I Need Some Turkey Help

Today I saw a hen turkey with three half grown turkeys that looked a couple months old, but she also had one little one that looked

like it was a couple weeks old. What's the story? Second hatch? Turkeys are kind of new here so we not as versed on their habits as

most of you guys.

The turkey hen would not have had enough time to lay another clutch of eggs while she is busy caring for and leading what's left of her half-grown poults through their natural range. Turkey hens with different size poults will eventually "shuffle" together in the fall into larger flocks. No telling what happened to the little one's mama and siblings. You're either in marginal turkey habitat or ya'll are experiencing poor range conditions, or both.

Aggie, I don't really know what conditions turkeys like best for raising a brood. What I do know is that after Wisconsin traded

ruffed grouse to Missouri for turkeys, we went from no turkeys to having enough that we have had several removal jobs for them. They

have bounced off my van twice and taken off my daughter's rear view mirror. And this happened in the city. I have been seeing groups

of seven or eight gobblers together all summer. The fall groups around here are usually no more than two dozen, which is enough to

drive people crazy who aren't used to turkeys.

Turkeys here all set and hatch at once, hatching about memorial day. I've gathered eggs when cutting hay before and they will all hatch with in a few days of each other.

Thanks Okie, I thought they all hatched around the same time. That's why I wanted more info. When a raccoon loses a litter for

whatever reason, she goes back into heat again and will usually have a second litter late in the season. I wondered if the same thing

worked with turkeys. Either the three big chicks or the little chick could have belonged to a different hen that I didn't see.

Turkeys here do not all hatch at the same time. Optimum turkey habitat includes an adequate source of water (Lakes, rivers, creeks, stock tanks, even water troughs and other artificial water sources), roosting cover, nesting cover, and food sources (grass/herbaceous plants that provide food and insects plus the fruits/nuts/mast of shrubs and trees). Nest predation can be high if turkeys lack some type of screening cover. This same cover is also important to poult survival after the hatch. Turkey hens can re-nest 2-3 times depending on range conditions if she loses her entire clutch of eggs. This is why one might see turkey poults of differing sizes later in the summer and in early fall when hens with poults shuffle together into larger winter flocks.

And I thought this post was going to be a discussion on deep fry or bake.

Aggie, I will keep my eyes open. The conditions that you describe is exactly what we have; even more so on this particular 500 acres

of property. I thank you guys for taking the time to answer. Dave, my wife's favorite food in the whole world is turkey. The problem

around Thanksgiving is not bake or fry; it's scale or no scale. I'm extremely proud of the ladies in my life. My wife and two

daughters have lost over 100 pounds. I, on the other hand, am still putting on a package of Mega-stuffed per day.

We thought the same thing too Dave!

Wile E. Coyote, Pepe LePew, Rocky Raccoon, & Hooty Owl

Poor hatch this year. Usually see 6-8 poults per hen, this year it's been half that.

Glad you brought up the subject again, DuxDawg. I had a chance to see about two dozen turkeys in a flock. The oldest birds were

nearly as big as the hens. The smallest were about size of a small hen pheasant and the middle group of young birds were exactly

between those two sizes. While I agree with you about the number of poults per hen, I have seen many more turkeys overall this year,

which surprises me because the ground cover this year is exceptional.

I noticed the same observation on our farm. Had a few hens with broods that looked to be weeks apart in size from other hens broods. They were however traveling together but definitely had varying hatch times.

One of my customers took me to a spot on his property that turkeys were using to take dust baths. I told him what it was but I

couldn't tell him why. That's what you guys are for; so why do turkeys take dust baths? To save on water or what?

Why? Instinctive behavior.

The fine dust clogs up the breathing pores on mites and other small parasites and acts as a natural insect killer. It may also remove excess oil from the feathers. Almost every bird I've ever seen does it, from chickens to wrens to tropical parrots...

Yes.

All birds take dust baths. It helps rid them of mites and other parasites. Actually I should qualify that by saying I have never seen ducks or geese take dust baths. Perching and game birds all do. But now that I think about it, while I've seen grouse in dust bath euphoria, I've never seen a woodcock dusting themselves off.

I guess it's rather complicated.

While I have seen turkeys dusting themselves off on a couple of occasions, I once saw a group of two hens and maybe fifteen young of the year taking a bath in the local river. Same motions, just in water instead of dirt. I guess eventually water conservation takes a back seat to hygiene.

Okay, great! I was pretty close. I told the customer that dusting was probably to get rid of fleas and stuff like that. See Jonesie,

if they gave out college degrees for BSing, I would have a PHD!

Plenty of small birds take a water baths too, especially Robins.