My male turkey lays at my feet, why?

[Arevis2017]

Those pictures are too small to say for sure but it looks like the white turkey in the pics is a hen. It is not uncommon for hens and toms to have pecking order disputes. Hens can and do strut and display and flare up too.

I had one hen that would go into full display and pick a fight with the tom before she would let him breed her.

The behavior also say hen as she is submitting for you to breed her. You aren't the first person to mistake the gender of their turkey.

 

[Arevis2017]

I posted a couple more pics of the little black feathers coming out on him/her.. if it’s a female, should I let her fight it out with the Tom? I’m scared it’ll get hurt.

 

[yesterDAYNE]

Looks like the start of a beard. Hens can pretty commonly grow beards. Here is one of my hens with a beard

Females are feisty and will fight toms sometimes. I would just watch them. If it looks like they are injuring one another too much then I would personally separate.

 

[R2elk]

View attachment 2626280View attachment 2626283

Yes, she is a hen. Hens can have beards too.

Let's See Your Bearded Turkey Hens​

 

[Arevis2017]

Thank you!! I

Looks like the start of a beard. Hens can pretty commonly grow beards. Here is one of my hens with a beard
View attachment 2626305
Females are feisty and will fight toms sometimes. I would just watch them. If it looks like they are injuring one another too much then I would personally separate.

 

[Arevis2017]

Thank you! It’s been interesting figuring out her sex. Lol!!

Thank you!! I

 

[R2elk]

I posted a couple more pics of the little black feathers coming out on him/her.. if it’s a female, should I let her fight it out with the Tom? I’m scared it’ll get hurt.

If they were mine, I would let them work out their differences. The more you interfere with the fighting the longer it will take for them to settle things.

A little blood drawn during the process will heal quickly.

I had a trio of BBBs. The biggest hen was head of the pecking order until the tom got old enough to challenge her. They fought for 3 days straight before he replaced her as head of the pecking order. All was well after that.

 

[Arevis2017]

If they were mine, I would let them work out their differences. The more you interfere with the fighting the longer it will take for them to settle things.

A little blood drawn during the process will heal quickly.

I had a trio of BBBs. The biggest hen was head of the pecking order until the tom got old enough to challenge her. They fought for 3 days straight before he replaced her as head of the pecking order. All was well after that.

Thanks. I’m letting them do their thing. They fought for about 10 minutes and there was very little blood. They haven’t bred yet but are ignoring each other right now. So glad I found this group! We bought these two to eat last thanksgiving and well. The week we bought them my business closed for covid and I raised them thus making them my babies and they didn’t get to the table lol! Love my turkeys!!!

 

[Tammie_1972]

Tom on the left, hen on the right.

Does your tom hate gis grood (I think it's called)? Mine throws his head around and tosses it out od his face lol

 

[R2elk]

Does your tom hate gis grood (I think it's called)? Mine throws his head around and tosses it out od his face lol

The reason they throw their snood around is because it covers up their nostrils and makes it difficult for them to breathe.