Miniature/bantam turkey?

[secuono]

NOT the mini white meat bird.

Looking to see if anyone breeds for miniature or bantam turkeys??

They make banty ducks, why not turkeys?

Turkeys are more interactive than chickens, but are huge. Hoping someone, somewhere, is breeding for a banty gobbler.

 

[Molpet]

https://www.porterturkeys.com/color-varieties
Not that I know of

 

[R2elk]

NOT the mini white meat bird.

Looking to see if anyone breeds for miniature or bantam turkeys??

They make banty ducks, why not turkeys?

Turkeys are more interactive than chickens, but are huge. Hoping someone, somewhere, is breeding for a banty gobbler.

People really aren't breeding turkeys for pets. When an under sized turkey happens, it is typically culled from the breeding flock. Most people want bigger turkeys.

 

[Finnie]

NOT the mini white meat bird.

Looking to see if anyone breeds for miniature or bantam turkeys??

They make banty ducks, why not turkeys?

Turkeys are more interactive than chickens, but are huge. Hoping someone, somewhere, is breeding for a banty gobbler.

I’ve never heard anyone talk about any bantam turkeys. At first glance, the idea seems kind of like an oxymoron. But if you really think about it, there could be some advantages to a chicken-sized turkey.

Yes, most people want a large turkey to roast for holidays. But for everyday meals, something that takes less time to cook and fits in a Dutch oven or a crockpot, yet tastes like turkey and not chicken, wouldn’t be so bad.

A smaller bird in the barnyard might be easier to manage too. Might not smash the chickens. But I wonder, would breeding for a smaller size change the temperament of the birds? Like how the Russians bred foxes for tameness and it changed several of the physical characteristics of the foxes.

There would very likely be a lot of problems with trying to breed the smallest turkeys. Would probably bring out unwanted recessive genes and probably cause a genetic bottleneck. And what would the meat-to-bone ratio be on the carcass?

Someone would have to be pretty serious about it to take on such a project. I don’t think it will happen. But I would try them if they were available.

 

[cmobley]

Aren’t the Banty turkeys called turkens?

 

[R2elk]

Aren’t the Banty turkeys called turkens?

Turkens are 100% chicken. . The only thing related to turkeys is their name.

 

[cmobley]

Turkens are 100% chicken. . The only thing related to turkeys is their name.

I know. Lol

 

[R2elk]

I know. Lol

A lot of information posted on the Internet falsely claims that Turkens are a chicken - turkey hybrid.

 

[GCrumb]

@Finnie

The "Midget White" variety that's probably what OP meant by the mini white meat bird seems to have taken care of all those issues. They're the same weight as Jersey Giant chickens. The story was that the breeder developed them thinking that smaller families and couples would like a small holiday turkey and created this miniature broad-breasted white. But it seems that the smaller whole birds at the grocery store are just slaughtered younger and enormous birds are still wanted for deli meats and prepared frozen foods.

Now that @secuono mentions it, yeah, turkeys are personable and amusing to have around. They don't scratch up the yard as much as chickens, and they're on the quiet side. If these Miget Whites are as lousy at flying as they look, they could make great yard pets. But they should come in more colours. Probably it wouldn't be too hard to cross them with bronze birds and breed back to the whites and get the size back down, and introduce a variety of colours with just one outcross? I don't know how the colour genetics in turkeys works at all.

 

[Finnie]

Yes, I did think she meant the midget whites.

I suppose one could start by crossing those with a colored heritage turkey. Whether you crossed back to the midget white or not would probably depend on your ultimate goals. I know nothing about midget whites, but if they enjoy better health and longevity than broad breasted turkeys, then they could have some traits you would want to keep in.

But I do think that breeding back to white would set your color goals backwards. In the end that might not matter, since it would be a multi generation task no matter how you go about it. I would buy the end product, just to try some. But I wouldn’t want to devote the pen space and years it would take to make them myself.