Strutting 7 week old Royal Palm turkey...(9 weeks and updated photos)

[teresa-78]

My Royal palm Turkey is 7 weeks old, and today it started to strut with all feathers puffed up, and making a noise which sounded like a gobble... does this mean it is a male (Oh I really hope so

)

 

[bigdawg]

yep sounds like a male to me. i had one srtutting at 4 weeks. just cute to watch.

 

[Lagerdogger]

I would say it is likely a male, but no guarantee. I have a 15 week hen that still struts on occasion. At one point I thought all three of my bourbon reds were toms because of all the strutting, but two of them ended up being hens. Look for the snood to grow out at about 10 weeks.

 

[teresa-78]

Fingers crossed its a male, as I have heard females can be a little trouble... wandering off to lay eggs, or sit on eggs ect... is this true??

 

[BubAnna Angus]

I'm dealing with a wondering hen right now. I know they are laying eggs somewhere, I just don't know where and one hen will stay with the nest. I'm HOPING they are hidden well enough so the coons don't find them either. They keep moving the nest after I take the eggs. So I think next time, I'll mark a couple and leave them in there and remove the other eggs. I wish I could let the hen hatch them, but I haven't had any luck with that yet.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I have a hand raised turkey that strutted, gobbled, & grew a 4" beard. It wasn't till a year later she laid her first egg. She is the BEST mom!

 

[teresa-78]

Well little harold is doing great, I may have to change the name in the future to madge... but fingers crossed... Its behavour makes me laugh so much... always running everywhere, like its in a rush all the time, and dances around the chickens sticking one wing out... and also follows the runner ducks until they turn around, then it walks off ever so slow with its head pointing straight in the air lol.... I so love my turkey... is this male behaviour or do females do this to??

Recent pic....

Its around 9 weeks old now, but that may be wrong, as I dont think the man I brought him off really could remember when it hatched

Edited to add that its just started to lose the fluff around its neck and head in places ...

 

[teresa-78]

Another picture of Harold

He is growing fast

 

[Schultz]

I'd say his dancing for the chickens would tell you he's a boy. I am not an expert though. I was looking through posts just now trying to see how early Royal Palm young toms started gobbleing and found your thread. My Royal Palm poults are only 7 weeks old and when I went out to check on them today, the one I was pretty sure was a boy raised his little head and gobbled! I've never had a young hen gobble but I guess some say that it happened to them. I have a chicken hen that lays eggs and crows, and another chicken hen that has huge spurs but yet lays nice big eggs. I know for sure what I saw today was a gobble because I've seen it so often with the BBB turkeys that we raise for meat. The only difference between the way my little male looks and the way yours looks (mine is only 7 weeks) is that mine has lost almost all of his head and neck fluff. He only has a little left. My female is the same age, born on the same day as he was, and she looks more like your little one as she hasn't lost much of her head an neck fluff yet, she is also quite smaller than her brother. I wouldn't say that is a certain determining factor though as yours has exhibited so many male traits. My little guy has yet to start strutting which is why I was really taken by surprize when he lifted his little head and gobbled! LOL!
Maybe some very experienced Turkey expert will see this thread and offer us his/her knowledge on the matter.
This is my boy

And here is both of them together. Like I say I believe that I have a pair here.

 

[teresa-78]

It looks like yours in def a male and a female due to the size of his snood, I have another thread on here, where some people think Harold is a madge lol.... I really want a harold though.... I have no other turkey to compare harold to, so its abit difficult, and his snood is really non existent

your turkeys are lovely by the way

Opps sorry about the the 2 threads I added to this one last week, and restarted another one about harolds gender