Questionable Tom???

[Plain_View_Farm]

We found a listing on Craigslist last week for a pair of Royal Palm Turkeys. One male one female..
Though we REALLY didn't need any more turkeys we had been considering expanding to Royal Palm and figured whats 2 more....

The birds were kept in good conditions and we liked what we saw so we bought them. These are young birds, hatched this summer, and while one of them is showing a beard forming it does not display like all the other male turkeys we have raised.

Our Bourbon Red and Black Spanish females do not show any sort of beard and the second Palm does not either.

Could this one just be a late bloomer or perhaps still unsure of his(?) new surroundings?

David

 

[moduckman]

I've had Royal Palm hens with beards. It is not uncommon for that breed.

 

[Plain_View_Farm]

Is there any other breed that the females have a beard?
We will be REALLY disappointed if this one is truly a female.........

David

 

[Must Be Losing It]

I'd be scratching my head on that one as well. I have three very young royal palm poults right now and I believe I have two toms and one hen. One of the toms is already displaying in his own little way. What about markings? Is there a difference in the feathering between the two?

 

[Plain_View_Farm]

Yes their markings are different. The one with the beard has more darker coloring in it's wings than the other one and it is larger. It just shows no characteristics of being a male. No displaying, no bumping the fence at the Bourbon or Spanish males in the pens adjacent to it.

Bourbon and Black males we raised last year began displaying at a very young age.

David

 

[moduckman]

A heritage bronzehen will sometimes display a beard. The only thing I can add is that the hens will have "skinny" beards that will be no longer than five inches. toms have a thicker beard from the get-go, as big as your thumb. Another thing, a tom will look like a tom before he even grows a beard.

 

[Struttn1]

I have a pair of bearded hens. One is a young Royal Palm and the other is a 3 year old Bourbon Red. I used to raise standrd bronze and had a couple of bearded bronze hens.

 

[cgjsmith]

thats kinda funny because all of my RP Even the girls have been strutting and carrying on. I havn't got a ton of experience but our younger tom didn't show out for the girls until it was mating season, the older one did. I took it as an alpha male thing. Or that he didn't have the drive to do it until it was mating season, now though both toms show out everytime I walk out the door. I would just wait and see. Theres no real way of telling until they are actually mating. BTW a royal palm/burbon red cross can turn out georgous, the crosses have become very populare. Crystal

 

[Plain_View_Farm]

Well still no display

But.............
HE gobbled yesterday...
We have Guineas in the same general area as the turkeys and one of the females got stuck in her Buck Wheat call. I swear there are times they forget to stop once they start. As I was working on water buckets in the pens I took a bucket and tapped it on the guinea pen fence to try to get her to stop. Our other boys, BR & BS, always gobble when you tap on something. Not sure what that invokes but they do.
WELL,,,,,,,,,
The larger Royal Palm with the small beard began gobbling too. I was quite pleased and take that as a good sign we did get a pair after all...

Thanks for all the input,
David

 

[MissPrissy]

I have a bronze hen that has a small beard.