Poult Adoption

I live in Galena, Illinois. We have a mother turkey with two younger turkeys. The one younger turkey is about half the size of the mother, and there is another young turkey that is much smaller. Do wild turkeys take on another young turkey when it strayed from its mother, or maybe if the mother was killed? These three wander through our back yard pretty often. I was curious.

Leslie Egan, via email.

Thank you for contacting us with your question about the hen turkey that frequents your yard. Wild turkey hens have impressive maternal instincts and will go to some lengths to protect their broods. It sounds like this hen has had a tough brood-rearing season and is left with only one poult of her own. That is not unusual, as many hens lose their entire broods to predators and other factors every year. Fortunately, in most years, enough hens are successful to keep the population stable.

Some bird species are prone to “stealing” the young of other females. Canada geese, for instance, are known to borrow goslings from other geese regularly. In the case of wild turkeys, this behavior is rare. In late summer, hen turkeys with broods often gather into mixed flocks, but the poults still recognize and remain closer to their mother rather than connecting with other hens. As a flock is feeding you can see the family groups separate once in a while, not by much distance, but enough to recognize who is who. Hens within a fall flock will respond to the lost or distress calls of any poult within the flock. In addition, they likely would respond to the calls of a poult that was not part of the flock. Even brood-less hens within a late summer or fall flock will react to poult distress or lost calls.

The answer to your question is “yes.” Wild turkey hens will occasionally adopt a poult from another brood. One of the poults accompanying this hen was either separated from its original brood or the hen that hatched it was dead. The strange poult would have been desperate for company because wild turkeys are quite social and gregarious. The poult that is adopted would have to be aggressive about following the adoptive hen. The poult would also have to contend with pecking order issues associated with poults from the original brood. In this situation, it appears to be working out for all involved.

Send your questions and photos/videos to Dr. Tom by emailing turkeycall@nwtf.net.