What Are  Female Turkeys Called? [Secret Female Turkeys Name]

Have you ever heard people calling female birds as Aunt birds or even She birds?

It sounds really funny.

When you don’t know the exact term for the feminine gender of any animal, you feel difficulty in calling them.

Do you know the official name of female turkeys or group of turkeys?

If not. Don’t worry, this article will tell you everything about female turkey names.

What are female turkeys called? Simply, adult female turkey is called a hen. While a young female turkey is named as Jenny. Similarly, adult male turkey is Tom or gobbler while the young male turkey is Jake. Young ones of both male or female are named as chick or poult.

Hen turkeys are smaller in size. In the turkey family, hens do important tasks of laying eggs and taking care of young ones. They can lay 7 to 17 eggs within two weeks. These eggs incubate in 28 days. 

Keep on reading to know more about hen turkey;

Different Female turkey names

In newly born birds, it is extremely difficult to determine whether the bird is male or female. However, after 3 to 8 weeks, you can tell about their sex. It is good to know the names of gender to raise animals. Turkeys have only two names for females. Let’s check out:

Hen

The hen is a very common name for adult female turkeys. It is widely used for feminine birds all over the world. This term was used for domestic turkeys first but now it is used for females of wild turkey as well. This word can be used to represent female adult chicken. It can also be used for females of other domestic large fowls like Ostrich. When you call a female of birds as a hen, it means you know well about its sex.

Jenny

A young female turkey is called Jenny. In the American dictionary, Jenny is used for the feminine. This term not only describes females of some birds but also animals like females of donkey or ass. Jenny is not specific for turkeys only. From 8 to 16-week old turkey comes under this category of juvenile jenny. By 16 weeks, turkey is old enough to be called a jenny. From 8-16 weeks, you can call a young female as Jenny. Kids love this term and especially girls do love it more.

How to tell the difference between male and female turkey

• Females turkeys are usually much smaller in size than males.
• Head of male turkey is brilliantly colored and without features, whereas female turkey does have features on its dull-colored  head
• Both sexes have fleshy dangling undergrowth from beak down the neck called a snood. This snood is relatively larger in males than females.
• Male turkeys have an extra defensive toe little higher on the leg whereas females don’t have this. But this is not much reliable way to identify sex.
• Feathers of both male and female turkeys are different. Male turkeys have long colorful fantail which is used to attract females. However, the tail of hen turkey is not uniform, colorful and organize like male
• Male turkeys have a bristle-like a feather on the chest while females don’t have this feature

For determining gender just after birth, careful examination is required.

Some Important Facts About Female Turkey

If you are starting turkey farming this year, you should know all the facts about females as well as the male birds. There is a list of few fascinating facts you must know before raising this animal. Let’s see;

• Female turkey can lay seven to 17 eggs in two weeks.
• They don’t utter gobbling sounds like males. For communication, hens mostly produce low pitch clucks and chirping soft noise.
• Funny fact is that they have two stomachs, glandular and gizzards. The reason for having two stomachs is the total absence of teeth. Food first enters the glandular where it gets softened with the help of digestive juices. From here, it enters into gizzards for further grinding and digestion.
• The size of male turkey is relatively larger than females The adult female (or “hen”) is comparatively much smaller than male turkey. Its weight is 2.5–5.4 kg (5.5–11.9 lb) and is 76 to 95 cm (30 to 37 in) long.
• Females of wild turkey have wattles that are less colorful and organized.
• Chest beard is present in only 10-15%of old wild turkey females. Domestic turkeys don’t have this feature.

What do you call a female turkey

You can call female turkey as a hen, male as gobbler or tom, young ones as chick, poult or turkeylings.

However, hen and female turkeys differ a lot from a few perspectives. But it does not affect naming. You need not go deep. Just call female turkey as a hen. Hopefully, if you call her hen, It will listen to you and understand you better. Believe me!

What sound does a female turkey make

Turkeys can make a wide range of sounds like gobbling, putt,pur, kee, clicks, and cutting sound. All these sounds are different in meaning and situation. 

The Assembly call of hens for poults is loud yelp to gather young ones. Here is a video of the best wild hen turkey sound calling poult.

Hens do not gooble as Tom. Hens usually cluck in smaller notes for communication. Sometimes they also chirp or kee kee to talk to others. Wild turkey’s sound is high in pitch and can echo strongly in open areas. There is an interesting video of wild turkey sounds.

How to tell male from female turkey poults

Gender identification is not an easy job in the case of turkeys. However, this task becomes easy in a mature bird of more than 16 weeks.

You can identify them through head, snood, features, and tail. Males have a colorful head, long fantail, an extra toe, and a chest beard. Females don’t have these features.

If you want to know more about raising turkeys, read this book.

Frequently Asked Questions (Faqs)

Do we eat male or female turkey?

You can eat both. It depends on your choice. Hens are smaller in size than Tom. People prefer hen for thanksgiving rooster meal

What does a female turkey look like?

Although female turkey is called hen yet it is quite different from the hen. It is bigger in size than a hen.

What sounds does a female turkey make?

Female turkeys often yelp. However, they can utter cluck and Kake Kake sound for calling poults and talking to each other.

What is a young female turkey called?

A young female turkey is named Jenny while the young male turkey is named Jake. Turkeys of 8 to 16 weeks fall in this category.

Is a hen a female turkey?

Yes, female turkey is also hen. However, it differs from a hen in many ways.

Conclusion

From this article what is a female turkey called, naming will become easy for you? Now you can call them according to their age and sex.

If you find young ones of this bird, don’t hesitate to call them a chick or poult. For mature females, use hen and for immature young females use Jenny. You can learn exact words for your poultry vocabulary from here. If you find this information interesting, don’t forget to share it.

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