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Mystery turkey - need help on breed and gender

post #1 of 11
8/29/12 at 4:47pm
Thread Starter 

Hello, hello! I'm in need of some help from those of you who know your turkeys. This juvenile wandered into a relative's yard the other day, and is currently living with me:

 

 

It looks to be 2-3 months old, as it is about the same size as my BBW tom, who is roughly 7 weeks old. Most, if not all of the tail feathers are tipped with a thin band of white. The head is a pale bluish color, and the snood is still very small. I'm not seeing much in the way of caruncles. Those reasons, and its behavior around my tom, make me think it could be a juvenile hen. But, do hens get that blue color on their head? Or is it just the males? I have yet to see it display, even with the tom getting in its face.

 

My best guess is that this is a female standard bronze, but I really am new to turkeys, so I don't know. Help?

Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

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Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

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post #2 of 11
8/29/12 at 5:14pm

you sure it isn't a wild turkey though? i have no clue on breed nor gender though

owner of Itty Bitty Dowden Family Farm: https://www.facebook.com/#!/IttyBittyDowdenFamilyFarm

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owner of Itty Bitty Dowden Family Farm: https://www.facebook.com/#!/IttyBittyDowdenFamilyFarm

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post #3 of 11
8/29/12 at 6:31pm
Thread Starter 

It could be wild. The thing is, it doesn't freak out as bad as I'd expect a wild one to, and it doesn't rush the fencing of its enclosure, either. It seems like it was domesticated, or at least handled at some point.

Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

Reply

Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

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post #4 of 11
8/29/12 at 6:39pm

it looks similar to a narragansett turkey!

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post #5 of 11
8/30/12 at 3:30am

a front shot and side shot would help but looks like a bronze from the back

silkies and (projects), sumatras, lakenvelders, frizzles, polish and (projects), sultans, buff orps, black sexlinks, turkeys, red golden pheasents, Peepers, dogs, cats, fish, horses, wild kids, and one very understanding DH, come on over for a visit to the crazy farm

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silkies and (projects), sumatras, lakenvelders, frizzles, polish and (projects), sultans, buff orps, black sexlinks, turkeys, red golden pheasents, Peepers, dogs, cats, fish, horses, wild kids, and one very understanding DH, come on over for a visit to the crazy farm

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post #6 of 11
10/19/12 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 

UPDATE - Apologies for the long gap in response since I posted this. My computer that I use to upload pictures has been down, which is why there are no more images on here. I have been watching the turkey since I got it, and I have a strong suspicion that it is a female. It was missing a lot of feathers when I got it, not sure why. The turkey went through a mini molt and now has much thicker feathering. So far, its coloring looks closest to a Narragansett. When possible, I'll come back and add some pictures or video to this thread so that others can see. Thanks!

Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

Reply

Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

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post #7 of 11
10/28/12 at 1:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdowden View Post

you sure it isn't a wild turkey though? i have no clue on breed nor gender though

r u following my neighbor? lol. so am i.

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post #8 of 11
10/28/12 at 1:56pm

you told me today it was a female. and i got to see you in person!

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post #9 of 11
1/5/13 at 8:30pm
Thread Starter 

UPDATE - My apologies to anyone checking this thread. I finally got a new computer and took some pictures of this turkey. Definitely not Narragansett - I have never seen one, but something tells me that this bird is too brown to be of that breed. Someone had mentioned that it might just be wild, and I'm now leaning strongly toward that. I'm still convinced that Betty is a she, though.

 

 

700

 

 

700

 

700

 

She's not as flighty as when I first got her, but she is wary of being caught or handled, and pretty good at evading us when we try. She's fluffed up against the cold in these pictures, but when  she's relaxed, you can see that she has a very lean body shape, especially compared to the BBW's we have.

Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

Reply

Game warden of the crazy preserve. Inmates include: EE's, RIR, BSL, BO, SLW, Welsummer, Exchequer Leghorn, blue/black Wyandottes, BR's, Ameraucana's, and Icelandics <3 Plus an adopted brown turkey who is broody and must be part cobra, part goose :P

 

My member page: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/red-crazy-in-the-head-p

Reply
post #10 of 11
1/6/13 at 2:20am

she is a royal palm crossed with a bourbon red, I have a few friends with these and the hens are her color and the males almost look like bronzes

silkies and (projects), sumatras, lakenvelders, frizzles, polish and (projects), sultans, buff orps, black sexlinks, turkeys, red golden pheasents, Peepers, dogs, cats, fish, horses, wild kids, and one very understanding DH, come on over for a visit to the crazy farm

Reply

silkies and (projects), sumatras, lakenvelders, frizzles, polish and (projects), sultans, buff orps, black sexlinks, turkeys, red golden pheasents, Peepers, dogs, cats, fish, horses, wild kids, and one very understanding DH, come on over for a visit to the crazy farm

Reply
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