strange hairy growth on turkey chest

[bibliophile birds]

i noticed today that one of my Royal Palms (about 7 months) had a strange thing poking out of his chest. at first i thought he'd impaled himself on a stick! upon inspection, he has a strange growth. it's about the size of a quarter, maybe a bit larger, of rough, bristly "hairs" that are sticking out 1-2 inches. none of the others have this from what i can see.

these are my first turkeys, so for all i know this is something totally normal, but i haven't seen any description of it in the things i've read. hope someone has an idea what i'm looking at. thanks!

 

[booker81]

It's a "beard"

Most male turkeys, and some females, grow them.

They can get quite long. Folks like myself who wild turkey hunt compare the beard and spurs kinda like how deer hunters compare antlers. I've personally seen up to 11" long.

 

[kuntrygirl]

It's called a beard. Male turkeys have them. My tom has one and it's handsome on him. My tom is in my avatar and you can see it a little bit on his chest in the pic. His beard is about 4 inches long. I always touch it at night when he is roosting.

 

[bibliophile birds]

well, isn't that the weirdest thing! had no idea to expect that. i figured it would be something totally normal if i asked. if i DIDN'T ask, it would have been some highly infectious disease...

thanks guys!

 

[booker81]

This is a pic of a nice beard from a wild turkey, you can see how it kinda gets scaly at the base.

 

[bibliophile birds]

ewwwwwwwww!

thanks for the pic!

 

[EweSheep]

Is there a reason why they need beards? Is it for telling the girls that its a boy or a flag for romance?

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

JUST PART OF A TURKEY
No real purpose in it, a little sexy to the girls, but thats about it, but even hens can get them in rare cases, though much thinner and shorter

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
No more sense than the hair on men's chests. I'm sure that hens can tell toms just as easily if they don't have beards, just as women can spot a man even though he might be hairless. But let's no go too deeply into that.

 

[EweSheep]