When did your bronze turkeys start breeding?

[GarrettW]

I have 3 bronze turkeys that are 22 weeks old, and I got them on March 20th. Yesterday my bronze tom started breeding one of my hens after she submitted to him. Is this normal for that age because I had read that they wouldn't reach sexual maturity until 6 or 7 months old? Also, will my bronze hens possibly start laying, or will I have to wait until next spring because my royal palm is still laying?

 

[Molpet]

I have heard of spring turkeys laying in the fall. Mine haven't yet. Mine start around st Patrick's day.
Another hen laying will not make a difference.

 

[R2elk]

I have 3 bronze turkeys that are 22 weeks old, and I got them on March 20th. Yesterday my bronze tom started breeding one of my hens after she submitted to him. Is this normal for that age because I had read that they wouldn't reach sexual maturity until 6 or 7 months old? Also, will my bronze hens possibly start laying, or will I have to wait until next spring because my royal palm is still laying?

The broad breasted varieties have been bred to reach sexual maturity by 5 months. The heritage varieties can also be sexually mature by 5 months. If they are not being raised around mature turkeys their sexual behavior patterns may emerge earlier than normal. A mature tom in the flock helps to suppress hormonal urges in adolescent males as they quickly learn what the repercussions will be.

 

[GarrettW]

I have heard of spring turkeys laying in the fall. Mine haven't yet. Mine start around st Patrick's day.
Another hen laying will not make a difference.

Sorry, I should've phrased the question better. I just wanted to know if my bronze hens being they are a little over 5 months old would lay this fall, since they are being bred?

My royal palm hen is over a year old and is still laying, so I was just using her as a comparison.

 

[GarrettW]

The broad breasted varieties have been bred to reach sexual maturity by 5 months. The heritage varieties can also be sexually mature by 5 months. If they are not being raised around mature turkeys their sexual behavior patterns may emerge earlier than normal. A mature tom in the flock helps to suppress hormonal urges in adolescent males as they quickly learn what the repercussions will be.

I'm pretty confident they are standard bronze because they're too small for their age to be a broad-breasted bronze. I don't have any mature turkeys besides the royal palm hen which is over a year old.

 

[R2elk]

I'm pretty confident they are standard bronze because they're too small for their age to be a broad-breasted bronze. I don't have any mature turkeys besides the royal palm hen which is over a year old.

They may lay this fall or they may wait until spring. It depends on available daylight hours. Turkeys that are given supplemental light will lay earlier than ones that are only getting natural light.

I do not provide supplemental light and my turkeys never start laying before the middle of March. The older the hens get, the later in the year that they start laying.

If providing supplemental light, the toms also need it

 

[GarrettW]

@R2elk
Is it normal for the tom to stand next to the hen and just stomp and scratch her back with one foot? He did that for a solid 5 minutes and was ripping out a ton of feathers before I pushed him off.

Then maybe an hour after that, he was standing on her wings instead of the back while trying to breed her, and you could tell she didn't like it. Will this hurt her, or is it something that just happens?

 

[yesterDAYNE]

If they're just learning it's pretty common. Males can get pretty rough with females. If it looks like he's tearing them up too much you might want to look into getting some hen saddles for your girls. I get mine from @OneMountainAcres personally. They can get some pretty nasty breeding wounds depending on how long and clumsy the male is when mounting.

 

[GarrettW]

I might do that because it's just the one hen that gets bred, none of the other ones have been messed with. The hen goes into the breeding posture for him though, will she eventually get sick of it and stop doing that.

 

[R2elk]

@R2elk
Is it normal for the tom to stand next to the hen and just stomp and scratch her back with one foot? He did that for a solid 5 minutes and was ripping out a ton of feathers before I pushed him off.

Then maybe an hour after that, he was standing on her wings instead of the back while trying to breed her, and you could tell she didn't like it. Will this hurt her, or is it something that just happens?

Not all toms are good breeders. Some are more interested in stomping on the hens than they are in actually breeding. Some get on facing the wrong way.

To help your hen, make sure you trim your tom's toenails so they are not sharp.