Opinions on a strange looking turkey

[TalknTurkey]

I have a buddy that lives in a suburb area along a river. He sent me these pictures last March of this group of turkeys that he had seen around his property.




Well in the past week, one of the white ones has returned and is just hanging out around his house. It's sleeping in his driveway and following them into their house from the car. It just seems so bizarre!!

After looking at the pictures he sent me, it appears to be a bearded hen. The ones I've seen over the years have pencil beards like that and I don't see any spurs. My first reaction was they were domestic turkeys that got out of someone's pen.

I actually suggested he contact his local DNR because I thought domestic turkeys weren't supposed to get out into the wild due to risk of transmitting disease. But he said he called and the CO wasn't concerned and his opinion was it was wild. So what do you guys think? Is it really a wild turkey or is it an ultra rare albino bearded hen that just happens to think it's a pet?

[bigriverbum]

i have no answers for you but i'm crying laughing at the sleeping picture

[TalknTurkey]

i have no answers for you but i'm crying laughing at the sleeping picture

I know, right?! When he sent me that I thought he'd hit it with his truck and it was dead haha...the whole situation just seems so crazy!

[bigriverbum]

this bird is like the first wolf that came into man's fire 200,000 years ago. 

won't be long til it's ancestors are miniature sized and yelp at the mailman

[guesswho]

Could be wrong, but built like a barnyard bird to me.

[Ozarks Hillbilly]

Looks like a domestic turkey to me.

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[Cowboy]

Could be wrong, but built like a barnyard bird to me.

I agree. Legs seem short to me as well.

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[ol bob]

Looks like a Royal Palm to me.

[Meleagris gallopavo]

Looks like 2 wild jakes with them.


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[Mossberg90MN]

I would say 2 domestic birds.


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[TonyTurk]

Maybe a cross between a domestic bird and a wild bird?

[CAPTJJ]

As mentioned, they look like Royal Palm hens.

[TalknTurkey]

Thanks guys, I passed along that information to him. He said the CO's rationale for thinking it was wild was due to it's small size and having too much other color in it. But I googled Royal Palm and looked at some pictures of them and they have black mixed in with them also so I think you guys may be right!

[silvestris]

Feet look a bit large to me.