I have 6 of these white turkeys. I was planning to have them for Thanksgiving dinner, but they are too cute. every time I go to the backyard to do my work, they come to say hi or say gobble-gobble to me and follow me all around. I changed my mind. I will keep them for backyard pets and just buy one turkey from Walmart.
I bought 2 buff orpingtons at TSC. One died less than 12 hours. The other one is the sweetest, most gentle chick I have. Turns out this sweet chick is a white breasted turkey 😂. Not sure what sex it is yet but definitely will keep as a pet ❤
If they have a draft free shelter, supplemental heat shouldn’t be needed. Unless they will experience extreme cold temperatures inside the coop for long periods of time.
You guys may push me to sell the house and move next door up there in Idaho! That’s the retirement plan anyway. SE Idaho, far North Utah, SW Wyoming, possibly even Southern Montana. Idaho would be my first choice, love the Rexburg area!
We got 2 Orlopp Bronze turkeys from a local farm awhile back. Sadly, one died after a couple of weeks. (unsure why) So we picked another turkey from the farm store. It was labeled as "commercial white"... I'm assuming that's the same type as the broad-breasted white? My daughter picked it and the 2 turkeys were going to be our pets. Did we pick the wrong kinds? Are both meant for rapid growth and eating? We bought them intentionally as farm pets, not to be eaten. I'm nervous they may grow huge and be unable to walk?
The Orlopp is a hybrid that will probably do better than a Broad Breasted White (most likely what the “commercial white” is). But neither one is an ideal choice for a pet. That said, yes you can keep them as pets, just understand that they will not live as long as a heritage breed would. Now Steve has had Broad Breasted turkeys that ended up being pets, and they lived 3-4 years. And they can be quite personable during their time with you. Some tips to improve quality and length of life: - Allow them plenty of exercise time - limit feed to just what they need - no treats - keep them off sharp rocks and ground - make sure they have companion birds The main obstacle for commercial turkeys health is their weight. Keeping the weight down will help them live longer lives.
Yes. They can successfully mate. Your best chance for success is when the hen is a yearling. When she gets older she will be a bit larger and lose a lot of flexibility, which can make her an uncooperative mate.
We bought 10 per mail order from TractorSupply , we have 6 left .. First one died 2 days after we got it. 3 more died that was less than two weeks old. Was good one minute then died the next. The 20 chickens we got, all 20 are still alive. .
It’s not unusual. Most broad breasted Tom’s will have been butchered between 16 and 24 weeks a 40 to 50 pound bird is not uncommon at that time. Considering yours is a year old, 65 pounds is not out of the question.
I have 10. As I purchased them from a local farm store on clearance (They were already fully feathered) I am not sure of their age. I have had for 8 weeks. how can I distinguish their age as well as be sure of their sex. Currently I believe I have all females as they all look the same to me and are about the same size.
If you’ve had them 8 weeks, and they feather out at 5-6 weeks, they are probably 13-15 weeks old. It can sometimes be tough to sex the broad breasted turkeys before 18-20 weeks. But if they all appear the same at this age, they could very easily be all females.
You don’t have to (Steve kept one for several years). But because the Broad Breasted breeds are developed to pack on weight quickly, they tend to have shorter life spans and are prone to some significant health problems.
I want to know how to artificially inseminate them because I’m interested in breeding them on my own, I don’t want to have to buy poults and I also want to sell broad breasted poults. But I can’t find any information on how to artificially inseminate them anywhere. It seems like most small farmers are just letting the big corporations breed all the broad breasted poults when we should be more independent in that. It can’t be all that hard to artificially inseminate them so where can I find the info?? It would be very useful and profitable to learn how.
Most small farmers and hobby farms won't go through the expense (or learning curve if doing it themselves) to artificially inseminate turkeys. But if you are interested, I did find this page that has a description of the process & video showing how it is done: www.how-to-raise-livestock.com/how-do-you-artificially-inseminate-a-turkey/
I have 6 of these white turkeys. I was planning to have them for Thanksgiving dinner, but they are too cute. every time I go to the backyard to do my work, they come to say hi or say gobble-gobble to me and follow me all around. I changed my mind. I will keep them for backyard pets and just buy one turkey from Walmart.
This! This is how so many turkeys become backyard pets! Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. Enjoy your new pets and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I just got two of these today, hopefully I don’t succumb to the same problem 😂
I bought 2 buff orpingtons at TSC. One died less than 12 hours. The other one is the sweetest, most gentle chick I have. Turns out this sweet chick is a white breasted turkey 😂. Not sure what sex it is yet but definitely will keep as a pet ❤
I'm getting hungry!! I hope you guys have a great Thanksgiving!! cheers.
Thanks! Same to you!
Execelent video
Thanks for all your support!
I did a 10 month old bronze for Thanksgiving this year he was over 40lbs dressed and damn near didn't fit in my oven
Wow! That's a big bird!
thanks this really helped
Glad we could help!
Do broad breasted turkeys require heat in the winter?
If they have a draft free shelter, supplemental heat shouldn’t be needed. Unless they will experience extreme cold temperatures inside the coop for long periods of time.
You guys may push me to sell the house and move next door up there in Idaho!
That’s the retirement plan anyway. SE Idaho, far North Utah, SW Wyoming, possibly even Southern Montana. Idaho would be my first choice, love the Rexburg area!
You are always welcome. Of course, you may change your mind after the first winter!
@@HobbyFarmGuys 😂 yeah, I’m down here shivering in 38°F. It will take some time to acclimate!
We got 2 Orlopp Bronze turkeys from a local farm awhile back. Sadly, one died after a couple of weeks. (unsure why)
So we picked another turkey from the farm store. It was labeled as "commercial white"... I'm assuming that's the same type as the broad-breasted white?
My daughter picked it and the 2 turkeys were going to be our pets.
Did we pick the wrong kinds? Are both meant for rapid growth and eating?
We bought them intentionally as farm pets, not to be eaten. I'm nervous they may grow huge and be unable to walk?
The Orlopp is a hybrid that will probably do better than a Broad Breasted White (most likely what the “commercial white” is). But neither one is an ideal choice for a pet. That said, yes you can keep them as pets, just understand that they will not live as long as a heritage breed would. Now Steve has had Broad Breasted turkeys that ended up being pets, and they lived 3-4 years. And they can be quite personable during their time with you. Some tips to improve quality and length of life:
- Allow them plenty of exercise time
- limit feed to just what they need
- no treats
- keep them off sharp rocks and ground
- make sure they have companion birds
The main obstacle for commercial turkeys health is their weight. Keeping the weight down will help them live longer lives.
Is it ok to bread bbw hen with heritage tom?
Yes. They can successfully mate. Your best chance for success is when the hen is a yearling. When she gets older she will be a bit larger and lose a lot of flexibility, which can make her an uncooperative mate.
@@HobbyFarmGuys Did u guys had experience with bbw hens as moms?
No. We do know someone who had a bbw lay hybrid fertile eggs.
We bought 10 per mail order from TractorSupply , we have 6 left .. First one died 2 days after we got it. 3 more died that was less than two weeks old. Was good one minute then died the next. The 20 chickens we got, all 20 are still alive. .
Steve always says “turkey poults are born trying to die”.
Wow... That's good for real.
How old are they now?
What would you recommend for raising turkeys for baby turkeys? I would like to get a breed that I can propagate. Thank you.
If you want to breed them, stick to the heritage breeds. Some of the best for raising young are the Sweetgrass, Bourbon Red, Black, and Narragansett.
My Tom's weighed 65 lbs at one Year. I believe the scale as I barely lifted them up there. I just can't believe it. Is this normal? Lol
It’s not unusual. Most broad breasted Tom’s will have been butchered between 16 and 24 weeks a 40 to 50 pound bird is not uncommon at that time. Considering yours is a year old, 65 pounds is not out of the question.
I have 10. As I purchased them from a local farm store on clearance (They were already fully feathered) I am not sure of their age. I have had for 8 weeks. how can I distinguish their age as well as be sure of their sex. Currently I believe I have all females as they all look the same to me and are about the same size.
If you’ve had them 8 weeks, and they feather out at 5-6 weeks, they are probably 13-15 weeks old. It can sometimes be tough to sex the broad breasted turkeys before 18-20 weeks. But if they all appear the same at this age, they could very easily be all females.
@@HobbyFarmGuys I would post a photo, but it will not let me
You can send one to our email address: hobbyfarmguys@gmail.com. We’ll try to take a look in the next few days.
Do you have to slaughter all broad breasted turkeys ?
You don’t have to (Steve kept one for several years). But because the Broad Breasted breeds are developed to pack on weight quickly, they tend to have shorter life spans and are prone to some significant health problems.
I want to know how to artificially inseminate them because I’m interested in breeding them on my own, I don’t want to have to buy poults and I also want to sell broad breasted poults. But I can’t find any information on how to artificially inseminate them anywhere. It seems like most small farmers are just letting the big corporations breed all the broad breasted poults when we should be more independent in that. It can’t be all that hard to artificially inseminate them so where can I find the info?? It would be very useful and profitable to learn how.
Most small farmers and hobby farms won't go through the expense (or learning curve if doing it themselves) to artificially inseminate turkeys. But if you are interested, I did find this page that has a description of the process & video showing how it is done:
www.how-to-raise-livestock.com/how-do-you-artificially-inseminate-a-turkey/
@@HobbyFarmGuys ok thank you for that link, I’m willing to put in the work and effort to learn how to do it.
Good luck to you!
I just want to look after them not eat the poor birds😢