Ever wonder why jakes have the fan shape they do?

megalomaniac · Nov 3, 2014

I've always wondered why jakes have the center feathers an inch or so longer than the side feathers. I just assumed that's the way the grew in when they got their first set of feathers after the down stage.

So I was very surprised when my pet turkeys got their first feathers, would strut, and have a completely full and level fan- like a mature gobbler, not a jake.

Until this past month... all 3 jakes lost their center fan tail feathers, I assumed it was from their annoying little brothers and sisters (Ameracauna chickens they were raised with) pulling them out. The end result was pretty ugly. a full fan missing the center feathers.

But over the past week, their center feathers have grown back in, and sure enough, they are about an inch longer than the remaining tail feathers- now the look just like jakes when they strut

All these years, I had no idea that their initial set of feathers were moulted and replaced so early in life. I assume the lateral fan feathers will be falling out over the next few months and be replaced by the longer ones with the end result being a full mature fan.

catman529 · Nov 3, 2014

Thats interesting. Is it true the wing bar feathers are uneven on all immature birds? I killed 3 hens this fall and was trying to determine if any were juvi. Two had new tail feathers half way grown in the center, and one had a full fan. That kind of threw me off. But they all were around 9-9.5 pounds. All same sized feet, and not as small as the poults I've killed in the past, and all of them had full wing bars. So I checked them all in as adults.

hawglips · Nov 4, 2014

This is why you can't go by a "full fan" to determine if a bird is an adult or juvenile.

I've killed full-fan jakes before, and I've videoed a full fan strutting jake before. - it's a matter of timing.

Here's how you tell an adult by the wing speculum (secondary coverts).

The bird in the rear and the 3rd from the back (right side) are adults. The others ( the ones with visible wing speculums) are juveniles. Adults' secondary coverts are longer, especially in appearance when the wing is folded. The covert feathers near the bottom edge of the folded wing look significantly longer - almost upside down "V" shaped a lot of the times. Can't see the one in the front.....

Here's a video of all adult birds, except the one juvenile that runs across the screen from right to left at about the 2:25 mark. The wing speculum length is visible on them all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqwCj1zoC0M

Here's a video of toms fighting, and the poster mistakenly thinks they are jakes, because he's looking at the fans and thinks they are uneven. But the wing speculums tell the truth (as long as they aren't moulting).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ThMfx0zx-o

Here's an almost full fanned jake - but his speculum gives him away:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jasiC2j-7U0

Here's a video showing a lot of jakes, then at 14:45 a longbeard comes into fight. You can clearly see the difference in wing speculum length between the jakes and tom while they are together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpF0BnUWgmY

megalomaniac · Nov 4, 2014

I've seen 3 jakes in the spring with full fans ('super jakes'), which I assumed were born a bit earlier than most the prior year. But I had no idea that a jake will have a full fan with his first set of tail feathers at 3-4 months, only to start having those replaced starting at 5-6 months. I'll have to look at my birds this afternoon for their secondary coverlets to see where and when they begin to change.