Can female Turkeys get beards

[Acre of Blessings]

Here is a link that has pics of my turkeys that were in discussion a while back.

Both of the turkeys "in question" are getting beards. My question is the same as the subject line,....can female turkeys get beards.

And for the professionals....the 2 white turkeys in question are growing dark brown/black beards. Anyone know what kind they are now?

I would get better pics but the camera is gone til Wed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=110058

 

[bigzio]

Yep, hen turkeys can have beards. Here in Wi our wild flocks of turkeys have many hens with beards. I recently observed 10 hens and 3 of them had beards.

bigzio

 

[buck-wild-chick]

I think the statistics of hen's having beard in the wild was,
1 out of 100.. Not sure what it is on domestic ones.

 

[Acre of Blessings]

O.K. How about........................Does anyone on here have a white turkey with a dark brown/black beard? If so.....What kind is it?

I am now back to square one with the fact that I may have two Toms.

 

[bigzio]

Please keep in mind that all domestic turkeys are the same breed, unlike ducks and geese. They are all derived from wild turkeys, which have in their genes, all the color variations we see today....giving them different names because of their color.

bigzio

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
Midget Whites, Beltsville White and White Hollands all have a dark beard. Seems like the Hollands have the biggest and longest beard I guess because they are larger than the other two.

Steve in NC

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
I can't really tell by your pics what they are. Where did you get them from? If from a hatchery they are Midget White's or White Hollands. Hatcheries don't sell Beltsville's (one does sell hatching eggs but won't respond to where they got them from and there are not that many Beltsville breeders that can can trace the birds to the originals)

The Hollands are much bigger and heavy than the midgets.

See the size of the hen next to a 5 gallon waterer

Steve in NC

 

[Acre of Blessings]

Looking at the feet on the turkey in the pic above, the feet on ours look 3 times that size. These are birds are around 15 to 25 pounds each.

I will try to get some better pics tomorrow.

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
She was only about 5 months old in that pic. From the size I would say you have broad breasted. Where did you get them from?

Steve

 

[92caddy]

My black spanish hens all have breads and they all strut around just like the toms do.....................