A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[feistychick]

Arrrrgggg!!!females getbeards too????

Big Bird also has a beard and Coco has a little bristle stub....they both lay eggs

 

[JRNash]

JRNASH stop bursting my happy bubble let me have the hope for a tom for as long as i can

Meant I'm a newbie (turkeys)

 

[JRNash]

I don't have a clue now if I have any hens or not.

 

[JRNash]

But I did order 20 midget whites. Hopefully I will get a decent split on the sexes.should get them around the first part of November

 

[R2elk]

I don't have a clue now if I have any hens or not.

Barring a late developing tom, you can usually distinguish toms from hens starting around two months old with really good determination of sex by three months old.

In dark colored turkeys hens and toms can be distinguished as soon as they have their adult breast feathers. Breast feathers of adult hens will have a light color on their lower edge. Toms will have solid colored breast feathers or a dark colored lower edge.

This obviously does not work on white or light colored turkeys.

At two to three months of age toms will have much larger caruncles, snoods, and heavier legs than the hens. The toms are normally visibly larger than the hens. The toms will have bald heads.

Hens will have a "mohawk" of small feathers running up the back of their necks and onto the top of their heads.

Both toms and hens can have beards and strut and display. A tom's head will normally get much redder than a hen.

Only toms will gobble.

 

[JRNash]

Toms gobble.....got it

 

[JRNash]

What about a blue head???

 

[OneMountainAcres]

What about a blue head???

My hen Pebbles has a blue head

She can even more her snood a bit lol

 

[memphis]

Here you go JR. Miss Annie..

 

[JRNash]

Nice birds,basically what I'm bringing away from all this is the following.
If it gobbles,it's a Tom....
If it lays eggs,it's a hen