Male Bronze breasted turkey ?

[kyron4]

I have two bronze breasted turkeys (look like wild turkeys ) about 18 weeks old, I think they are both male but not 100% sure. If they are , at what age will they start gobbling and fanning out their tails ? -Thanks

 

[BuffOrpington567]

I don’t know much about turkeys but I would imagine around 20 weeks as it’s the same for cockerels crowing, it doesn’t take that long

 

[R2elk]

I have two bronze breasted turkeys (look like wild turkeys ) about 18 weeks old, I think they are both male but not 100% sure. If they are , at what age will they start gobbling and fanning out their tails ? -Thanks

There is no such thing as a Bronze Breasted turkey. There are Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys and heritage Bronze turkeys. For color classification, wild turkeys are Bronze turkeys.

If your turkeys are 4 1/2 months old and are not around a dominant mature tom, they should have already been strutting and even gobbling by now if they are males.

Unless they are late developing toms, they are old enough to be sexed from photos. It is best to post a side view, a front view and a back view taken at an angle that will show the back of the neck and top of the head.

 

[kyron4]

Okay, I'll get some photos uploaded this weekend. My daughter is really curious to find out.

 

[silkie1472]

Slightly old thread, but have you been able to predict the gender yet?

I thought I commented on this thread earlier, but what I wanted to mention is that turkeys with a wild appearance are your “unimproved bronze”. Many hatcheries do not sell this breed anymore due to production demands wanting a faster growing, more efficient breed such as the broad breasted bronze (sometimes referred to as the “improved bronze”). I’m fortunate enough to have the unimproved bronze breed — one that is diminishing quickly.

Something I’ve learned is that this breed of bronze will have a whiter/yellow color on the tail bands when comparing to Eastern Wild Turkeys (which have orange/reddish bands). Some other wild strains have similar appearances, but their actions most definitely allow them to be differentiated.

Something I've noticed is that there is a strong connection between unimproved bronze and many wild strains. Needless to say, domestication is easily “reversed” on this breed.