RE: What causes a "striped" beard? see pic
 

From what I have seen on some hunting shows
I forget who it was.
I think it was the NWTF
But they said it is from poor nutrition.
I have seen this on different hunting shows and
Thats what they said it is from.

The people were bio ( I can't spell it )
So I gues they would know.

RE: What causes a "striped" beard? see pic
 

jrbsr,makes perfect sense to me,if he isn't getting the nutrition he needs the beard is the least important thing the bird would need to survive,so why not cut back in an area where you don't need to send nutrition to?Just like our hair would get brittle if we were malnurished.Once we became healthy again then normal growth would resume.Now what about this...Experts say on average the beard can grow 4-5 inches per year.I say they can do it in 10 months..hear me out.

Normal turkeys are born here in early may,but 10 months laterwhen season opens here in Marchthey have 3-5 inch beard as jakes.Say he is normal...but most beards with beard rot occur at3-5 inches from the end of the beard.So what is going on in the beginning of spring from the time he is a jake that would stunt the growth for 1/8" or so in his beard?The growth picks back up,and another 3-5" comes out,then the beard breaks off if it is too weak.

Check this theory out,in early spring the jakes try to do a little mating(losing body weight there too,getting weak),next thing ya know the hens go off to nest,the mature gobblers usually won't hang around them at this time either,mama's gone and now they have to depend on themselves to find new food.If he's in an area that is not a very nutritiously rich environment,and he doesn't know where the best spots are like mama does,surely his nutrition will go down even more until he finds an abundance of nutritious food.Maybe he doesn't know which seeds are the best,or where they grow..until he stumbles upon them,or another food source.

Really they can't remember the spring the year before,during that time when they were just an egg,or very young poult,so how do they know where to go to find an abundance of food,or what food to eat during this time as all the new growth is coming out?Then they figure it out,get their weight/health back up,and melanin production starts again.

....That's alot of punishment on a growing body....Does it make sense?

I'll bet we'll find most birds with beard rot are 2 yr olds.(Not all,but most!;))What do you think?

RE: What causes a "striped" beard? see pic
 

Don't know what causes it, but, I killed a bird this year who was a double beard. And it was on both beards.
And both beards were broken off!!
Lookedlike someone had taken a lighter to the ends of them.
And somehow, the beards had grown "woven" in between the breast feathers.
When I killed it, it scared me to death, because here inWV it is bearded turkey only season.
I thoughtI had killed a gobbler with no beard.
I knew it was a mature gobbler so I didn't pay attention to the beard.
Taught me a very valuable lesson.