Jake or Tom?

Sounds like a Jake to me

I was told that sometimes when a jake was hatched early spring of the previous year it allows it to have more time to grow. Resulting in a super jake with a full fan but small spurs.

according to the ministry,the tail feathers don't matter.The leading wing feathers of ADULTS have white barring to the tip,and the tip is usually rounded.I noticed this on three birds this year,they had a different number of longer tail feathers,but were adult birds.

The spurs don't lie. Unless he broke them both off, I'd say jake.

It takes time to grow spurs. Feathers are different on EVERY bird, of any species.

The beard doesn't mean much. I've seen massive toms with tiny beards. Ice/snow can break them off etc.

S.

I tend to agree that it is a jake but by the definition on the reporting worksheet I reported it as mature. Personally, Im calling it a Jake.

Here are some pics:

I posted the smallest Tom fan that I have in my collection as a reference as well (the one below). See that the fan in question (top) has uniform feather length. I didnt save any of the wing feathers, but they were all rounded.

It looks like my original guess at beard length was about 1/2 an inch short.

I wouldnt quite call the spurs nubs, but very short at 1/4 inch.

Sorry for the 2 bad pics, took them in my shop with cell phone.

That'd be a jake, the variations I've seen from jake to jake in their tail fans is astounding. Spurs are your tell-tale and those nubs are a jakers.

jf

Jake for sure.
BTW in rare cases hens can grow spurs too ;-)

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Originally Posted by sullyy

Jake for sure.
BTW in rare cases hens can grow spurs too ;-)

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Ya, I decided to do some research after your first response and discovered that fact. I also learned that there have been cases of gobbling hens, and also strutting hens.

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Originally Posted by mox72

Ya, I decided to do some research after your first response and discovered that fact. I also learned that there have been cases of gobbling hens, and also strutting hens.

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There is a scene from one of the Primos turkey hunting videos a few years back where they filmed a hen that was strutting and gobbling. It sounded funny!

I think it is possibly a very late jake that just had not changed any tail feathers yet. I have seen them with only 2 feathers swapped out, to almost a complete fan and only a couple of shorter feathers on the ends. The pics will help, but by the sounds of the spurs and beard, that would be my guess.