Midget White Turkey Questions

[purplequeenvt]

I was given 4 MWT about a month and a half ago. I don't know how old they are, but my guess is 3 - 4 months seeing as they haven't grown a lot since they've been here.

Question #1 - Gender....how can you tell what sex they are if no one is displaying and acting "tom-ish"? I *think* that I have 2 pairs because 2 are bigger, have larger snoods, and redder heads. I have tried to get good pictures to illustrate this, but they are excellent at avoiding the camera.

Question #2 - Are they supposed to have blue eyes?

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
Photos are the best

And yes blue eyes..I used to love staring into my hens eyes

 

[purplequeenvt]

I was a little startled when I first noticed the eyes!

 

[sonew123]

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Stunning aren't they? Let me see if I have any photos of mine when I had some

 

[sonew123]

Here's my girl at 6 months old

And my boy same age..look at his snood...

My girls were virtually non existent .

 

[purplequeenvt]

Ok...I got some head shots. I am now almost 100% sure that I have 2 males and 2 females. The 2 girls have a line of feathers running up their necks and the boys have the "warts" on their necks.

Female

Male

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
Looks to be...too bad you didn't have them when they hatched I can sex them at that age..but it does look like you have a pair

 

[TedJan92_in_Idaho]

At that age the males should have a small bump on their chest where the beard will grow out.

 

[sonew123]

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Yes! Forgot about the beard! It's a dark stub like a small broom!
Good call

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

I had a heck of a time identifying gender on our first poults, too. Behavior and vocalizations are not reliable indicators compared to chickens.

I think I'll stick to snoods, beards, and carnucles (aka "neck warts" LOL) next time.