Do you all still think its a Hen? Updated Pics 22/11/13

[chknoodles]

without a doubt, the bottom one is a Hen...The top one, looks like my bronze Hen. Small snood and the skin on her neck is not really that big. For a while, we'd look at that skin (I wish the name of it would come to me....I know it isn't waddles..it's called something else on a turkey), if we were trying to tell if the boys were getting bigger faster than our girl. Now we have 5 girls and 3 boys..2 bronze boys and a Rio Grande. I will send you a PM where you can look at the pix of our birds and perhaps compare.

 

[hdmax]

I'd say the one in question is a hen! It just doesn't show signs of being a tom.

 

[Rose66]

Head shots. Pic one is the grey colored wild turkey (male??) pic two is bronze turkey "hen" . What do you see??? I see male above, hen below. Opinions folks. I am so confused

Hey Zook, I agree with you that the above picture is most likely a male and the below pic is a hen. However, I really think you have the age wrong on your turkeys. I think they are younger than 6-7 months...they are more like 4 months old. I have six turkeys that were hatched May 10, 2013, in my incubator so I definitely know they are 6 almost 7 months old. They are VERY MUCH more mature than yours so that's what makes me think yours are younger.

Anyway, good luck with them!

Rose66

 

[zook]

Hey Zook, I agree with you that the above picture is most likely a male and the below pic is a hen. However, I really think you have the age wrong on your turkeys. I think they are younger than 6-7 months...they are more like 4 months old. I have six turkeys that were hatched May 10, 2013, in my incubator so I definitely know they are 6 almost 7 months old. They are VERY MUCH more mature than yours so that's what makes me think yours are younger.

Anyway, good luck with them!

Rose66

I checked my calender and I got the big brown bronze one (one in front)on July 7th and it was supposed to be 5 weeks old then. That would make her 25 weeks today or 6 months +. The one we are questioning gender and the smallest "hen" I forgot to mark on the calendar but August I think I obtained them. The guy I got them from said they were born in April, They varied in size the day I got them but I estimate they were the size of the bronze hen at about 7 weeks of age. That might put them born start of June. I questioned him that they were pretty small but I did not feel he was truthful. They were totally on some form of seed or grain mix and lots of ground corn, no pelleted food at all. My turkeys have been on grower with a bit of seed as a treat (millet and black oil sunflower seeds).By his accounting they would have put them 4-5 moths when I bought them, and almost 9.5 months now. Since I got them they have doubled or more in size for the smaller one and more than tripled in size the one who's gender I question. Guessing they may be about about 6 months +-. I really had no way to verify ages.

 

[zook]

I forgot to mention today when I was cleaning poop in the nearby duck room right next to the turkeys the one this tread is about was preening his breast feathers and "his/her" snod had extended out to an inch or more and was actually flopping around just to the bottom of his lower beak. Then when it straightened up to look at me wondering why I was looking at him, it retracted to normal size as in first pic. Wow did that make sense. Slightly run on sentence

Does that sound normal. Considering the bronze hen has only a slight bump of a snod that birds is way more pronounced at rest and extends quite a bit. To be sure I'll be watching that more carefully.

 

[hdmax]

If they were 5-7 weeks when you got them, and are now 6-7 months, they should be 10 times the size they were if fed a good high protein diet! (Not 2-3 times the size!)

I have two bourbon red turkeys that are 8 weeks old today, and I have Blue Slate, and Black Spanish Jakes that will be 22 weeks old tomorrow, and the older ones are 10-15 times the size in weight and dimensions.

 

[zook]

If they were 5-7 weeks when you got them, and are now 6-7 months, they should be 10 times the size they were if fed a good high protein diet! (Not 2-3 times the size!)

 I have two bourbon red turkeys that are 8 weeks old today, and I have Blue Slate, and Black Spanish Jakes that will be 22 weeks old tomorrow, and the older ones are 10-15 times the size in weight and dimensions.

I am feeding them Purina Chick grower which all my BBW and meat kings were fed all summer. I give them good feed and lots. Not sure what you are saying. So you say if a bird is 8" long at 7 weeks it should be 80" long at 6-7 months. Come on!!

Here is the bronze at 5 weeks and now

 

[hdmax]

I am feeding them Purina Chick grower which all my BBW and meat kings were fed all summer. I give them good feed and lots. Not sure what you are saying. So you say if a bird is 8" long at 7 weeks it should be 80" long at 6-7 months. Come on!!

Here is the bronze at 5 weeks and now

WOW! Really? If a baby is 24" long and 15 lbs, and you are 150 lbs do you really thing you have to be 20' tall to be ten times its size?

 

[zook]

If they were 5-7 weeks when you got them, and are now 6-7 months, they should be 10 times the size they were if fed a good high protein diet! (Not 2-3 times the size!)

I have two bourbon red turkeys that are 8 weeks old today, and I have Blue Slate, and Black Spanish Jakes that will be 22 weeks old tomorrow, and the older ones are 10-15 times the size in weight and dimensions.

I quote you " 10-15 times the size in weight and dimensions" getting a bit out of hand don't you think!!

 

[jandlpoultry]

They look healthy to me. They have the smallest dewlaps I have ever seen, on turkeys that age though.
edit to add: I have seen small dewlaps on wild turkey pictures.