Hen with just 1 poult.

quavers16 · Post by **quavers16** » August 13th, 2016, 10:59 am

About 3 days ago- this hen shows up on my lawn with JUST 1 poult. A jenny. A lone jake also showed up about 1 week ago and after 3 days of trying-- it seems that the hen will let him stay. I need to buy MORE birdseed today. That jake is an eating machine. Anybody else seeing hens with just 1 or 2 poults or are you all seeing good sized broods??

Grumpy · Post by **Grumpy** » August 13th, 2016, 12:39 pm

Sounds like her brood has had a few run ins with some predators.

quavers16 · Post by **quavers16** » August 14th, 2016, 12:42 pm

Probably. not happy just seeing the 1 half-grown poult. The good news is that after 3 days-- that Mother hen accepted the lonely jake. All 3 turkeys walked in together to my lawn at 6.30am this morning! 3 sets of eyes are better then 2 for sure.

dirtnap · Post by **dirtnap** » August 16th, 2016, 8:48 pm

Seeing good numbers in SC. Most of the hens I have seen have been with one other grown hen and had 2 different age classes of poults running together. The average number of poults per hen is 6. It seems like everywhere I go I have been seeing 2 hens with 12 little ones. I have been hearing good reports from other reliable sources as well in the area.

killerstump · Post by **killerstump** » August 16th, 2016, 10:14 pm

I've not seen a single poult and seen a many of hens

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quavers16 · Post by **quavers16** » August 19th, 2016, 1:54 pm

Thats not good!-- What State are you from?

killerstump · Post by **killerstump** » August 19th, 2016, 4:12 pm

Virginia. I seen a group 6 hens Wednesday and not a poult 1

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pedro · Post by **pedro** » August 19th, 2016, 9:53 pm

The groups I have seen all had good numbers and the young were getting big. In Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

quavers16 · Post by **quavers16** » August 21st, 2016, 1:22 pm

Maybe those were old hens who did not nest. Perhaps some farming areas near you did better with the turkey broods. Hope you have a good Fall season!

fisherxp · Post by **fisherxp** » August 26th, 2016, 12:24 pm

Turkey poults have many predators...most of which are controlled somewhat by hunting and/or trapping. Not so with birds of prey. To the best of my knowledge they are fully protected. My son had 2 hens with a group of 15 poults on his property this spring and watched the poults reduced from 15 to zero in the course of 1 1/2 weeks, due largely by hawk predation. They'd sit in the trees above the turkeys and snatch up a poult at will. Not good!!!

soiltester · Post by **soiltester** » August 27th, 2016, 8:07 am

Finally had a few show back up this past week!!

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