she is a HE! new pitcures please check out (page 3)

[thekid]

maybe it is a bearded hen?

 

[Hillsvale]

I have a bourbon red tom that looks much like the OP's, not much snoode at all... but he had really long legs!

 

[jasonm11]

This is the bird in question. I put a mirror in the pen and one of the other hens really liked it. This excited this bird and it displayed but would not gobble. This is also the bird that sounds like it is clearing its throat/raspy all the time.

This one I am sure about i got him to gobble by putting a mirror next to the pen, he would not display though.

 

[Olive Hill]

Hmmm. The snood is larger than most hens, but smaller than most jakes/toms. The strutting proves nothing one way or the other, both males and females can strut. For the gobble try taking a bucket outside, turning it upside down and drumming on it a bit. IME, jakes/toms cannot help themselves when something is banging. They respond with a gobble.

At any rate, one of a few things is going on. It could be a quiet/slow maturing male. It could also be a female who likes to strut and who just happens to have a large snood for a hen. Or it could be a female with a hormone imbalance. In birds male is the "default" gender. If the female is experiencing sexual organ issues, hormone imbalance, etc that could theoretically have altered her appearance to look somewhat male, but she would not gobble.

My advice? Grab him/her up and vent sex. You'll know in a couple of minutes what you've got. She/he either has a penis or she/he doesn't. No more guessing games.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

no need for all that, top pic 100% hen bottom 100% male

no doubt, no guessing

you can clearly see the buff tipped lacing on the top ones breast feathers in this new picture that I was referring to in the earlier post
now look at the tom in the second pic, all black, no lacing. This is how you easily and possitivly sex all bronze based turkeys over 4-5 months old, they are the easiest one to sex out there, it also works for all subspecies of wild turkeys as they are basically bronze based too.
Going off snood, strutting,beard, leg size, etc is just a guessing game til you hear one gobble or see it lay an egg, but on bronze based birds, that lacing is never wrong.


look at the head too, she has what apears to be a very fuzzy one too (another hen trait) plus it has no color.
Now compare it to the tom on the bottom, little to no visible fuzz, nice bright red, with the hint of blue and white, hens dont get all that color to their heads

Just another way to tell

 

[jasonm11]

Quote:
Thank you, I wasn't keen on sticking my finger anyplace. Can you tell me from you're experience will a hen that does this ever lay and mate, or is she confused about her sexuality? If she will lay then I may keep her, if not off to freezer camp she goes.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

oh no, she'll most likely be one of your best producers, she's just a dominate hen is all and letting everyone know it, just like the toms do. Very seldom will you have any production trouble from these as they will take control of the barnyard in most cases. I'd keep her for sure!!

 

[jasonm11]

Quote:
well you may have just saved her. The only thing I am worried about is her raspy throat clearing noises. She does not make noises like the other hens which are quite pleasant. I am afraid she might be sick. She looks and acts fine just her noises. No weezing when breathing so I guess that is good. Thanks again for the info.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

yep, no wheezing is always a plus, hard to know for sure by discription if she' ok ay or not, some hens do have a deeper raspy cluck to them.
She looks very healthy in the pics.
Watch her close, I feel she's just a raspy hen, but watch for lethargic movments, droopy wings, loss of appetite, watery poo, off colored poo (green and yellow) and weight loss. If you see any of that, you may have a problem with her, but she looks just fine in the pics, if she's strutting, she's not feeling too bad!!