Turkey Poult Survival by Grant Woods
Check out this video! The hen clearly senses a potential threat. She quietly putts and instantly all the poults come to attention. There are several lessons we can take away from this video.
Hens must constantly be alert for poults to survive. It seems all predators – from snakes to hawks and land critters that have that have canine teeth enjoy a meal of turkey poults. The poults instinctively know to listen attentively to the hen. They know when to freeze and when to flee based on a single call.
Without these survival mechanisms very few turkey poults would survive. Even with these keen survival instincts poult survival is often less than 10% of the number of eggs hens produce. Once poults reach this level of maturity, their survival rate increases significantly.
Are you seeing many turkey poults where you hunt?
Grant
Dr. Grant Woods
Raised in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, Dr. Grant Woods has consulted on wildlife research and management from Canada to New Zealand. A hunter since childhood, he not only knows how to grow big deer, but how to effectively hunt them as well. His work serves to improve deer herd quality and educate hunters about advanced management techniques.