ones with dark pinfeathers for us to eat, we won't mind! Your turkeys are beautiful jasonm11 and ccrawf!
 

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