A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[feistychick]

Thank you everyone. I guess Adam is now officially Eve again lol. Of course, now that she answers to Adam haha! Now I'm hoping that one of the 3 little ones is a Tom. They are 5 weeks younger than Eve.

I love it! You did say that you thought that at least one of the younger ones was a tom - so now you have your hen

 

[memphis]

Geez...Daisy (the Blue Slate ) has decided to become a lap turkey. Third evening in a row she's hopped in my lap. Just loves her head scratched. Sits there and wards off all chickens & my other turkey hen. She's quite funny. Annie (the Bourbon Red ) sneaks around behind her & lays her head on my arm. These girls are so sweet & such attention hogs!

 

[mountain mom]

Well, I would say I officially (I have thought so, but have been second guessing my thinking as of late) have 2 toms and one hen. Dinner, obviously a tom, Banshee a tom, and Tomahawk a hen.

She will hold her legs in (thanks for the link R2Elk), has slightly thinner legs, and you can barely notice the lighter coloring on the edge of her feathers (thanks again to R2).
Lately, I have been second guessing my original thoughts that she was a hen. She has been strutting and getting all red lately. I thought for sure she was a late bloomer and I had 3 toms with the amount of fighting I have had around here.

Banshee had her completely pinned down (not on top of her, but biting her neck and pushing her face in the ground) all while she was screaming. Then she fought back and was all puffed up and flappy with her wings. Maybe a mating thing? I don't have a clue.
It happened more than once and I was worried there was a male pecking order thing happening. There is a lot of that with Dinner and Banshee.

Anyhow, glad to have some extra assurance!

Memphis- My babies are lap turkeys too! They have been coming to snuggle at night when I sit on the deck with my wine and enjoy the cool and quiet. Both Tomahawk and Banshee come jump up for snuggles. Banshee has taken to grooming me. He likes to gently preen my "feathers". If my hair is down (it is long) he will sort it all out like he does his feathers. It cracks me up.

Aurora- Maybe you can still call her Adam. I had a hen named Clyde once...
Also, Tomahawk and Banshee's names, I feel, are reversed. But they know them, so I am not going to switch them at this point.

 

[R2elk]

Well, I would say I officially (I have thought so, but have been second guessing my thinking as of late) have 2 toms and one hen. Dinner, obviously a tom, Banshee a tom, and Tomahawk a hen.

She will hold her legs in (thanks for the link R2Elk), has slightly thinner legs, and you can barely notice the lighter coloring on the edge of her feathers (thanks again to R2).
Lately, I have been second guessing my original thoughts that she was a hen. She has been strutting and getting all red lately. I thought for sure she was a late bloomer and I had 3 toms with the amount of fighting I have had around here.

Banshee had her completely pinned down (not on top of her, but biting her neck and pushing her face in the ground) all while she was screaming. Then she fought back and was all puffed up and flappy with her wings. Maybe a mating thing? I don't have a clue.
It happened more than once and I was worried there was a male pecking order thing happening. There is a lot of that with Dinner and Banshee.

Anyhow, glad to have some extra assurance!

Memphis- My babies are lap turkeys too! They have been coming to snuggle at night when I sit on the deck with my wine and enjoy the cool and quiet. Both Tomahawk and Banshee come jump up for snuggles. Banshee has taken to grooming me. He likes to gently preen my "feathers". If my hair is down (it is long) he will sort it all out like he does his feathers. It cracks me up.

Aurora- Maybe you can still call her Adam. I had a hen named Clyde once...
Also, Tomahawk and Banshee's names, I feel, are reversed. But they know them, so I am not going to switch them at this point.

More likely it is a dominance thing. Both the hens and toms will want the highest place in the pecking order that they can get.

I had a trio of BBBs a long time ago. One hen was much larger than the other and assumed dominance over both the other hen and the tom. Once the tom reached a stage where he felt the need for dominance, he and the dominant hen fought all day long for 3 days in a row until he was able to establish dominance over that hen. Once the fight was settled there was no more fighting among the three of them.

Young turkeys as they grow up pass through different stages of dominance and have many fights until they get it settled. Of course a change in the flock can start it all over again. New additions will usually be picked on by the turkey that is the lowest in the pecking order. Removal of a dominant turkey can also really upset things.

Good luck.

 

[charmedbaker]

Hi everyone!
Had all kinds of things to say... Had it all typed up and went over a bump and deleted it some how. Been working on the phone on the road. typing with one finger is over rated.
Cheers to Blue. she was a good girl.
Aurora and Memphis, I'm jealous. My turkey doesn't love me like that. He talks and wants food.
ChaCha is stable. The others don't want her around. Charlie was aggressive to her too. It was scary. I shooed him away. I hope that changes when she heals and is out of confinement.
Mountain mom, I was lucky and didn't have an athletic kid. He is a scientist, in college now, studying Geology and paleontology. Proud mom of a geek. ::

 

[RetiredRon]

Alot happened today.. as I was posting, I think a neighborhood dog was attacking my big roister.. it took the rest of the day to find him.. I posted a picture on another post, if you click my icon. He was alive but barely. . I have him inside tonight.. along with his unruly girlfriend. . She wasn't letting any of the other fowl have any room in the coup. Idk what her problem was.. They are in separate cages but they can see each other.. Both seemed to perk up and calm down when they saw each other. I tried to post pictures of my three turkeys to see if anyone knew any information on their kind and sex but they never loaded. I was able to take a picture while i was posting, but I cant load a picture from those I've already taken. I hope the Rooster that was attacked pulls threw. I wrapped my Turkeys leg and foot to see if it helps.. the one that was limping and curling its toes earlier. I figured he would be calmer at night.

 

[memphis]

Charmed....I'm rooting for ChaCha!
Friend of mine is married to a chef. When he heard I had laying turkey hens he offered me 4.00 per egg. Being a good friend, I gave them a pile & got the most delicious pound cake in return. I had no idea what a rare & valued commodity a turkey egg was to a baker! Did some research & found out the going price per egg is 3.50 to 5.00 per egg. Who knew?

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I love it! You did say that you thought that at least one of the younger ones was a tom - so now you have your hen

So, I just caught each of the younger Bourbon reds and looked at their little pin feathers coming in on their breasts. Sure enough, every one of them has little white tips. All 4 are hens lol. And here, I was worried I wouldn't have ANY hens. Nope. Now I have no toms! Lol

 

[Chaos18]

So, I just caught each of the younger Bourbon reds and looked at their little pin feathers coming in on their breasts. Sure enough, every one of them has little white tips. All 4 are hens lol. And here, I was worried I wouldn't have ANY hens. Nope. Now I have no toms! Lol

That's going to make it kinda tough to get babies outta them.

 

[feistychick]

So, I just caught each of the younger Bourbon reds and looked at their little pin feathers coming in on their breasts. Sure enough, every one of them has little white tips. All 4 are hens lol. And here, I was worried I wouldn't have ANY hens. Nope. Now I have no toms! Lol

If we lived closer we could trade lol - I'm worried about having too many toms and not enough hens