Male Turkey setting on eggs

[MacPac]

Hi,

We recently acquired a young pair of Bourbon Red Turkeys, supposedly a male and a female. The "male" has a beard on his chest, and his tail feathers are all white tipped, while the female is slightly smaller and her tail is all red.

We free range them, and a few days ago, the male stopped coming home in the evenings to roost. He shows up in the mornings to be fed, then disappears again until the next day.

I followed him and found that he was hiding in some dense brush, so I left him alone, and went and looked at the spot the next morning when he was in the yard waiting for breakfast.

To my surprise there was an egg in the nest he was setting on, and he sits on it all day long, as if he was a broody female.

Is this natural behavior for a young male, or do I maybe have a female with a beard?

Any comments or experiences appreciated.

 

[mightymohan]

male and female should have white tail and wing tips. how old are they? there should be an obvious difference between the look of their neck and head between male and female.

 

[MacPac]

Here's a picture of the turkeys

The one on the left is the one I believe is a male. You can see his beard in the photo.
I don't think that it has anything to do with their sex, but notice he has a white tail, and he fans it more, and the female has a all red tail, no beard, and a "hump" on her back right where the tail begins.

 

[mightymohan]

cant quite see the 'male' well enough. just from this picture i would say both female but if the one on left is a younger bird this may be why they look similar and the male may be sexually immature still. male and female have white tail tips.

 

[Stacyturkey]

We have Red Bourbon turkeys as well. Our Tom sometimes sits with the hen on her eggs to help keep them warm, especially if the weather cools down from a storm.