When do turkey hens molt?

crj

Songster
10 Years
Dec 17, 2009
1,596
38
173
Rocky Point, NC
I'm wondering about this becasue my hen is losing her feathers. I know they drop feathers all the time but this one seems to leave a trail...... lol. She is fine, eats hangs with all the other birds nothing out of the ordinary. She isn't naked or anything but she is losing more feathers then the other hen.
 
Mine lost the feathers last month. They are now getting the bright new feathers. Should be fully feathered in a week. This was the most noticible molt mine have ever done. Also the earliest they have had all new feathers. I usualy love taking pictures in the fall for that reason.
 
My tom has some tail feathers that are broken in half.There are no feathers but this "stick"that holds the feather.

Will it drop by itself or should I take it off?
 
Turkeys will molt in the summer, my Toms are starting to loos thier fans as it is time to make new ones in about 4-6 week thier tails will be bvack new and clean!They molt like hens do and ducks also molt, it is thier way of staying cool.
 
Is my turkey hen molting or is she getting bullied, only the feathers on the back of her neck are coming of shes only young this years hatch
 
I lives in New Zealand. I studied moults of turkeys for over 20 past years.

At my friend's farm in New Zealand, the adult tom brozne turkey had 2/3 growing outermost primaries 10th on 12th June and shed the innermost primaries 1st on 25th October, at age of 11 months old. One 1st winter tom turkey shed innermost primaries 1st on August and primaries 7th on February. A 1-year-old buff tom turkey shed primaries 8th on 31st January and shed outermost primaries 1oth on 3rd March, moult were finished on May, at age of 19 months old. Take 9 months for domestic tom turkeys to renew their plumages.

Moult durations of adult tom wild turkeys, are unknown, but proberly about 8 months.
 
Robert,
I do not know about moult durations of wild turkeys, as wild turkey are much smaller and more active & nervous than domestic turkeys.
Unlike almost flightless domestic turkeys, wild turkeys can fly for more than 2 miles.

Clinton.
 

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