Congrats

Glad he came in for you, Lugnut! I would still love to know what it takes to break off one of those spurs. Let me know if you have any theories!

That first pic is a nice one !

My only theory/assumption is that it happens during fighting. And I base that on the fact that the only broken spur I’ve ever seen was on a gobbler that was beat to heck from fighting.

I’ve seen gobblers fight and it is sometimes very violent. It’s still hard for me to believe that even that level of violence could break off a spur though. Those spurs are tough, just try to break one off and you’ll see what I mean, you really can’t do it, at least not with your fingers.

I suppose something in the turkeys’ environment could cause it, getting caught in rocks, a missed landing in the roosting tree, something like that.

I guess it’s also possible that physical condition might play a role. As I mentioned, the only time I’ve ever seen a broken spur it was on that very beat up gobbler towards the end of the season. He had probably lost 15% to 20% of his body weight and likely had a very physically demanding six or eight weeks prior to my killing him. Being in the weakened state that he was may have somehow weakened the keratin that the spurs are made of.

Those are my theories, let’s hear yours.

Nice one. Congrats.