I' ve noticed lately and never paid attention to it before.But are all or most all Toms missing one feather from the secondary tail feathers? My fan has a gap and so do most of the ones I see. Is it just coincedence or is there something to this?

I have only had a couple that were missing feathers.I have saw birds in photos with several missing.I guess it is because the strut so much and fight.

mine were all there....i have a beautiful full fan on the wall.....he was quiet a strutter though.....his wings were broke way down......i guess fighting and things like that would take them out...but i dont think theres a reason ALL turkeys loose them like age or anything....just a coincidence id say....probally from fighting and such....

mine are just perfect [:-][:-][:-]

OK, I' ll take it as I' m just seeing things Thanks guys/gals. Just seemd odd that 90% of the pictures I see and my own bird were missing the same feather. Wierd cowinky dink

Just as chasin girls cause' s one to lose one' s hair, chasin hen' s do the same for Toms. It' s a never ending battle.

Ther' s probably something to your theory too

There was a subordinate tom in the area where I hunt this past spring. I saw him 2 or 3 times before season. He was missing a feather or two in his fan. It wasn' t hard to pick him out from the others in the area. To my knowledge, he wasn' t killed during the spring season.

He could have gotten wupped up on by another bird, or possibly if you shot him strutting , you may be the culprit...