Telling the difference between a male and female turkey chick

How to Determine the Sex of Turkey Chicks.

The first thing you need to know about turkeys is that a baby turkey is actually not called a turkey chick but a turkey poult. We will refer to them as chicks in this article but the proper terminology is a poult when referring to young turkeys. Young chickens are absolutely called chicks!

If you plan to try and sex turkey chicks within the first few weeks of being born, prepare yourself for a challenge! In order for this to be done successfully and without hurting the chicks the handler needs to be very experienced in turkey physiology. Certain methods of sexing require great care so that you don’t damage the chicks.

Written below are some ways that you can determine the sex of turkey chicks:

• Vent the chicks. To perform this technique, one must first train for several months before they’re ready to attempt opening the chick’s cloaca using their finger. An expert handler will then be able to use his/her index finger to open the chick’s vagina. You could hurt the chick if you use this technique without proper training so please do learn from an expert before attempting this method.
• Use a proctoscope-like device to examine inside the chick’s large intestine. Proctoscope is an optical instrument with an illuminated glass tip that is inserted into the poult’s bowel through the cloaca. With this device, you can look inside an egg and determine whether it contains sperm or eggs. Males usually have two testicles (testes), whereas females typically have just one ovary (ovum). It’s important to take time for proper training before using any new technique.
• Compare the chicks’ covert feathers to their primary feathers. For chicks of a cross between a rapid-feathering male and a slow-feathering female, the females will have covert feathers that are always shorter than the primary feathers, because it is a sex-linked characteristic. This can be a useful method of sexing chicks that are only hours old, with minimal training.
• Wait until the chicks are eight weeks old, when the males will develop larger feet and shanks and have fewer feathers on their heads. The females will appear more gracile.

Information about Turkeys

Turkeys are very smart birds. They can learn new things, including how to use tools like sticks and rocks to get food. This makes them excellent pets for people who want to keep their own flock of chickens or ducks. Turkeys have been domesticated for thousands of years. The wild turkey was originally found in North America. It’s called the “wild turkey” because it lives in the woods. Wild turkeys live in flocks of up to 100 birds, but they don’t always stay together. They’re also omnivores. That means they eat both plants and animals. In fact, they’ll eat almost anything if it’s edible!

Turkeys are one of the most popular domestic poultry species in the world. There are many different breeds of turkeys, from large to small, and some even come in colours. Some turkeys are good egg layers, while others lay only once every few months. Many types of turkeys are raised as meat-type birds. These typical domestic turkeys are often slaughtered at around six weeks old, however we believe that this is too soon and turkeys should be grown slowly and over a longer time.