About Turkeys |
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Benjamin Franklin thought so highly of the turkey that he referred to the animal as "a bird of courage" and suggested that the turkey—rather than the eagle—be the United States' national symbol.
Turkeys can live up to 12 years and naturally have strong feet and legs for walking and scratching, wings with a span of four to five feet to fly rapidly, and beaks that are useful for pecking. Wild turkeys and domesticated (farm-raised) turkeys have very different bodies and capabilities.
Freedom of Flight
Wild turkeys can run up to 25 miles per hour and can fly short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. In comparison with the physical prowess of their wild relatives, turkeys genetically selected to be raised for meat weigh twice as much, making them unable to fly or even copulate naturally since their breasts are so enlarged.
Curious and Industrious
In nature, turkeys spend their days foraging for foods such as seeds, acorns, small berries, and insects including grasshoppers, beetles, and ants. In order to find food, turkeys will forage through leaves on the ground and even climb or fly into a tree to eat berries. Unlike some birds, turkeys do not fly south for the winter.
Instead, they continue to roam for food and choose a diet based on what is available at that time of year. After feeding, turkeys often rest or dust bathe. This cleaning process involves wallowing in loose soil, fluffing their feathers, and letting the soil penetrate through to their skin. At night, turkeys look for a low branch in a forest tree to roost.
Feathered Families
Like peacocks and ducks, male turkeys use their plumage to entice females. A male turkey, called a tom, attracts a mate by puffing out his body, displaying his tail feathers, making a "gobble gobble" noise, and strutting around shaking his feathers. The "fanning" of his feathers is also used to display aggression toward enemies. Toms will typically mate with five or more hens during a given breeding season.
After mating, the female turkey prepares a nest under a wooded bush to lay her eggs, incubating as many as 18 at a time. The chicks hatch approximately one month later. Because her babies are unable to fly for the first two weeks of life, the mother will roost on the ground with them during this period.
Within just a few days of hatching, poults (young turkeys) instinctively tag along behind their mother for protection and food. During their first few weeks of life, poults will panic when separated from their mother. The poult emits a loud "peep peep" to which the mother responds by yelping and running towards her child. Mother turkeys defend their young against predators, including raccoons, foxes, snakes, owls, and hawks.
Poults continue to live with their mother for four or five months, and during this time, the mother-child bonding through vocal and visual signals is important to the poult’s normal social development. The signals communicated early on facilitate learning of important social activities, as turkeys are social animals who prefer to live and feed together in flocks.
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