Mixed Breed 6 month Old Turkeys (Male or Female)??

Lover duck duck

Songster
5 Years
Apr 10, 2018
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Ok so I was given two mix breed 6 month old turkeys for pets from a non profit place close to where I live. The man has lots of experience with turkeys since that is all he has and he has lots and lots of them. I wanted two males and he caught these two and told me they were males. Well they have not strutted yet and they have not gobbled, so I think they are hens. I took a video and pictures to send to him and he says some of them take longer than others. One of them has the Mohawk and I asked him about it and he said some of his adult males had that way passed 6 months and they turned out to be males. And the Narragansett mix has a beared coming out and has Spurs coming out too.

Today my husband and I grabbed the brown colored one and it has these very pointy spurs coming out. So now I’m really confused. I don’t want hens, I just wanted the males to keep as pets. I was also reading about the droppings and sometimes they do the elongated ones and sometimes they don’t 🤦🏻‍♀️ I am so confused. Here are the pictures to see what y’all think.
 

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Ok so I was given two mix breed 6 month old turkeys for pets from a non profit place close to where I live. The man has lots of experience with turkeys since that is all he has and he has lots and lots of them. I wanted two males and he caught these two and told me they were males. Well they have not strutted yet and they have not gobbled, so I think they are hens. I took a video and pictures to send to him and he says some of them take longer than others. One of them has the Mohawk and I asked him about it and he said some of his adult males had that way passed 6 months and they turned out to be males. And the Narragansett mix has a beared coming out and has Spurs coming out too.

Today my husband and I grabbed the brown colored one and it has these very pointy spurs coming out. So now I’m really confused. I don’t want hens, I just wanted the males to keep as pets. I was also reading about the droppings and sometimes they do the elongated ones and sometimes they don’t 🤦🏻‍♀️ I am so confused. Here are the pictures to see what y’all think.
If they are 6 months old, they are both hens.
 
He told me they were between 5 or 6 months old. How can you tell? What differentiates male from female?
They both have hen type snoods. They both have mohawks. They both have small caruncles.

By this age, males would have snoods that retract into a pyramid shape. By this age males would have zero feathers on their bald heads, only a few scattered hairs.

Hens can have beards. I currently have 4 bearded hens. I did not notice what you think are spurs.

Even late developing toms show what they are by the time they are 6 months old.

If you want pets, hens make better and safer pets than toms.
 
They both have hen type snoods. They both have mohawks. They both have small caruncles.

By this age, males would have snoods that retract into a pyramid shape. By this age males would have zero feathers on their bald heads, only a few scattered hairs.

Hens can have beards. I currently have 4 bearded hens. I did not notice what you think are spurs.

Even late developing toms show what they are by the time they are 6 months old.

If you want pets, hens make better and safer pets than toms.
See and he swore up and down they are males. I like the way the males look but I have grown fond of these. Thank you.
 
If they really are females, and you want to point it out to him, you could let him know when they start to lay eggs :D
When do they start to lay eggs? I really don’t want to wait too long to bring them back to him. He offered to give me two of the adult males (3 to 5 years old). But I don’t know what their lifespan is since they are a mix breed. And I would want them to be used to people since he free ranges and they sleep in the trees.
 
When do they start to lay eggs? I really don’t want to wait too long to bring them back to him. He offered to give me two of the adult males (3 to 5 years old). But I don’t know what their lifespan is since they are a mix breed. And I would want them to be used to people since he free ranges and they sleep in the trees.
They are not a mixed breed. They are a mixed variety and their expected life span should be the same as for any other variety of heritage turkeys. I have had two that lived to 11 years old before they were taken by predators. If they had not been taken by predators they might have lived a lot longer.

FYI, all domestic turkeys are the breed Turkey.
 
They are not a mixed breed. They are a mixed variety and their expected life span should be the same as for any other variety of heritage turkeys. I have had two that lived to 11 years old before they were taken by predators. If they had not been taken by predators they might have lived a lot longer.

FYI, all domestic turkeys are the breed Turkey.
He told me they are mixed with Narraganset, bourbon red and black Spanish. He has them all free range and they sleep in the trees and on fence. I saw them all there. He has 1 purebred of each and the rest are all hens. It’s a turkey rescue place that’s why I trusted him to know if they were female or male. Do you think taking the males he’s offering will be ok as long as they are friendly?
 
He told me they are mixed with Narraganset, bourbon red and black Spanish. He has them all free range and they sleep in the trees and on fence. I saw them all there. He has 1 purebred of each and the rest are all hens. It’s a turkey rescue place that’s why I trusted him to know if they were female or male. Do you think taking the males he’s offering will be ok as long as they are friendly?
I have no doubt that they are mixed and not pure varieties. If you have other poultry, it is a really bad idea to bring in a pair of toms. Eventually they will try breeding the other poultry during breeding season.

If it is a rescue, you will not have any idea of the background of these turkeys. If you just want these turkeys as pets, keep the hens. In the long run you will be happier with the hens.
 

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