8 year old Tom Turkey (dropped?) his beard.

Beards can get torn out, the end can get broken off or they can experience snow rot from dragging it through the snow.

 

I assume that the tom is in with hens. I have personally witnessed hens eating the beards of toms and also those of bearded hens. My bearded hen had a 6" beard last year which the other hens ate down to its current 2". They did the same to the tom that had an 8" beard and ate it down to about one inch.

 

They are birds. Who knows what goes on in their tiny little brains. From witnessing the act it actually looks like they are grooming the beard and no attempt is made by the tom to stop them. But every "grooming" the beard ends up shorter.