Whats that thing called ?

[chseeads]

Quote:
Weapons for fighting.

Does the male use them for mating?

No, they don't serve any purpose in mating.

 

[arabianequine]

hmmm k ty

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

Quote:
Yeah but those one's we don't look at like Grandma she needs to shave but we just don't tell her that...........

Sorry had to do it it was to easy.

 

[chickensioux]

Stanley and his major "snoodage".

 

[chseeads]

Stanley is pretty.

 

[the simple life]

I had 11 wild turkeys show up on my front lawn a while ago and every one of them had those beards. I couldn't tell tell their gender yet as they all appeared fairly young and looked like hens to me but I am sure some of them could have been young jakes.

 

[caddyeldorado2006]

beard

 

[booker81]

I don't have turkeys (yet) but we do.....um....hunt....a lot. I've spent a LOT of time in the woods watching the wild ones

They do try to used the spurs when fighting/squabbling - they jump up and try to rake the spurs on the other tom. They can get fairly long and wicked too. If you youtube "wild turkey fight" you might see some crazy video of them going at it!

When the jakes start growing beards, they really do look like hens with little 3-4" hairy tufts sticking out. When they get older, they get the body and typical feathers of a tom.

My favorite part is when the toms strut and do the little "putt" when they puff up.

I've had a wild turkey strut against my blind once, so he was about a foot to 4 feet away. It was hilarious

Turkeys are neat