3 month old turkey behavior?

[cherndon712]

Its been a while since I've had turkeys (over 3 years) and I have 4 babies that are about 3 months old. Over the last few weeks they've all puffed up, but one in particular puffs up and struts his stuff He's also started getting a redder neck and showing sure signs of being a tom. Two of the others have more skin on their necks starting by the back of the beak, but they're not getting the bumpy neck with "bubbles" as my kids call them lol They're mixed breed, the lady I got my turkeys from said the quad I got from her were bourbon red, and having had bourbons I can say these aren't. They're marked like bourbons except instead of being red they're more peach and white, two are more lavender/blue and white. She also had white turkeys, so the 4 babies I hatched are mixed breeds. My question is should the other babies be developing "bubbles" too if they're toms? Only one has no extra skin under its neck, and none have developed much of a snood.

 

[Attila the Honey]

I was actually wondering the same thing about mine. I have 3 Royal Palms. One is definitely a tom. He puffs up, struts his stuff (has done this even at a week old!) and is getting a longer snood, a start of a beard (I think that is what the coarse hair in the middle of the breast is called). My other 2 are a lot smaller (same age as tom), but one of them puffs up once in a while. Do hens display like this too? I'll try to post pics of mine. Maybe we can both get answers.

 

[Celie]

Its been a while since I've had turkeys (over 3 years) and I have 4 babies that are about 3 months old. Over the last few weeks they've all puffed up, but one in particular puffs up and struts his stuff

He's also started getting a redder neck and showing sure signs of being a tom. Two of the others have more skin on their necks starting by the back of the beak, but they're not getting the bumpy neck with "bubbles" as my kids call them lol They're mixed breed, the lady I got my turkeys from said the quad I got from her were bourbon red, and having had bourbons I can say these aren't. They're marked like bourbons except instead of being red they're more peach and white, two are more lavender/blue and white. She also had white turkeys, so the 4 babies I hatched are mixed breeds. My question is should the other babies be developing "bubbles" too if they're toms? Only one has no extra skin under its neck, and none have developed much of a snood.

By 3 months, if they were not mixed, you should be able to tell by weight alone. In Bourbons, I understand that the breast feathers will be light tipped feathers and toms dark tipped, not sure about mixed again, but think this might apply to all colored feathered breeds, mine are all white, except for one BR hen. Also by 3 months, the hens will be starting to get a line of feathers up the back of their heads and toms will stay bald. The bubbles should be larger on the toms and the legs thicker. Some pictures might tell more if you could post some. Everybody loves to look at pictures, too, so you might get more opinions, too!

 

[Celie]

I was actually wondering the same thing about mine. I have 3 Royal Palms. One is definitely a tom. He puffs up, struts his stuff (has done this even at a week old!) and is getting a longer snood, a start of a beard (I think that is what the coarse hair in the middle of the breast is called). My other 2 are a lot smaller (same age as tom), but one of them puffs up once in a while. Do hens display like this too? I'll try to post pics of mine. Maybe we can both get answers.

Both sexes will puff up, especially when young, if they perceive danger. I longer snood that is thicker at the base is for sure the sign of a tom. Even females can have beards, but not as long as the males. The size is a definite give away in Heritage turkey! It sounds like you have tom and 2 hens! Congratulations, the perfect trio!

 

[Macs farm]

I've just started with turkeys. I was given 9 x 3 week chicks. All turned out to be toms. Swapped two for two hens, now I've got a dozen eggs in 13 days. Exciting days. I found it reaaly hard to tell, till we had the hens who are much smaller and feathers up neck and head and small snout, quite unimpressive beside a tom. my toms are 7 months and I've processed all but three, hopefully leaving one of two for Christmas and one spare for one of the two hens latter, and one in with the hens now who was a monster bird compared to the others early on..