Are we still sure this is a hen?

[Noellereagan]

Little Bruce Jenner here is definitely gender confused, poor girl. The guys at my local TSC call her my lesbian turkey and tell me this confusion is normal in “meat birds” (which she is absolutely NOT- but technically, her variation is, I suppose). Anyway, I wanted to be sure we are still sure she’s a she and not a he- Since she is displaying and carrying on lately. She is also VERY aggressive with the rest of the birds. Especially on the roost. She’s a downright bi$&h. She bites anything that so much as looks her way. Not me. Just the other birds. They try to roost as far from her as possible. And rightfully so.
She’s 16 weeks old now.
@casportpony @TurkeyTimes @R2elk
Thanks guys. Just double checking again with my three turkey gurus.
Noelle

 

[casportpony]

Looks kind of male to me, lol.

 

[R2elk]

Little Bruce Jenner here is definitely gender confused, poor girl. The guys at my local TSC call her my lesbian turkey and tell me this confusion is normal in “meat birds” (which she is absolutely NOT- but technically, her variation is, I suppose). Anyway, I wanted to be sure we are still sure she’s a she and not a he- Since she is displaying and carrying on lately. She is also VERY aggressive with the rest of the birds. Especially on the roost. She’s a downright bi$&h. She bites anything that so much as looks her way. Not me. Just the other birds. They try to roost as far from her as possible. And rightfully so.
She’s 16 weeks old now.
@casportpony @TurkeyTimes @R2elk
Thanks guys. Just double checking again with my three turkey gurus.
Noelle
View attachment 1536807

Still a hen. She appears to have her adult breast feathers and they have a light colored lower edge. At 4 months old a tom will have a snood that expands and hangs inches below the end of his beak. Also at 4 months old you should have no problem feeling the base of a tom's beard. Hens can also have a beard but the beard itself and the base of the beard are much smaller than a tom's.

 

[TurkeyTimes]

Yep still a hen. As r2elk pointed out, the breast feathers have the white tipped lacing which says hen. There is still quite a bit of feathering on the back of the head as well. At that age a toms snood would be much larger.

 

[Noellereagan]

@R2elk @TurkeyTimes heres the truth- I must level with you. I’m cheating here. I’m placing a $500 wager with my boyfriend who’s falsely confident this is a tom. Would you two feel safe making the bet that this bird is actually a hen with $500 at stake? (Shhhhh... good thing he’s not computer literate. BUT I am sure he’s asked a few friends who have been over here and know “everything” there is to know about turkeys and they also say tom. So he is sort of cheating too. But that’s okay. I think I have luck in my corner with my 3 turkey gurus. I just want to verify it’s a solid bet

before I shake on it).

 

[casportpony]

You should know that I've never had a tom, just hens.

 

[TurkeyTimes]

That's a hen. Snood would be much larger on a tom. Have you checked for a beard button? Tom's will have a nice start at that age. I'd even double the wager I'm confident and like to gamble lol

 

[Noellereagan]

That's a hen. Snood would be much larger on a tom. Have you checked for a beard button? Tom's will have a nice start at that age. I'd even double the wager I'm confident and like to gamble lol

In all seriousness, he bit. It’s on. $1,000. I feel like I need to split it with my secret geniuses

 

[R2elk]

@R2elk @TurkeyTimes heres the truth- I must level with you. I’m cheating here. I’m placing a $500 wager with my boyfriend who’s falsely confident this is a tom. Would you two feel safe making the bet that this bird is actually a hen with $500 at stake? (Shhhhh... good thing he’s not computer literate. BUT I am sure he’s asked a few friends who have been over here and know “everything” there is to know about turkeys and they also say tom. So he is sort of cheating too. But that’s okay. I think I have luck in my corner with my 3 turkey gurus. I just want to verify it’s a solid bet View attachment 1537422 before I shake on it).

I wouldn't wager anything on it. There are late developing toms that can look like hens for a very long time.

The snood, caruncles and even the legs look very hen-like. But with this better photo of the breast it appears that the feathers with the light colored edges may still be from the juvenile feathers since there are some feathers that appear to have a dark colored lower edge. Only time will tell.

So much of determining sex early can be due to personal observations which cannot come through with a photo.

I have one month old poults that I can now start to pick out some of the definite males but no one would be able to sex them from photos.

 

[casportpony]

How common is it for hens to have beards?