What Do You Call a Young Female Turkey? A Guide to Turkey Terminology

With their vibrant feathers and familiar gobbling sounds, turkeys have become a symbol of the fall season. But beyond the bird that arrives cooked and plated on Thanksgiving, wild turkeys have a fascinating life cycle and range of terminology used to describe them. Specifically, young female turkeys have their own special names that reveal their stage of growth. Read on to learn about what you call a young female turkey at different ages.

Turkey Terminology: Key Facts

Before diving into young female turkey terminology, let’s review some key facts about turkeys

• Turkeys are large ground-dwelling birds native to North America. The most common subspecies is the Eastern Wild Turkey

• Adult male turkeys are called toms or gobblers. Adult females are called hens.

• Young turkeys are referred to as poults until they reach around 4 months of age and their first set of feathers.

• Male poults are called jakes. Female poults have their own specific names explained below.

• Hens build nests on the ground lined with vegetation and lay around 10-12 eggs. Incubation lasts 28 days.

• Poults can fly short distances at 2 weeks old and develop full flight feathers around 6 weeks old.

Now let’s focus on the terms used for young female turkeys.

Young Female Turkey Names

There are two main terms used to describe young female turkeys:

Jenny

A jenny is a female poult or chick less than 4 months old. Jennies have the same gray-brownish plumage as adult hens but with some distinguishing markings:

• Black-tipped feathers on their backs and tails
• Yellow legs and feet compared to the pinkish-gray on adults
• Smaller, lighter beaks than mature hens

Juvenile Hen

Once a female turkey passes the 4 month mark and loses the chick plumage, she graduates to being called a juvenile hen. Key features:

• Mostly brown or gray-brown coloration
• Black and brown banded feathers on their chests
• Smaller size compared to adult hens
• No prominent beard protruding from the chest like on males

A juvenile hen is on her way to adulthood but still less than 1 year old. This name helps classify them as sexually immature females between the jenny and adult hen stage.

When Does a Young Female Turkey Become a Hen?

Female turkeys reach full adult plumage and the classification of hen at approximately 1 year old. By this age:

• They reach a mature weight of 8-10 lbs on average.

• Their legs turn from yellow to pinkish gray.

• The chest banding fades to mostly gray and brown feathers.

• Hens may or may not develop small beards. Up to 20% of adult hens can grow beards.

• Their heads turn mostly featherless and red in color.

• Hens are now capable of breeding, nesting, and laying fertile eggs to continue the turkey life cycle.

• A jenny is a female poult under 4 months old.

• A juvenile hen is a young female between 4 months and 1 year old.

• Once a year old, a hen is a fully mature adult female turkey.

Understanding turkey terminology helps bird watchers and poultry farmers identify the age and sex of individual birds in flocks as they follow the turkey’s growth stages. Whether you want to raise your own turkeys or observe them in the wild, learning the names for young female turkeys marks a fun part of appreciating this iconic American gamebird.