Turkey or duck?

[Noellereagan]

Love it! I'm not positive, but I think your turkey might be female. Maybe @R2elk will know.

Me too.

 

[Noellereagan]

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Oh darn we we’re so hoping he was a boy. But it’s probably best for us ! Lol over half our flock is boys besides my 5 hens! She use to bow up a lot to everything but again like I said we’ve never had turkey before so it could very well be just normal behavior

Excuse my nativity but by bow up do you mean fan out and strut? I’m a second time turkey mom but the first time was over 20tears ago and all three of my poults fanned put as youngsters and all three ended up Toms. I have 8 four week old poults now and they’ve been fanning out since one week (all but two) and I was under the impression that if they did this they’d be Toms. Maybe I’m wrong if yours in the photo here did that as a youngster. Is that what you mean? If that’s the case I may have some hens around here with boy names!

 

[desielducks]

Excuse my nativity but by bow up do you mean fan out and strut? I’m a second time turkey mom but the first time was over 20tears ago and all three of my poults fanned put as youngsters and all three ended up Toms. I have 8 four week old poults now and they’ve been fanning out since one week (all but two) and I was under the impression that if they did this they’d be Toms. Maybe I’m wrong if yours in the photo here did that as a youngster. Is that what you mean? If that’s the case I may have some hens around here with boy names!

Yes !!
Haha sorry that’s what we call it as bowing up lol. He’s he used to do it ALOT when he was younger but doesn’t do it as often anymore! And we kept his name gender mutual ! His names nap because he used to nap in our laps all the time!

 

[Noellereagan]

Yes !!
Haha sorry that’s what we call it as bowing up lol. He’s he used to do it ALOT when he was younger but doesn’t do it as often anymore! And we kept his name gender mutual ! His names nap because he used to nap in our laps all the time!

Mine do that too. I love that. Well, I may be in for a lot of gender confused turkeys. Lol. Oh boy! Or girl!

 

[TurkeyTimes]

Strutting is not a good indicator of gender. Both hens and toms will strut. I have a very dominant hen that struts around more than some of my toms.

 

[desielducks]

Strutting is not a good indicator of gender. Both hens and toms will strut. I have a very dominant hen that struts around more than some of my toms.

Ahhh I didn’t know that! That’s good to know , thank you!

 

[R2elk]

I was told if it was a he , that he would be fine. And better off without females around. I was also told that she would be social yes but it would not be a problem if they were the only one.

Whoever told you this was giving you very bad advice. A lone tom raised around chickens will eventually kill chickens as he starts trying to breed them.

do my very best to keep everyone fat and healthy

Fat is not healthy. These are two different things. Fat is good if you are raising poultry to the point of processing them. If you want long lived healthy birds you do not want them fat.

All poultry have to go through their pecking order establishment when introduced to new members of the flock. The more you interfere with their squabbles the longer it takes to for them to settle their differences. Some birds can be more aggressive and bigger bullies than what is considered normal. Hens in particular can be very mean to new hens.

 

[TurkeyTimes]

Yeah don't interfere with them figuring out their pecking order. I have 2 hens that are full sisters and have been raised and housed together since day 1. Then one day one decided she wanted to be top bird and they've been going at it for 2 full days.... interference will only drag it out even tho I'm super worried about them I'm letting them get it worked out.

 

[memphis]

My turkeys love water! They love standing around in their wading pools. When my turkeys fight I have to go in the house to drink a beer. Gotta let them settle it or it will just drag on. A lone tom with chicken hens will not have a good outcome. It would be beneficial to get your hen a turkey roommate. They are very social. She needs someone to gossip about those ducks with. R2elk is not a jerk, he just doesn't sugarcoat anything and is very direct with his comments. I always value his input. And finally...this is my hen Annie.

 

[TurkeyTimes]

Gorgeous bourbon hen! Strutting her stuff, pretty girl