I have fallen completely in love with the Royal Palm breed! They are a passive, gentle breed and pleasing beautiful to look at and just watch which is what I find myself doing constantly! This fine fellow who we are calling "Strutter", because we see him often displaying his tom strutting routine and gobbling. You can also tell by the snood which is that flap of skin on the top of the upper mandible of the beak. As he grows this skin will change colors with his mood. His feet are also about twice the size of the others.
Raising these birds has been a learning experience for sure.
I have also learned to never put the camera away too quick because right after I took this picture, "Strutter" displayed his beautiful tail feathers and puffed up, but by the time I got my phone back out it was all over!
This one I have most definitely confirmed is a hen. "Strutter" likes to show off for her. What I am finding interesting is she has more black in her feathers than he does. She's not a plain jane at all.
They have discovered this piece of fencing that we separate the young birds from the older one as they grow out. This is a fun congregation spot for the turkeys but the chickens have discovered it as well. We did have another piece of fencing above it but took it down as we were often finding the turkeys trying to climb it. So at this point we have either 2 toms and 2 hens or 1 tom and 3 hens. That 4th bird is giving me some trouble trying to determine exactly what it is, but when it's ready to reveal itself as to if it's a tom or a hen I will know at that time!
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