Toms Drumming please explain ?.

[frank53061]

This is like Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins for those old enough to remember that show with all this animal research going on LOL.

 

[Lagerdogger]

In my experience, with 6 toms drumming at once it is quite easy to hear. The puff up for their strut then you have 2 distinct sounds, pffft, thwmmmmmmm. One of my favorite parts of having turkeys.

Mine too.

I have never observed the air sac in the neck, and am not sure about the infrasonic noise. The thwmmmmmmmmm sound so well described by nickie is definitely the tail feathers vibrating. You can watch it if your close enough.

 

[nickie]

In my experience, with 6 toms drumming at once it is quite easy to hear. The puff up for their strut then you have 2 distinct sounds, pffft, thwmmmmmmm. One of my favorite parts of having turkeys.

Mine too.

I have never observed the air sac in the neck, and am not sure about the infrasonic noise.  The thwmmmmmmmmm sound so well described by nickie is definitely the tail feathers vibrating.  You can watch it if your close enough.

If you are able to pick up one of your toms you should be able to feel the "air sack" in his chest.

I think someone's "infrasonic noise" comment was an off hand silly thing...

 

[frank53061]

This is a question I will find out today I have a order for a Tom to be dressed out for a Teacher of my Daughter so Today I will see first hand if in fact what that sound was while patting that Tom on the chest.
I have rooster I think I will dispatch as well since I am going threw with this.
I have never dispatched a Turkey before and I was very young helping my Grandmother with the Dispatching of the Sunday Chicken and the cleaning.
I am going to see if I can get my Son out with me to help we will see how it goes.
My Turkeys are near 8 months old now I am wondering what the weight he will dress out at.

 

[frank53061]

what I figured out what the sound must be is the large amount of feathers in the chest area as well as the craw or food chamber when I patted the Tom on the chest.
I have never dispatched a Turkey till to day and to find that Craw so big and full of food I bet it was the size of a soft ball.
No air sack that I could find.
Now that I am setting here thinking about it I bet there are some old hands out there who have dispatched Meany Turkeys setting there thinking to them selves what a Dip Stick...This Will not be the last stupid question you get from me I promise

.

 

[nickie]

The drumming sound is from their tail feathers vibrating.

For future referance, I have found it helpful to withhold food prior to processing so you don't have a full crop to deal with. Or process first thing in the morning.

 

[frank53061]

The drumming sound is from their tail feathers vibrating.

For future referance, I have found it helpful to withhold food prior to processing so you don't have a full crop to deal with. Or process first thing in the morning.

Yes I know .........................You are Evil you would deny a Condemned Turkeys it last meal

LOL I know about fasting the bird before Dispatching the Bird I did a bit of research before I did the deed I just didn't have a place to isolate the bird before hand no big deal.
I am just kidding about you being Evil Thanks for the Information glad you are trying to help with Information.

 

[Celie]

Feank, How much did the turkey weigh and where are the pictures?

 

[fancyfowl4ever]

The drumming noise comes from the air in their chest, not vibrating tailfeathers. Otherwise I have some really weird toms that can drum without tails(had a few tailless ones and they drummed just fine). The vibration they create to make the noise does shake the tailfeather but its not the source of the sound.

The thrummm you hear is the air the hum they make which gets amplified by their airfilled chest(they just gulp hair and inflate their crop, no seperate airsack). Try it out, make that noise in your throat(kinda like a long drawn out -as deep as possible- gulp noise, mouth closed) then hold say an empty jar to your throat and notice how much louder it is. I have the sound down pat to the point I can piss off my toms in mear seconds and get them to drum back.

The bigger a tom can puff up his chest and the louder his drum the more dominant in the tom flock he is.

 

[nickie]

The drumming noise comes from the air in their chest, not vibrating tailfeathers. Otherwise I have some really weird toms that can drum without tails(had a few tailless ones and they drummed just fine). The vibration they create to make the noise does shake the tailfeather but its not the source of the sound.

The thrummm you hear is the air the hum they make which gets amplified by their airfilled chest(they just gulp hair and inflate their crop, no seperate airsack). Try it out, make that noise in your throat(kinda like a long drawn out -as deep as possible- gulp noise, mouth closed) then hold say an empty jar to your throat and notice how much louder it is. I have the sound down pat to the point I can piss off my toms in mear seconds and get them to drum back.

The bigger a tom can puff up his chest and the louder his drum the more dominant in the tom flock he is.

Very informative, thank you. Always seeing the tail shake, i had assumed that is where the noise came from. Well, we all know the saying about assuming...