struttin hen
 

has any one out there ever seen a hen strut. i saw one in s. arkansas last year do the whole nine yards, except fan her tail. she cupped her wings, fluffed her feathers,walked sideways and turned in circle. she also had a 8" beard. is this unusual r have others seen this. been hunting fo 11 years and this my first to see.

RE: struttin hen
 

Yea I' ve seen it a couple of times. Saw one in the median strip of a road close to home with tail fanned out and everything. Don' t know if any of them had beards but it was weird watching them and not being able to shoot.

RE: struttin hen
 

saw it last year...single hen came in to my jake and hen decoy she strutted fully fanned tail and even made a fighting rattle for a couple secs. she then moved on feedingaway like nothing happened!!!

RE: struttin hen
 

I guess some of dem lesbian birds do come out of the closet once in a while.[&:]
I have seen a hen with a beard but never saw one strut.:eek:

RE: struttin hen
 

I' ve seen it once right after a Spring time thumder storm. I guess she was drying out her feathers, at least that' s what I was told when asked someone about it

RE: struttin hen
 

Ive seen it a few times after the rain, i think they were just drying them selves off after the rain.

RE: struttin hen
 

Took this pic about 10 years ago as this little lady came into my calls!She yelped almost all the way in as she came in directly behind my set-up!As i sat there I began to hear a bird spitting but could never here the drum!I thought maybe she had a pulled a gobbler in with her,and as she finally made her way out in front of me I realized it wasn' t a gobbler but her!!Have no idea why she was doing this except possibly she was showing her dominance as the bosshen!!Pretty cool though!!

RE: struttin hen
 

I have a hen that I see all the time ,that has about a six inch beard . I have never seen her when I could get a picture but I keep trying .

RE: struttin hen
 

I used to raise wild and bronze turkeys and I have seen the hens strut, fan,drum and even attempt to gobble giving a fair imitation of a young jake. It always happened in the spring right when they started breeding and right before they started nesting.

RE: struttin hen
 

I have had been very fortunate over the years to witness and record a number of hens " strutting." During a couple of those rare incidents, the hens not only displayed but also would " drag" their wings and even produce the " Pulmonic Huff" very similar to a gobbler...



Many times a " strutting" hen seems to be trying to display a bit of dominance over another strange hen within her area....



The unusual " sounds" associated with each experience certainly adds to every unforgettable encounter....

RE: struttin hen
 

Wow Denny [:o]! Awesome pictures as always! How about posting some more ;). Can' t get enough of ' em.

By the way, just picked up some of your mouth calls, they' re great!

PBB

RE: struttin hen
 

Old Gobbler, are those pictures of strutting hens? Don' t know about the first one, but the second one looks like a gobbler to me. How can you distinguish, hen from gobbler, besides head color and size? I' ve never heard of hens strutting before, just wondering...

RE: struttin hen
 

Fro,the physical characteristics,vocalizations,and body language should clue you in on weather its a hen or not!The pic I posted shows a hen that couldn' t wiegh no more than 10 to 12 lbs.She sports a full fan,no or very tiny snood, tiny head,no beard,and had no drum to her strutting as she was as close as 5 yards from me!She hen yelped almost all the way in,until i clucked at her when she was only about 10 yards away behind me and thats when she began to strut!!I' ve seen this before,mostly in amongst flocks of birds especially when fighting or playing!As Denny shows in his awesome photographs theres no question that the hen or hens in those pics are motivated in the direction of a display of dominance!Hope it helps Bob!! ;)

RE: struttin hen
 

well, those are some excellent pics! It is possible that the hen is just trying to show dominance over other hens that are, or that she thinks are in the area. it could also be a genetic thing, which would explain the hen looking so much like a gobbler, more than likely with a hormonal imbalance..

RE: struttin hen
 

i have some bronze turkeys and have seen the hen strut i believe it is a how of agression ans as far as those pictures i cant say i ever seen a hen with waddles that big and red ???

RE: struttin hen
 

SAW ONE IN ONE OF THE HUNTING SHOWS A WEEK OR TWO AGO. THOUGHT IS WAS REALLY STRANGE. THE HOST DIDN' T EVEN MAKE A VERY BIG DEAL ABOUT IT. I' VE NEVER SEEN ONE DO THIS BEFORE AND HAD NOT EVEN HEARD OF IT TIL I SAW THE SHOW AND THIS POST CAME UP. PRETTY COOL.