By Jerica Cadman

Photo credit: Bekah Fisher

Turkeys are really interesting little creatures. We’ve been raising them for about 8 or 9 years now, and we learn something new about them every year.

So I thought I’d share this fun habit of theirs with you.

When turkeys reach about 12 weeks of age, they begin acting distinctly like either boy turkeys or girl turkeys. The girl turkeys, called Hens, are smaller and plainer in appearance. They have smaller snoods on their beaks (the little red flap of skin), and paler skin. Turkeys have bald heads, and their skin is usually pinkish red, so turkey hens have skin that is lighter pink. The hens also lack fancy tail feathers, but the toms have lots of them.

Boy turkeys are called Toms. When you see a picture or drawing of a turkey with a big fan of feathers behind him, that’s a boy turkey—a Tom.

What he’s doing when he fans out his tail is trying to get the girl turkeys’ attention. It’s a silly little game turkeys play.

The way he manages to perk up his tail feathers is to breathe in really big and hold his breath and use that internal pressure to fan out his tail. He’ll hold it for as long as he can—so long that his reddish pink head will actually start turning blue! Then all of a sudden, he can’t go any longer, and “Puffffffffffffffffff!” He lets out his breath, his tail feathers fall, and his head turns back from blue to red.

Don’t try this at home! Otherwise, you’ll be acting like a turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving from your Farmer Friends, the Cadmans!

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