Royal Palm Turkey. . . Hen or Tom?

kzhefley

In the Brooder
Mar 18, 2016
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0
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I have 3 turkeys. I know 2 are toms and thought #3 was a hen. She is from the same hatch as one of my other toms Around a year old or so, but only half the size. No visible beard. BUT a couple of days ago I saw "her" fluff up and fan out her tail. Does this mean I have a 3rd Tom? She also turned blue in the face. I get mixed answers some say Tom some say hen. The ones that say hen said she fluffed up due to a "mating dance". Ones that say Tom say it's a late blooming tom and because I don't see down on the head and because it's face went blue. HELP!! also I haven't seen it fluff up since.

This is it
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The one in the middle
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Here it is not fluffed up
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On the left
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I have 3 turkeys. I know 2 are toms and thought #3 was a hen. She is from the same hatch as one of my other toms Around a year old or so, but only half the size. No visible beard. BUT a couple of days ago I saw "her" fluff up and fan out her tail. Does this mean I have a 3rd Tom? She also turned blue in the face. I get mixed answers some say Tom some say hen. The ones that say hen said she fluffed up due to a "mating dance". Ones that say Tom say it's a late blooming tom and because I don't see down on the head and because it's face went blue. HELP!! also I haven't seen it fluff up since.

On the left
Looks like a hen to me. Notice that its snood only reaches the end of its beak when it is fully expanded while the snoods of the toms hang far below the ends of their beaks. You really need to use pics that are in focus.

Tom on left and hen on the right.
 
Looks like a hen to me. Notice that its snood only reaches the end of its beak when it is fully expanded while the snoods of the toms hang far below the ends of their beaks. You really need to use pics that are in focus. Tom on left and hen on the right.
Thanks for the input. Wish I had better pictures but she's quite standoffish so this is the best I could get. I'm really hoping hen because I can't find any nature hens in my area.
 
Here's a couple more pictures I got of her just now. might be more focused
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I'm really hoping it's a hen.
 
Here's a couple more pictures I got of her just now. might be more focused




I'm really hoping it's a hen.
If it is a hen, it has the longest snood of any hen that I have ever seen. Even though the snood has not expanded nearly as far as a normal tom, it still is at least a half inch past the end of the beak.

If it gobbles, it is a tom and if it lays an egg, it is a hen.

Nothing in the photos is in focus which makes me think that you are using too slow a shutter speed and are getting motion blur. If you have a flash, use it.
 

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