Wild Turkey Life Cycle
Eastern wild turkeys are part of a group of birds that include pheasants, grouse and quail. Wild turkeys are the largest of the North American game birds with an adult male weighing 17 to 30 pounds. An adult hen will weigh from 8 to 12 pounds.
Gobblers (or toms) are identified by a reddish-blue head and neck, a long hair-like appendage known as a beard, a sharp bony spur on the lower part of each leg and black-tipped breast feathers. Hens tend to be slimmer in appearance, have a less colorful head, and have breast feathers with light-colored tips and lack spurs. A few hens will have beards, but other characteristics help to distinguish male from female.
Wild turkeys differ from domestic turkeys in color and body form. Wild turkeys tend to be slimmer and more streamlined in appearance. Tips of the tail feathers on wild turkeys ar e usually deep chocolate brown; domestic birds generally have white tips. Also, the legs of wild birds are bright pink, while the legs of domestic birds are gray or black.
Wild turkeys are susceptible to many of the diseases of domestic turkeys and chickens: fowl diphtheria, fowl typhoid, cholera, blackhead, trichomoniasis and coccidiosis. Fortunately, wild and domestic birds seldom come into contact with each other, thereby reducing the opportunity for disease to spread. Potential for the transmission of disease is a major reason why releasing domestic birds into the wild is not only discouraged, but is illegal.
In the winter, gobblers flock together and separate from hens and jakes (young males). Occasionally jakes are found with gobblers, but typically they remain with the hens until spring. In early spring, the winter flocks begin to break up and courtship and mating begin. Males travel greater distances seeking mates. Gobbling and strutting activity increases. Strutting displays are spectacular, with tail fanning and wing-dragging. Older, dominant birds do most of the breeding and one gobbler is capable of breeding with many females.
Peak time for gobbling in most years is late April. By this time most of the hens are laying eggs or incubating. The average clutch for wild turkeys is about 11 eggs and incubation takes 28 days. In Missouri, most young turkeys hatch in late May and early June.
Wild Turkey Life Cycle Timetable
| ACTIVITY | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
| Flocks break-up | | | X | | | | | | | | | |
| Gobbling Begins: 1st peak early April | | | X | X | | | | | | | | |
| Gobbling Continues: 2nd peak late April | | | | X | X | | | | | | | |
| Courtship/mating | | | | X | X | | | | | | | |
| Hens nesting | | | | | X | | | | | | | |
| Broods appear | | | | | | X | X | X | | | | |
| Brood flocks form | X | X | X | | | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Gobblers seen in small flocks | X | X | X | | | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Turkey nests are often located near the edge of woods, old fields and roadsides, but can be found in almost any habitat. As soon as the last turkey has hatched, the hen leads her brood away from the nest. During the first 3 weeks of life, young turkeys (or poults) are vulnerable to cold, rainy weather and must depend on the hen for protection and warmth. In addition, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, mink or great-horned owls may prey on young turkeys.
Young turkeys grow rapidly and need a diet high in protein. For the first week, approximately 80 percent of the poult's diet consists of insects. As they grow, their diet broadens to include grass seeds, dogwood fruits, wild grapes, acorns, corn, oats and wheat.
While too young to fly, the poults roost on the ground at night and the hen roosts with them. At approximately two weeks of age, the poults fly short distances and are soon roosting in trees with the hen. By 16 weeks, the young poults are hard to distinguish from adults at a distance.
