Tom or Hen

haystack613

In the Brooder
5 Years
Jun 18, 2014
30
0
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A have two Bourbon red turkeys I'm pretty sure one is a hen.But,the other one I'm not sure of because I heard it gobble yesterday.So I thought it was a tom but I've never seen it strut before.Also,they are about 4 months old and huge.
 
700
 
How do you know?Not saying you are wrong I just want to know if there is some characteristics that you can point out.
 
I can't tell from that photo whether it is a tom or hen. Signs to look for if you have others to compare it with are the tom's have noticeably heavier legs than do the hens. Tom's snoods will elongate and hang down well past the end of their beaks, hen's snoods can swell somewhat but never to the extent that a tom's snood will. When retracted a tom's snood forms a pyramid shape on the top of his head while a hen's snood will retain the "J" shape (although I do have one hen that can retract her snood into a small pyramid). Tom's typically have much larger caruncles along their throat area than do hens. Tom's normally have beards which will grow much longer than the beard that some hens grow. When looking down at the top of a tom's head, it should have more of a triangle look to it than a hen's head will. Hens normally have a strip of minor feathering up the back of their neck extending to the top of the head while toms have a completely bare head other than some minor hairs.

It has long been posted that only tom's can gobble. There have lately been a few posts claiming that while a rarity that some hens can and do gobble, I have never had or seen a hen turkey that could gobble.
 
But I've never seen it strut at all.

Four months is still quite young. While precocious toms can and do strut as early as when they first start getting their tail feathers, serious strutting does not occur usually until after they are 6 months old. Strutting is not proof of the gender of a turkey since both hens and toms can and do strut especially during breeding season.
 

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