Turkey egg update

[jmr40]

Back in April I started this thread

I Didn't Kill a Turkey Today | The High Road

After finding the egg I took it to a guy I know who works knows a bit more about this sort of thing. I tried to call a few weeks later but didn't connect with Ben and other things came up. I simply forgot about it until today when I ran into Ben.

He placed the turkey egg in an incubator along with about 6 Mallard duck eggs. The ducks hatched a few days earlier, but the turkey egg did in fact hatch. For the 1st 6 weeks or so the turkey apparently thought she/he was a duck, but couldn't figure out why she couldn't swim. It was too young to determine which sex it was.

A flock of turkey did eventually come to his pond and the young turkey left with them. So it appears to have had a happy ending.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

That story warmed my heart. God bless,

-J.C.F.

 

[stillquietvoice]

Thanks for the update, good to know the bird found a permanent home

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Nice! I like a good ending. Plus, the turkeys here could use all the help possible.

 

[buck460XVR]

A flock of turkey did eventually come to his pond and the young turkey left with them. So it appears to have had a happy ending.

While it appears that there was a happy ending(and I do truly hope for the best), not learning what it needed to survive as a wild turkey for the first months of it's life may not have been a positive thing. I would advise anyone here tho, before they attempt something like this on their own, to research the laws in their respective state. Here, possession of a wild turkey egg by removing it from the wild, and keeping one in captivity without a permit from the state, would receive a big frown from the DNR and quite possibly a citation and a fine.

 

[jmr40]

I would advise anyone here tho, before they attempt something like this on their own, to research the laws in their respective state.

And I'd second that.

But just to be clear, I didn't do this on my own. I took the egg to a guy who is a trained wildlife biologist who currently runs a facility that specializes in doing such things. When both the mallards and turkey were old enough he released them onto his personal property which includes a pond. They all had already survived for several weeks, the young turkey however was confused living as a duck until a flock or turkey arrived and it left with them.

There is no way to know if it will survive, it may have already been killed by a coyote or bobcat. But the same can be said of all the others hatched in the wild. But at least it had a chance. Had I not picked up the egg it would have been eaten by a predator within hours.

 

[Ru4real]

Here, possession of a wild turkey egg by removing it from the wild, and keeping one in captivity without a permit from the state, would receive a big frown from the DNR and quite possibly a citation and a fine.

And here is an example of the state of things these days. Is it the law I’m talking about? Nope. It’s the brainwashing.

 

[jmorris]

While it appears that there was a happy ending(and I do truly hope for the best), not learning what it needed to survive as a wild turkey for the first months of it's life may not have been a positive thing. I would advise anyone here tho, before they attempt something like this on their own, to research the laws in their respective state. Here, possession of a wild turkey egg by removing it from the wild, and keeping one in captivity without a permit from the state, would receive a big frown from the DNR and quite possibly a citation and a fine.

It could still save a life though, little chickens out of the brooder are still months away from laying eggs but might be an easier target for a predator than a mature hen, that would otherwise be the target, absent of easier prey.

One can buy Turkey eggs for hatching if they want to incubate some.

https://www.meyerhatchery.com/Turkeys-c39791181
https://www.strombergschickens.com/category/turkey-eggs-fertile
https://www.strombergschickens.com/category/turkey-eggs-fertile
Might be worth taking another look at the laws though some also have laws against releasing into the wild too. The intent of that is to not introduce disease into the wild population, as they are often commingled with other fowl. Like the OP’s story.

 

[buck460XVR]

One can buy Turkey eggs for hatching if they want to incubate some.

https://www.meyerhatchery.com/Turkeys-c39791181
https://www.strombergschickens.com/category/turkey-eggs-fertile

Neither one of them sells "Eastern Wild Turkeys" which would have been the egg the OP picked up. Domestic turkeys are a far cry form true "wild" strains/breeds. One can raise and possess wild turkeys here...with the proper permits and authorization. But as with every other wild animal, you can't just catch one/find an egg and hatch one, and raise it, and either keep it as a pet, or release it to the wild, without authorization. I'm gonna guess the same is true in most states. Here, the DNR says to leave wild animals in the wild. If they are in dire stress you call them and someone who knows what they are doing will check it out. Countless numbers of "lost" fawns are "found" every year by folks who have the best of intentions. While it may warm their heart to think they are doing something good, it generally ends up bad for the fawn.

It could still save a life though, little chickens out of the brooder are still months away from laying eggs but might be an easier target for a predator than a mature hen, that would otherwise be the target, absent of easier prey.

Wild Turkey chicks learn to scatter or to hide immediately when a hen gives an alarm putt. They learn how and where to scratch for food from their mom's example. Her content clucks and whines reassures a chick they are doing thing correctly and safely. It is said a chick learns the hens voice while under her, still in the egg. Put a poult in a flock that has learned nuttin' but duck quacks it's whole life, has never had to roost in a tree for protection and has never learned how to scratch for food and it's life expectancy, at least to me, would seem to be pretty small.

 

[jmorris]

Put a poult in a flock that has learned nuttin' but duck quacks it's whole life…

Reminds me of a calf we bottle fed after it’s mother passed away at birth. Lived in a yard with two dogs. It wagged its tail when you came out to meet it and would moo quick grunts.

There has to be some flight instinct things are born with. Chicks, I have raised since I take them from the incubator after they dry off from hatching, still chirp and scatter around every time I come around but they wouldn’t stand any chance in the wild. Even living in a house that nothing can come in or out after dusk until 2 hours after sunrise and after that with a fenced in area, they are an easy snatch without netting over the enclosure.

 

[Armored farmer]

A friend's daughter was given a baby goat. Our friend didn't have a good place to keep it, so heput it in the pen with his beagles.
When rabbit season rolled around, he let the half-grown goat run with the beagles. The goat of course thought it was a beagle and bounded along with them bleating away and climbing on brush piles.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

A friend's daughter was given a baby goat. Our friend didn't have a good place to keep it, so heput it in the pen with his beagles.
When rabbit season rolled around, he let the half-grown goat run with the beagles. The goat of course thought it was a beagle and bounded along with them bleating away and climbing on brush piles.

When the rabbit goes into a brush pile the goat could eat its way in and flush the rabbit.

 

[Eagle103]

Wild Turkey chicks learn to scatter or to hide immediately when a hen gives an alarm putt. They learn how and where to scratch for food from their mom's example. Her content clucks and whines reassures a chick they are doing thing correctly and safely. It is said a chick learns the hens voice while under her, still in the egg. Put a poult in a flock that has learned nuttin' but duck quacks it's whole life, has never had to roost in a tree for protection and has never learned how to scratch for food and it's life expectancy, at least to me, would seem to be pretty small.

I breed turkeys for a living and can confidently say all of those behaviors are innate. No motherly training needed. Now put a domestic turkey, which is bred for growth characteristics, into the wild and I would give it a very slim chance at long term survival.

 

[buck460XVR]

I breed turkeys for a living and can confidently say all of those behaviors are innate. No motherly training needed.

Do you breed wild turkeys for release in the wild? While I agree that some behaviors are instinctual, there's a reason while the reintroduction of Wild Turkeys in areas they once were common, was not successful at all, until adult wild birds were captured from well established areas in other parts of the country and released. Then they took off like wildfire. Not a different strain or breed, the difference being because of "motherly training". I live a few miles down the road from the Necedah Wildlife Refuge. They have been trying to re-establish a viable Whooping Crane population. While they do let nesting pairs raise their young, they also incubate surplus and deserted eggs. They efforts they go to in order to simulate natural nurturing and parental guidance has been extensively documented. The survival rate of wild turkey poults in the wild, even when raised by their mothers is quite low. While cold weather early in their life can affect survival, the biggest contributor to their death is depredation. Mom does a much better job of teaching poults to avoid gettin' eaten than by humans(who also are turkey predators).

 

[Eagle103]

Do you breed wild turkeys for release in the wild? While I agree that some behaviors are instinctual, there's a reason while the reintroduction of Wild Turkeys in areas they once were common, was not successful at all, until adult wild birds were captured from well established areas in other parts of the country and released. Then they took off like wildfire. Not a different strain or breed, the difference being because of "motherly training". I live a few miles down the road from the Necedah Wildlife Refuge. They have been trying to re-establish a viable Whooping Crane population. While they do let nesting pairs raise their young, they also incubate surplus and deserted eggs. They efforts they go to in order to simulate natural nurturing and parental guidance has been extensively documented. The survival rate of wild turkey poults in the wild, even when raised by their mothers is quite low. While cold weather early in their life can affect survival, the biggest contributor to their death is depredation. Mom does a much better job of teaching poults to avoid gettin' eaten than by humans(who also are turkey predators).

I'm not making any claims one way or the other as to the survivability of artificially hatched poults released into the wild but I do have some thoughts. Behaviors such as roosting, scratching around for food, vocabulary and a host of other things are not learned. That's a fact. Could a mother refine such behaviors? Maybe. Could humans in some way mimic these things to give birds a better chance of survival in the wild? I sincerely doubt it but I'm not a highly trained wildlife biologist. My guess is that the increased survivabilty of poults hatched from nesting pairs of adult birds has a lot more to do with the protection from predators they provide for their young than anything else so I think we're in agreement on that. Predatory animals are going to be less likely to attack an adult bird and when mom runs in a certain direction or flies up into a tree to escape, the young are sure to follow.

Getting back to the artificially hatched bird in question my guess would be it did just fine since it knew to join a wild flock of it's own feather. The only disadvantage might be a reduced shyness of humans. I would be a lot more concerned about introduction of disease from an outside bird, especially one that's been around waterfowl, than anything else. Turkeys have a very primitive immune system.

 

[jmorris]

I went on a “caged bird” quail hunt on the Mota Bonita part of the king ranch years ago. A 28ga would have been a better choice for not making bean bags.