End of the season bird. Weird!

[Derek]

I killed a turkey the last week of the season. I've killed over 30 Toms in my life and I've never seen this.
He had a double beard, and each beard was thick and 8 1/2 inches long. But.......no spurs. I mean none!
You could see where they should be, but nada. Anybody ever seen that? Fan was a full fan, not a jake fan.
He was maybe 18-19 lbs. A little lighter than some birds I've killed. Ideas?

 

[tn24]

I killed a long beard years ago with no spurs. I was calling to a gobbling bird down below and he came in from the side. Never gobbled but was drumming and strutting.

 

[megalomaniac]

Unusual, but not unheard of. I've killed one with no spurs. I've killed two with 1 spur on one side and none on the other. And I've killed one that had 3 spurs on each side.

Sometimes no spurs is genetic, sometimes they have broken their spurs off. If the legs are completely slick, it's genetic most likely.

 

[cbhunter]

Unusual, but not unheard of. I've killed one with no spurs. I've killed two with 1 spur on one side and none on the other. And I've killed one that had 3 spurs on each side.

Sometimes no spurs is genetic, sometimes they have broken their spurs off. If the legs are completely slick, it's genetic most likely.

do you have a pic of the triple spears?

 

[Stlbaseball1]

I've killed one long beard with no spurs (slick legs), as well.

 

[megalomaniac]

I'll see if I can find the pic... but its from 8 years ago or so


But birds can do some crazy things at times... I actually have a hermaphrodite chicken right now. It is half male and half female. Seriously... looking at it from the left side it looks like a male with male coloration and spur on left leg. The right side of the chicken is female coloration with no spur on right leg. Comb is halfway between a roo and a hen. Doesn't lay, but behaviorally acts like a female.

 

[Gravey]

I'll see if I can find the pic... but its from 8 years ago or so


But birds can do some crazy things at times... I actually have a hermaphrodite chicken right now. It is half male and half female. Seriously... looking at it from the left side it looks like a male with male coloration and spur on left leg. The right side of the chicken is female coloration with no spur on right leg. Comb is halfway between a roo and a hen. Doesn't lay, but behaviorally acts like a female.

Mississippi right? That explains it. j/k...would love to see the triple spurs bird. Never heard of such.

 

[timberjack86]

I killed one like that one time in coffee county.

 

[Joe2Kool]

Same here. Killed one last year with no spurs. 9" beard. Adult bird. And he weighed a whopping 11 pounds! He came in gobbling and strutting just like he owned the place.

 

[megalomaniac]

Haven't found the pic, but it looked like this one. Normal spur with 1/3in tiny spurs above and below the main spur. Not really all that impressive actually, esp when compared to a bird with 1.75in single spurs.