How to help a hen with poults?

I've got a hen with 4 poults that have been living in my yard the past few days. She doesn't like to pose for a picture, so this is the best I got:



I hate to even walk outside because I will scare the turkeys and she will take them into the woods, but she soon brings them right back. There was even a gobbler strutting for her one day last week, but I think he figured out she wasn't interested. I went months without seeing a turkey around, so it's good to see some. I think it shows how poor the habitat is around here when my yard is the only bugging area she can find. I have held off cutting the grass, but it's not exactly loaded with insects anyway.

Anyone got a suggestion of how to help her out? I thought of putting out some wheat for her. It would seem reasonable to think that letting her find an easy meal would help, but I've never seen that recommended anywhere. Is there anything I could do for the poults? I thought of buying crickets, but can't think of a way to make them available without most getting away.

Is there anything you can buy and put out that poults can eat? What do you feed domestic turkeys at this age?

I think these turkeys illustrate how an area can look like great habitat yet have no turkeys. There are just no bugging areas around here. Leaving out just one type of critical habitat results in no turkeys.

I could send you some of my special no hopping yellow striped crickets. 19% protein

Send them on!

I wanna see these poults grow up.

What about some of that high protein starter feed like they give young chickens and domestic turkeys. Even if the poults didn’t eat it at first I’m sure the mama would appreciate it and probably be able to communicate to them that it was something good.

Mine seem to like to hang around the corn feeder. Maybe they enjoy the corn, maybe its just buggy out there? Seems like that feeder has attracted a LOT of critters. Deer, Coon, Opossum, dove, crow, coyote ETC.

Jason

Preacher, go to a tractor supply & get a bag of mealworms for chickens,they'll wear em out

We feed laying pellets through spring then medicated starter/grower and gamebird high protein after hatching. Trying to help the turkeys and quail have every advantage possible.

leave a .22 on the porch for varmits....

I always fed milo after the season was over. I was told by an old timer the seed was small enough for the poults to eat after they started growing good. If nothing else the hens had easy picking in open areas.

Wild bird seed and milo.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll see what the feed store has in stock. Of course, a hawk will probably get them all today

I've got two big ones that have been hanging out here a bunch and that's all I can think when I see them....."Yep, there goes those turkey poults."

Hell SSS

X2

Same goes for any feral cats, possums, coons, etc. Anything with turkey on it's breath would have to die.

I think one of the reasons she keeps hanging around here is that it's the safest place around. The neighbors have lawns, but they all have free ranging dogs. The poults should be able to fly now, so a hawk might be their biggest danger if they stay around here.

Get some dried meal worms from tsc, you will have them eating out of your hand

An 8ft post with a steel trap on top will help with those hawks. Goodluck with them buddy, maybe they’ll make it!

That'll clean out the Hawks and you're bank account!.... Just saying.

I heard mention of someone doing this. I couldn't believe they freely talked about it out loud.

My chickens love those mealworms. When they see me walking towards the backyard, they come running!! I can shake the bag and the will run over from wherever they are

Also, maybe buy a bunch of crickets and letbthem go near where you usually see them

you will need to know an attorney that practices in Federal court......

I found some mealworms at my local feed store. I just put them out on a piece of cardboard so maybe ants and such won't get all of them. I also bought a bag of scratch feed and put some out in the same area. If they find it I will keep out food as long as they hang around. They were in the yard again this morning.

Ah I’m just messing with y’all. My Uncle Donald used to be hell on em though.(Lord rest his soul) He raised quail and always kept 30 or so sparring roosters. There aren’t many things in this world meaner than a hawk trapped in a flight pen! Those old dirt farmers grew up in a different time for sure though.

When i was little i was in new market al. Stayin at popaws and they kept a bunch of chickens. We kept the hen house door open at daybreak. The hens would get out and roam. At dusk they would all go back in the hen house and roost and we would close the wooden door up til the next morning. Well it was a 10x10 hen house with roostin poles about 5ft off ground. It was boxed in solid with a 3x3 screen window on front. I woke up to a screaming racket one night about midnight. Pop grabbed the 16ga and we ran out. A dang chicken hawk had gotten into that hen house through that thick chicken wire. It was actually that screen wire mesh thats about 2x3in square holes. He somehow broke in there and killed a couple chickens. Pop shot it. That thing had some mean tallons on it. It was strange to have a hawk out at night i thought but that sucker sure came out in the middle of the night.

So I put out food for them, and they disappeared. . Something could have scared or killed them, or the hen could have decided I didn't have enough grasshoppers and left. Anyone need some scratch feed and weevils?

They are back out in the yard again, and she still has all 4 of the poults. I've been seeing them over a week now, and she hasn't lost one for at least that long. It will be interesting to see if she can raise them all.

I guess I am a certified bird watcher now. Ain't there some kind of uniform I'm supposed to wear?

Some sick game you're playing. Feed these cute little baby turkeys, so you can blow their heads off in a few years....

Yes. Having lived in the land of the Yanqui (Ohio) and running into "birders" in various places while outdoors, you are to wear Orvis clothes, Clark Wallabees (unless in the wet, then Mucks or L.L. Bean), a Sun Cube Boonie Hat, and the most expensive binocs you can muster....extra points for a high end DSLR...

Someone told you they were still close...

You got 'em!!

Get a 4x8 cheap peace of plywood and set it on some concrete blocks. Scatter some poult starter feed under it and you can also put some water under there if you want. They can feed without hawks getting to them and get a good high protein feed.

I wish the damn hawks would feast on all the baby geese I been seeing instead of the baby turkeys !!!

I don't think anything eats geese! Their numbers are growing big time down here. There's a pond at the end of our road that stays full of geese and a bald eagle sits in a big oak watching them daily. Never seen the eagle bother them.

Throw out every few days some scratch feed, crushed corn, and shelled corn for big turkeys. You could put a feeder off to side without it for a while, then after a couple weeks put feed in it. Chicory they claim Turkeys will scratch up. If you can prescribe burn an area or mow some fields that will provide good turkey habitat. With some large trees further back to stay in at night. Hawks will eat those babies up if you have any. Noticed years ago turkeys were drawn to pastures for cattle.

Isn't that what all game management does?

Yesterday we were in the house watching TV about 5 pm when something hit the front door. It sounded like someone knocked one time. I went to the door and the turkeys were standing at the base of the steps. I don't know if one of the little ones flew into the door or what might have happened. Maybe they wanted more meal worms?

I quickly shut the door and they went back to stalking grasshoppers.

Turkeys knocking on his front door...

If anyone thinks this man doesn't have a cure for any turkey jinx you might encounter, you are mistaken

You know you're good when the turkeys are knocking on your front door trying to get in the house with you! Lol!

For anyone interested, she still has all 4 of the poults and they still spend time in the yard every day. The poults are noticeably bigger and they are ranging out a lot more than they were a week ago. I think they were able to get around on my lawn better than any habitat around when they were so small, but they are big enough to go anywhere now.

I've got scratch feed in several places and I seldom see them eating it. They seem to prefer walking the lawn and looking for insects to a free and easy meal. Watching them kinda confirms my belief that it's a lot better to provide any game with good habitat than it is to feed them.

enjoyed the update

Keep us updated please.

When they were about a month old, my neighbor saw a flock with 3 hens and about 15 poults, with the poults being several different sizes. I didn't see them, but this was about 200 yds from my house. I have not seen them on the lawn again since the poults were small. I hope that she joined up with other hens and they were part of the group, but no way of knowing.

I have kept scratch feed out and have seen a lone hen in it a couple of times. I hope it isn't her. I didn't expect her to keep them on my lawn for very long. The short grass had enough insects for the poults and they could easily get around on it, but as they got bigger she started carrying them further away and eventually deserted me.

I had about 15 young turkeys and hens in the chufas yesterday. I think the hen with the four poults joined up with a couple of other hens to make this flock. it's the first time in 25 years living here that I've seen a flock of young turkeys this late in the year.

Sorry it's not a better pic, but they wouldn't pose for me.

Good deal! Is that the sporting clays field?

Yeah, that's it. Land has to be multiple use.

Seems like a really good hatch this year. I've got 34 staying in my field.

How big are the poults right now?

You can see several in the picture if you blow it up. I can't tell them from the hens at a distance.

They are big enough that fall hunters would kill them and be proud of it.