Turkey Poults

[Hotspotter]

Saw two mothers together with their groups of poults. Couldn't get an accurate count, but it was in the teens. One group was hatched noticeably earlier than the other, with half the poults looking darker brown and larger, and the other half being greyish and just a bit smaller than a chicken.

Great to see, esp. on our land

Joel

[mntraveler]

I saw a few too on 212 between Glencoe and Norwood Tuesday afternoon. Hopefully the hatch was a good one this year to help my odds this coming season.

[Hotspotter]

Saw a hen with 9 poults on Friday, mid-day. These must've been a very-late hatch, and probably from an attempt to re-nest later in the breeding season. Poults were slightly bigger than a softball, no lie!

Joel

[Cooter]

Anyone else notice you usually see hens with either no poults or lots of them(say a dozen give or take)? I'm assuming for most hens/nests most or none make it. I mean if a coon/skunk finds a nest its done. But once the poults are old enough to roost at night I think most are gonna make it. Seems like an all or nothing type survival pattern to me.

[BLACKJACK]

Saw a hen with poults last week for the first time on my farm NW of Willmar. We've been seeing more turkeys in recent years but this is the first time I've seen poults.

[Hotspotter]

Cooter:

Know what you mean.

From what I've seen, they're quite vulnerable as eggs and for the first month after hatching. After that, they'll get picked off here and there by hawks, coyotes, fox, etc, but mortality seems to be more individual, rather than based on the entire group of poults. I've found several dead poults over the years, each time, a single.

From my understanding, not all hens breed and/or nest successfully, especially 1-2 year olds. Once they see fall, mortality due to predation drops a bit.

Hopefully this year is a bumper crop!

Joel