turkey toms wattles and comb turning from red to white..normal?

[trippy]

alright..cant find anything online that isnt scary for this topic! i was looking out the window at karl, the 1 year old turkey tom (domesticated white)we got a few days ago and his wattle and comby thing went from red to white in about 30 minutes...now it is slowly turning back to red...what the heck?! is this normal? he looked like a completely different turkey !! his head is usually bluish with some red and combs and wattle were bright red when i got him...it went to completely white with only a bit of blue...no red! O_O im obviously a total newbie to turkeys.. its raining hard here and they have a shelter but karl keeps coming out into the rain...is he ok? is this normal? chameleon turkeys? lol

 

[trippy]

hes got his red back..just like that! was that ever weird... for 30 minutes he had NO red on his head anywhere...i hope hes ok.. the only thing i found online was that the wattles and combs in wild turkeys will change colours depending on their moods.. so maybe he had a moment of ?? just thought id let you all know hes fine again and maybe this is normal.. will keep u updated

 

[KrisH]

Turkey heads, the original mood ring.

yes it is completely normal though

RobertH

 

[retlaw]

when my tom gets a white head it is usually has something to do with him getting some action from the hens.

 

[trippy]

yayyyyy, so happy karl is ok

..thanks for your help, you two! between the pffft sneezing sound and vibrating and then the comb and wattle turning white i was a worried turkey mama/ total turkey NOOB!

 

[BMHarness]

The sound you are hearing is called drumming. He is pushing air out while he is strutting to try to impress some ladies and get attention. Turkeys heads change color when they are excited. He's just happy.

 

[flamewatcher]

Thanks for the info i just ran in to check when i saw my toms wattle go all white first thought was illness happy to hear it's normal

 

[ivan3]

Tom's "ornamentation" is almost always shifting in hue/intensity. I only worry when one of the guys goes "dullish" white and stays that way (if there are other signs of trouble - wings/rectrices lowered/moping).

Some are "special" (confuse the competition???): https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/131987/ever-seen-a-turkey-do-this