Midget White Owners- Need input!

[katlovesaandw]

Ok, so finding INFO more than the basic on MW is FREAKING HARD!

I researched the breed but it is all the same info. I knew this is breed I wanted for backyard city folk.
They are pets, not food. At this point.
Got my 2 poults in February. They were 8 weeks at the time.
Born approx. Jan. 1 then.

When do they start to mature, ie. toms start getting blue face, beard, etc.??????
I have 1 larger than the other, not a ton but enough that since we got them I felt we had a male/female pair.

But, they look alike.
Trying to figure out if we have 2 females or 2 immature males or a pair.
And online info on the breed SUCKS. Even articles I have read(the few that there are) do not give specifics on this.

HELP!!!!

 

[dheltzel]

As old as they are, if they are not strutting and gobbling, I suspect you have 2 hens. I have poults hatched in mid-Feb that have been obvious toms for months now, strutting and gobbling all the time. MW's are not particularly slow to mature, just small in stature. I like that my biggest breeder tom is still easy to handle and not very heavy when picked up.

I hope you are successful in finding a tom to go with them. We need more MW breeders.

 

[katlovesaandw]

CRAP!
*sigh
Ok.....
Well.... I guess "Bob Goblin" is now Bobbie or Bobbette.

Yep, little strutting and tail fanning but no gobble. Just chirps and calls and whistles to each other.
And here I was patiently waiting for a blue face and beard and squishy face.

Guess I will start looking for a tom, or maybe wait until Spring as we want to upgrade the coop a bit anyways.


Thank you!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would look at the snood, that fleshy thing on top of their beaks, at that age any toms will be able to start letting them down, where hens will stay small, the hens will also have a small line of feathers going up the back of the neck, and as far as researching that breed, all turkeys mature the same, that variety just stays smaller, if they are strutting and fanning I would think they are males, though I have females who do it when they are exerting dominance.

 

[katlovesaandw]

Snood is same on both of them. They both have fuzzy downy feathers in a line on back of head and neck.
And yep, it is more when our 1 dog goes in the yard. Yeti chases her down and tries to be all tough.
Bob is way more mellow unless you are a crow.
Bob is also more intelligent. Yeti, while sweet has misplaced her brain.
They both look exactly like this and are almost 7 months old.
Not my pic, one I found on internet.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's a hen