4 month old turkeys - how to tell toms from hens??

[mick&cori]

Hi BYC Turkey Raisers!!

I have 5 turkeys currently. One is 6 months old, one is 5 months old, and the other 3 are 4 months old. This is my first time with turkeys and I'm trying to figure out if they are toms or hens. Some say the shape of their head - they all have about the same shape.. Some say the legs of toms are bigger - there are 3 that have legs a little bigger than the others.

I can post pics later, but is there any real way to tell before they start strutting/laying???

 

[Frosty]

What kind of turkeys are they? Some you can tell by looking at the breast feathers.

 

[mick&cori]

Quote:
I have a royal palm, 3 moddled blacks, and a mix of some sort. It's cream colored, with black and brown markings like a royal palm. No one seems to know the exact color or strand it is. Probably a royal palm mix. It's close to the most beautiful turkey I've ever seen. I've been trying to get pics up, but I have dial up.

 

[Gardeninggranny]

Males usually have bigger, redder wattles by 4-5 months, and the knob on top the beak is larger and redder and males will allow it to stretch down over the beak at times. Also try gobbling at them. Usually young males of this age will spread their tails and gobble back. Heritage turkeys grow slower than meat breeds but by 4-5 months males are generally larger.

 

[erinszoo]

Males have more appendages on their heads and necks including a long strip that hangs down their chest plus the knob on the head grows long. Go to some of the hatchery sites that sell turkeys and look at their pics. They usually have male and female photos of the breeds they sell.

 

[mick&cori]

Quote:
This worked great!! THANK YOU SO MUCH Gardeninggranny!!!!

My DH has a turkey call, so I took it out and gobbled at them. Three of them - the 6 mth royal palm and the 5 mth mottled black and the 4 mth mottled black - puffed right up and started showing. Of course, then they wanted to push each other around. I'm not sure if the other 2 are still too small to show, or if they are female. I'm going to try it again until they do or don't!!

My royal palm is beautiful!! Here's some pictures of them... all I could get.

The 4 mth old mix

5 mth mottled black

6 mth Royal Palm Showing (other turks in pic)