Blue Slate Turkey Hen or Tom?

[ChickToLove]

I have a 6-7-week-old Blue Slate and I'm in love with her.....HER, I say but I have no clue.
I have no others to compare "her" development to so how do I get ANY clue as to "her" sex?
I saw "her" 2 days ago ruffle "her" feathers for a couple of seconds and the tail feathers came up a bit too for a barely open fan when I put "her" out for the first time where the chickens were roaming, in their little run.

Does this mean "she" is a Tom after all?
What else could I look at to try to figure this out w/o having any other turkeys to compare "her" to?

Thanks, in advance! : )

 

[R2elk]

I have a 6-7-week-old Blue Slate and I'm in love with her.....HER, I say but I have no clue.
I have no others to compare "her" development to so how do I get ANY clue as to "her" sex?
I saw "her" 2 days ago ruffle "her" feathers for a couple of seconds and the tail feathers came up a bit too for a barely open fan when I put "her" out for the first time where the chickens were roaming, in their little run.

Does this mean "she" is a Tom after all?
What else could I look at to try to figure this out w/o having any other turkeys to compare "her" to?

Thanks, in advance! : )

Too young to tell. Both males and females can and do display depending on the circumstances.

 

[ChickToLove]

Too young to tell. Both males and females can and do display depending on the circumstances.

Thank you! That is what I was hoping for....somehow, I really think she's a girl. I can't explain it to you, I just do.

 

[R2elk]

Thank you! That is what I was hoping for....somehow, I really think she's a girl. I can't explain it to you, I just do.

People often think a poult is a certain sex because that is what they wish it to be. Once it is old enough you will find out what it is.

Good luck.

 

[MMARC234]

If you can’t be patient enough to wait or can’t have male turkeys you could do a dna test to see what they are. You can either get a small amount of blood from a toenail, pluck about five feathers, or if you have the eggshell you could send it in. I did it with my parrots and my turkey, and it took only five days (3 to get there, 2 to process) to get results. It also only costs only $19.50 which isn’t bad. Look up Animal Genetics DNA testing and it’ll pop up.

 

[ChickToLove]

People often think a poult is a certain sex because that is what they wish it to be. Once it is old enough you will find out what it is.

Good luck.

Not me at all....I just it's a she...while other birds around her I think are HEs..

 

[ChickToLove]

If you can’t be patient enough to wait or can’t have male turkeys you could do a dna test to see what they are. You can either get a small amount of blood from a toenail, pluck about five feathers, or if you have the eggshell you could send it in. I did it with my parrots and my turkey, and it took only five days (3 to get there, 2 to process) to get results. It also only costs only $19.50 which isn’t bad. Look up Animal Genetics DNA testing and it’ll pop up.

No...I AM patient enough. No way I'll pull feathers or take blood from the bird. I love this baby whatever sex...just wanting to learn. Never had a turkey / seen one grow up in my life, so I don't know enough about this and the info out there is pretty ridiculous so I was trying to get wise people here to chime in : )

Thanks for sharing!

 

[MMARC234]

No...I AM patient enough. No way I'll pull feathers or take blood from the bird. I love this baby whatever sex...just wanting to learn. Never had a turkey / seen one grow up in my life, so I don't know enough about this and the info out there is pretty ridiculous so I was trying to get wise people here to chime in : )

Thanks for sharing!

No problem! The turkey I have now is my first too. I didn’t want to take blood from my birds either really, but with my parrots it was a case of ‘I need to know for sure what gender they are so I can have the appropriate supplies and know if I need to watch for a calcium deficiency’ and in my turkey’s case it was: ‘I need to know so if/when they bond with my chickens breeding won’t occur with the hens.’ So in my situation it was worth it.

Thankfully only my oldest parrot was mad when I clipped his nail. He literally would turn his back to me for three days when I’d go talk to him. He’s very dramatic and easily offended. I’m pretty sure he curses every time I get the clippers out.

To be honest, I don’t even think my turkey Eeyore noticed. I cleaned her nail with an alcohol wipe, lined up my parrot clippers, and cut the nail with no reaction. I thought I had missed at first, but no, Eeyore didn’t really care. She’s chill about the strangest things.

 

[CFLRanching]

Look @ the snood area and the throat. By now of it's male (agewise) you should be able to see a more dominant snood on top of the beak. Where as the female's will be smaller. The neck will also begin to get the little fleshy area more dominantly where it is pink. Our male (he was a blue slate) started showing his sexual characteristics pretty early and once they get big enough be careful with having them mixed with your chickens. Turkey's are much larger and will ofter chase off and strut around to try to prove their status with the other birds (especially to the roosters), we had several chickens actually get injured by our tom, especially if the bird was sick, they tend to pick at them. Very territorial animals, so just watch keeping them together as they get older. Don't keep them mixed because the turkey will almost always get the upper hand. These 3 on the right aren't slates (one on the left is a blue/black mix), I believe they're BBwhites but one on the right is the male (they were about a month old here (you can see the size of the snood) and here he is dancing (he did this pretty early, at about 2 weeks)

 

[CFLRanching]

Turkey's are also very social and affectionate. When they are babies I tend to spend a lot of time in the pen with them, and have had several that will sit by me and fall asleep with me petting them (they instigate the contact), and if I stop they will look up at me and edge closer until I would continue. Our tom, he would strut all around me, dance, and beat his wings on the ground if I was out doing yard work. I would just go over and pet his back and he would follow me around the yard doing this. He was never aggressive @ all to us.