new @ turkeys ???

[nanawendy]

I did help my dad w/ turkeys a hundred years ago... But never in charge. I have 2 royal palms and one black. They are 3 ish months old. How do I know if they are male or female. When do they start to lay. One royal palm seems to be doing some romancing w/ no response from the others. The RP's are displaying but not the black. ideas??

 

[Lagerdogger]

Welcome to the turkey world

They sound a little young to be truly romancing. Eggs and poults should come next spring. Young birds will often display, and it does not necessarily indicate sex. If they are 12 weeks old, you should have a pretty good chance at identifying sex, especially if both sexes are present. The males will have a longer, larger snood (bump on nose), generally larger caruncle (bumps on neck), relatively larger and thicker feet, and be larger than the females of the same color. Royal Palm males may be slightly darker or richer colored than females, but I have had some pale males. I think Royal Palms are one of the hardest colors to sex, but if you are patient, there will be no doubt by September

. Even before then, you should start seeing some true strutting in the males, accompanied by some awesome gobbling.

 

[nanawendy]

Thanks so much ...That helps!