What is a Young Male Turkey Called?

The turkey is a large bird native to North America that is a traditional centerpiece for holiday meals. Male and female turkeys have distinct names depending on their age. But what exactly is a young male turkey called?

Male turkeys go by two different monikers based on whether they are adults or juveniles. An adult male is called a tom or gobbler while a young male is called a jake. Let’s take a closer look at the terminology for male turkeys.

Adult Male Turkeys: Toms and Gobblers

An adult male turkey is called either a tom or a gobbler. These names are used interchangeably.
Toms are much larger and more colorful than female turkeys. They have metallic iridescent feathers in shades of bronze, copper green, and gold.
On average, toms weigh 16-24 pounds and have a total length of 48 inches from beak to tail. Their wingspan can reach over 5 feet across!
Toms are distinguished by the long, hair-like beard growing from their chest. This beard averages 9 inches long.
Another trademark feature is the fleshy wattle that hangs from the tom’s neck. Their heads are featherless and turn bright red when excited.
Toms are known for making the distinctive “gobble” call. They gobble to attract hens and establish dominance.

Young Male Turkeys: Jakes

A male turkey under 1 year old is called a jake.
It can be tricky identifying the sex of young turkeys. Jakes look nearly identical to juvenile females (jennies) when poults.
Starting around 6 months old, jakes develop small beards and start practicing their gobbles. Their tail fans also get longer.
Jakes act more aggressive than jennies. Watch for jakes fighting with their wings and pecking to establish dominance.
Pick up and examine the under-tail area. Jake chicks have a bumpy, pimply vent while jennies have a smooth vent.
Listen for sounds. Young jakes may cluck softly or make raspy gobbles, while jennies yelp and purr.

Comparing Adult Jake and Tom Turkeys

While jakes start out looking similar to jennies, some distinguishing traits emerge as they mature:

Size – Jakes reach over 48 inches long and 24 pounds, while hens stay under 36 inches and 12 pounds.
Colors – Jakes develop brilliant metallic and iridescent feathers while hens keep an overall brown hue.
Head – Jakes’ heads turn bright red and become featherless. Hens retain some head feathers.
Behaviors – Jakes strut, fight, and gobble loudly. Hens are quieter and focus on brooding.

Origins of “Jake” and “Tom”

The names jake and tom are commonly used for male turkeys and other male gallinaceous birds like pheasants, grouse, chickens, and quail. But where did these colorful terms come from?

Jake likely derives from “jack”, meaning a young male animal. “Jack” is thought to reference the male bird’s masculinity.

Tom also highlights maleness. Its origins are uncertain, but may refer to a male turkey’s strutting behavior as he moves about or “toms” around his territory.

Whatever their exact roots, jake and tom have stuck as the standard labels for young and adult male turkeys over the centuries. The names help distinguish males from females (hens and jennies) across ages.

what is a young male turkey called

Turkey Basics-Gobblers and Hens

Let’s begin with the basics of distinguishing male wild turkeys (gobblers) from females (hens).

Gobblers are larger-bodied birds, with a darker coloration, at times appearing almost black. In bright sunlight, their feathers cast a brilliant bronze or metallic iridescence. Gobblers have a featherless, red head (sometimes with blue and white coloring, too) with prominent wattle and fleshy, red growths (called caruncles) on their neck. They also have a “beard”—a tuft of black, hair-like strands—protruding from their chest.

On adult gobblers (called toms), the beard can be 7-9 inches or more in length, but on young gobblers (called jakes) the beard is <6 inches long. Typically, gobblers hang out away from hens during the summer since they take no part in raising young.

Hens are more brown in coloration and smaller in size than gobblers. They have a head that is more blue-gray in appearance, often with feathers continuing up the back of the head.

Occasionally hens will have a beard, but it is thinner than on gobblers and is quite often kinked. Hens can also have some feather iridescence, but not to the same extent as gobblers.

How many gobblers and hens do you see in this picture?

2 gobblers (both jakes, note the larger size, less-feathered red heads, and tiny stubble of a beard protruding from the chest of the jake on the right), 4 hens (one mostly hidden behind a jake, but you still can clearly see the typical head of a hen turkey poking out), 1 unknown. If we were here in person live, the birds would move about and we could probably determine that the unknown is another jake, but given what we can see in this photo, it’s best to just call this partially obstructed bird an unknown.

Poults develop very quickly (they must in order not to be eaten!) and feather types, appearance, and body size change rapidly as they age. Based on these characteristics, we can estimate the age of poults. For simplicity, we divide poults into three age classes.

1 week old or younger. Poults that are no more than about a week old are still covered with downy feathers and are very small (<5-6 inches tall). They look like little puff balls about the size of your fist.

Turkey Poult Class 1

2-5 weeks old. Poults in this class have grown longer wing feathers, but still are mostly covered with downy feathers on their body and still lack long tail feathers. They are about 6-10 inches tall, similar in size to a Blue Jay. In appearance, they look to be all wings (which is good because it means now they can fly into low trees to escape ground predators). Poults on the older end of this age class will have started to grow some juvenile plumage on their bodies, but still have short tail feathers.

Hen with class 2 age group poults

Hen with older class 2 age-group poult (borderline class 3)

Hen with class 2 age group poults

6-8 weeks or older. Poults early in this stage still have some down feathers occurring on the neck and head, but their body is covered with juvenile type contour feathers. They have visible tail feathers now, black-and-white barred wing feathers are emerging, and they stand about 10-12 inches tall, similar in size to a crow or a chicken. By about 8 weeks of age, poults are beginning to grow new “adult” looking body feathers and will have a mixture of juvenile feathers and adult feathers on their body. They are about half the size of the hen and will continue to grow to almost the same size as the hen by the end of the summer. Turkey Poults

Because they are very similar in size, late in the summer it can be very challenging to determine if a group of similar-sized turkeys is a flock of hens without poults or a hen and her older-age-class brood. If you’re unsure, it’s best to mark them as unknowns.

Tom or Hen Turkey Poult? How To Tell the Difference

FAQ

Is a male turkey called a tom?

Information. The sex designation of “hen” (female) or “tom” (male) turkey is optional on the label, and is an indication of size. Toms are larger but both toms and hens should be equally tender.

What is a yearling turkey called?

· 3y. A mature male turkey is called a “tom” or “gobbler,” a mature female is called a “hen,” a yearling male is a “Jake,” a yearling female is a “Jenny,” and a baby is called a “poult.” In the farm trade, a turkey under 16 weeks is a “fryer” and those 5-7 months old are called “roasters.”

What is the nickname for a young turkey?

A baby turkey is called a poult and they are active as soon as they hatch.

What are the names of male female and young turkeys?

A male turkey is called a tom or a gobbler, a female turkey a hen, and a baby turkey a poult or chick. A young male turkey is called a jake and a young female is called a jenny. A group of wild turkeys is called a flock, a group of domesticated turkeys is commonly referred to as a rafter.

What is a baby wild turkey called?

A baby wild turkey is called “chick”, while “poult” and “turkeyling” are often used to call a domestic one in poultry. However, “chick” is the most common name for baby turkeys because these young creatures look lovely like chicks. Read our related article, What is a Group of Baby Quail Called?

Do baby turkeys have a different name?

You might be surprised to learn that baby turkeys, depending on if they are domestic or wild, have a different name. A group of young turkeys, also known as poults. Baby Turkeys: Poults or Chicks? A baby turkey is officially called a poult if it’s less than 4 weeks old and is a domestic turkey.

What is a young male Turkey called?

But when they grow up a bit, the young male turkey is called a ‘jake,’ and the young female turkey is called a ‘jenny.’ Certain classes among other remarkably similar yet unrelated birds are referred to as turkeys, such as the bustard or the Australian turkey, megapode or the brush turkey, and the snakebird or water turkey.

What do people call a wild turkey?

What do people call them? A juvenile male wild turkey is called “jake”, while a juvenile female one is called “jenny”. Turkeys’ names also change when they reach adulthood. An adult male turkey is called “tom” or “gobbler”, while an adult female one is called “hen”.