How to tell the sex of poults?

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

I am new to turkeys. The first ones I bought is a trio of royal palms (two are blue). They are spring hatch and big and no doubt as to who is who.

Then came the 6 poults that are about 10 weeks old. Bourbon reds, and they all look the same to me. One is growing a bit faster and getting a bit lighter in color, but still nothing that stands out as different.

So how do you tell the sexes of poults?

 

[sandspoultry]

Vent sexing is the best way but it's not easy to learn, you need someone to show you what to look for.

On the Bourbon Reds it's easy to tell. The males will have black edging on the feathers, the hens will have white, It's the easiest to see on the breast feathers.

Also, generaly the toms will have

Thicker legs
bigger heads
larger snood
overall bigger
less feathers on the back of the head and neck

The royal palms are one of the slower breeds to mature so it takes longer to tell them apart.

Steve in NC

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Thanks, Steve. I checked their feathers and all 6 are white edged. So I guess that means I have all girls. Thats ok, I didn't get them for the table. But that does mean I need to look for a tom so any eggs will hatch.

Another question. With them this young, will they still lay in the spring?

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
Are you sure at 10 weeks? it's hard to tell that young, so you may have a tom in there.

It would be more like late spring/ early summer before they start laying.

Steve in NC

 

[reallemons1]

I watch to see which ones strut. They are the males.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

Nope, not sure and I won't be going out soon to look for a tom,

But, the feathers are all edged with white on each poult. On the front of the neck and breast, they look frosted as the feathers are smaller and the white edging is closer together. The feathers on all of them are the same in basic color and markings. The one is overall lighter and a couple are overall a bit darker. There is a size difference that seems to be getting more pronounced though. One is getting larger and a couple are staying smaller than the rest.

At what age do they start to strut?

 

[Capt. Crusoe]

Mine started struting around the 7 - 9 week mark. Cute! - Very cute to see such a little guy strut!