Turkey Chick

[jinman]

Last night, when I got home from work, I noticed two turkey hens in the yard and then did a double take because one of them had one little chick following behind her. I got as close as she and the chick would allow to take this picture. In the end, I startled her a bit and she started to walk off fairly fast. The chick just ducked down and completely hid in the grass. It was like it just instantly went invisible. I watched for several minutes before it popped up out of the grass and ran to its mother. This was the first time my wife had ever seen a wild turkey with a chick. Normally they have 4 or 5, but I'm sure several have been lost to other critters.

I wish the photo was closer, but this is the best I could do.

 

[shvl73]

That's a cool photo. You got a lot closer than I ever have. I've come across a hen sitting on a nest before and only ever seen them leading their chicks around from a distance. I've always needed binoculars.

 

[riptides]

Cool.

This w/e I chased all the turkeys out of my back pasture while bushhogging.

One had two chicks following it to the wood line.

So the question is, what is a normal sized brood and where do they nest? In the pastures or on the edge of the wood lines?

-Mike Z.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Jim,
Great shot ! My wife just loves to see the turkeys traverse our fields with all the little chicks in tow ! God help anyone that hurts those chicks on our property !

 

[shvl73]

The one nest I saw was under a small pine tree, near the edge of the field. I'm not real sure of the number but, I think I've seen 5+ chicks with a hen.

 

[jinman]

So the question is, what is a normal sized brood and where do they nest? In the pastures or on the edge of the wood lines?

-Mike Z.

I have a neighbor who watched a turkey hen destroy a rat snake that was attempting to eat her eggs. He said the snake had no head left when she finished with him. The nest was just at the edge of a tree line near a small meadow.

I have another friend whose brother found a nest in the middle of a field while running a rotary cutter. They found 5 eggs and hatched three of the five under a heatlamp. I believe the normal brood is anywhere from 4 to 8 chicks, with 1/2 dozen being the norm.

 

[ToadHill]

Just this past weekend we had 2 hens and 24 chicks scratching in some newly turned over dirt in the back yard. I'd guess that their was a hen or 2 we did not see.

 

[BB_TX]

Just another of the joys of living in the country.

 

[srossman]

funny I just ran across this thread. I was thinking about posting the following pictures about why I love living in the country. This was in my back yard last weekend. I took these from my sliding glass doors looking into my back yard. They basically hung around for 15-20 minutes.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Very nice, thanks for posting.