Do jake turkeys mate?....

[ultrastealth]

and do hens nest their first year?

[N.DaWoods]

This ones out of my paygrade. I have wondered the same thing.

[Patton]

Following

[HeyMikey]

Good questions.......answers to which, I ain't got a clue. Hopefully someone will, so I'm following along too

[Campxmas]

Like teenage boys...if they get the chance

[Campxmas]

More specifically...they reach sexual maturity at about 10 months. Most first year males do not breed but the research is not sure if that is due to physiological or behavioral reasons (such as the more mature Gobblers kicking their butt). In domestic turkeys the first year males are very active breeders.

[ultrastealth]

Because of the drought, there are very few gobblers and older hens on our place. I'd say that the ratio is at least 10-1 young birds over 2-year old and older ones. The hens and jakes haven't even broken out of the big winter flocks like they usually do this time of year.

[RogueSamurai]

More specifically...they reach sexual maturity at about 10 months. Most first year males do not breed but the research is not sure if that is due to physiological or behavioral reasons (such as the more mature Gobblers kicking their butt). In domestic turkeys the first year males are very active breeders.

This.

Sort of like freshman boys chasing the Prom Queen. It ain't gonna happen.

[BBReezen]

They do not mate if they are Jakes... at least if they come by my decoy

[ultrastealth]

They do not mate if they are Jakes... at least if they come by my decoy

Last weekend I had a bearded hen and an unbearded jake in front of me at the same time.

[BBReezen]

Last weekend I had a bearded hen and an unbearded jake in front of me at the same time.

Really? Them bearded hens are fair game, at least in our county. We saw our big group this past weekend, one big Thomas was strutting right on the side of the road.