ratio of toms to hens

[willowtreeaviary]

Hi there! I'm sure this is a Turkey Raising 101 question, but here goes: Should toms outnumber hens? I currently have a Bronze tom and hen (each is about a year and a half old), and a friend is offering me a Burgundy Red chick. Should I get a Burgundy Red tom or a hen (I'd rather get a tom)? Or should I get one of each? Or should I get one tom and, say, three hens? Thanks for letting me know. Cheers, Kerry

 

[MissTurkey4]

My tom has 20 hens in the breeding pen. I have excellent fertility.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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[ColbyNTX]

Quote:
Please show us a picture of your 20 hens and 1 tom. I'm very curious.

And one step further, I keep one tom to 5 or 6 hens and here is an example of our fertility. From shipped eggs even.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=497693

Lets do a test miss turkey4, ship 16 eggs to the same person as the above post. I'll pay for shipping and lets see how it goes.

Steve

If I were getting $150.00 per Tom, I wouldn't keep too many around either!

 

[Shifty Joe]

In the chicken world, I believe the rooster\\hen mix is 1 roo to 10 hens, anything less than than results in rooster fights and worn out hens. While this a smaller ratio for turkeys, you should have a happier flock with one Tom and two(+) hens. As far a fertility, I would say you can trust Steve's advice to ensure the best tom to hen ratio.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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[g&h farm]

Hmm Im new on here but I thought the people on here were supposed to be nice not cocky. I would definatly say more hens than toms for sure. I only have 1 hen and just got 3 poults and am hoping that we end up with 1 tom as I only plan to keep 1. Good Luck! I would love to see pics!!

 

[Jocasta]

g&h farm :

Hmm Im new on here but I thought the people on here were supposed to be nice not cocky.

I agree to a certain extent, but he's kinda got a reason to be cocky haha! I'm just raging with jealousy as I'm in the UK and therefore can't order from S&S Poultry

The lady that I got my eggs from has two hens to one stag (that's what we call the boys over here across the pond - which is irritating really as the Turkey is an American bird so surely your terminology should ring true over here...

), she's by no means a professional breeder though and has them for her own pleasure more than anything - sells the eggs to help toward their keep. I've got 12 for 12 on fertility but that's not surprising really, considering the ratio.​

 

[racuda]

Sorry MissTurkey, but when I see your user name I can't help but think of the Hardee's commercial.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

The turkey forum seems contentious this morning.

I use six hens to the tom myself, but for the reason that's how many birds I'm willing to put in one of my tractors. If I used open pens I might go more.

The available literature suggests that the smaller breeds can handle up to twenty hens in their prime.

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/MasterBreeder/turkeys_chapter4.pdf

Not sure that I'd go quite that high, but I'd go ten or twelve. Fewer with the larger breeds perhaps.

Of course you'd never want to have just one tom. I'm spooky about such things. Always, but always have a back up! I keep three myself (not in the same tractor).