Where Is The Wild Turkey Distillery?

Plant Other Nut and Berry-Producing Plants: In addition to oak acorns, other staples of the wild turkey diet include beech nuts, pecans, hickory nuts, crabapples, and hackberries.

As the name implies, they grow in the ceca (two blind pouches at the junction of the small and large intestines). Although cecal worms typically do not affect chickens, the worms can carry Histomonas melegridis, a species of protozoan parasite that causes histomoniasis (blackhead) in turkeys.

Let’s have a look at that question. If you have read my article on what turkeys eat, you know that in the wild they can sustain themselves on greens, berries and nuts. They will also eat small vertebrates. So how does their diet change in the winter?

Feeding Wild Turkeys the Natural Way. Offer Seeds and Browse: Turkeys browse on plant buds and shoots in the early spring and feed off fern fronds, club mosses, and weeds such as burdock, especially when there is a lot of snow cover and other foods are hard to find. Grasses, sedges and many wildflowers provide wild turkeys with seeds to eat.

A number of bacterial and viral infections occur in wild turkeys, but diseases and parasites are rarely limiting factors affecting turkey populationsanywhere within their range. In fact, no wild turkeys have ever been linked to disease outbreaks in domestic poultry or cattle.

Turkeys typically find a tree to roost in each night. This helps protect them from ground dwelling predators. Where do turkeys go during the day? During daylight hours wild turkeys travel in search of food. They look for things to eat like fruits, nuts, berries and even small animals like mice.

The turkey is perfectly capable of flying at speeds up to 55 miles per hour, but they often prefer to walk and run over the ground. They’re good sprinters, in fact, and can reach a running speed of 25 miles per hour. Turkeys can even swim!

Cereal grains such as wheat, rye and oats are an excellent option for a wild turkey food plot. They are relatively easy to grow, inexpensive, and can provide food for turkeys throughout the year.

So, although chickens generally are immune to problems caused by cecal worms, controlling the worms is still important for turkey health. Levamisole is effective in controlling cecal worms. A veterinarian’s prescription is required for use of the drug in poultry.

Cecal worms are commonly found in chickens. As the name implies, they grow in the ceca (two blind pouches at the junction of the small and large intestines). Although cecal worms typically do not affect chickens, the worms can carry Histomonas melegridis, a species of protozoan parasite that causes histomoniasis (blackhead) in turkeys.

Photo: Nick Trehearne Wild turkeys can fly, while domesticated turkeys can’t. Except for a few feeble flaps, domesticated turkeys are limited by their size. Like most domestic livestock, this domesticated bird is bred to produce maximum amounts of protein via meaty sections of their body.

Wild turkeys can fly for short distances up to 55 miles per hour. They can run as fast as 20 miles per hour. Commercially raised turkeys cannot fly. Turkeys’ heads change colors when they become excited.

Establishing pecking order in both flocks is contentious, so wild turkey calls abound at all times of the day. Male turkeys, in particular, will fight, gobble and yell at each other.; This is the best time to get a fall gobbler, considered an extra special trophy by many hunters.

To provide an adequate feeding area for wild turkeys: Opt for ground feeding areas or large, low platform feeders that can accommodate these large birds and the flocks they forage in. Provide cracked corn, millet, milo, wheat or other seeds and grains.

Like most other birds, wild turkeys have omnivorous diet. They will feed either on the ground or on small trees. Wild turkeys seem to eat nuts, acorns, chestnut, pinyon pine, hickory, berries, bearberry, seeds, juniper, insects, and roots.

Wild turkeys are not dangerous, but they do have occasional aggression issues. Last June the Pennsylvania Game Commission was called to Panther Hollow in Oakland, where wild turkeys were attacking bicycle riders. There were no reports of injuries to people.

Wild turkeys can fly . They forage on the ground, but at night, they will fly to the top of trees to roost. This helps protect them from predators lurking around at night. Not only will they fly up into trees, but they will also fly away from a scare or predator nipping at their heels.

Turkeys sleep in trees for one basic reason: safety. Trees provide the protection they need to avoid being eaten by predators in the darkness. Unlike other quarry we hunt (e.g., whitetail deer), turkeys never move during the night unless absolutely necessary.

Wild turkeys do not roost in just any tree. Instead, they choose trees that have some common characteristics. The trees generally will not be far from a water source and a food source, like an agricultural field. They also prefer big trees with an abundance of horizontal branches that they can rest on.

Depending on availability, wild turkeys will eat a variety of acorns, seeds, grass, caterpillars, rodents and snakes. A turkey swallows its food whole and the material is stored in the bird’s crop to be digested little by little with the help of the gizzard. They eat sand and grit to help with the digestive process.

The agency says turkeys “may attempt to dominate or attack people they view as subordinates.” This behavior is most common in the fall when young male birds start competing with elders of the flock, experts say.

Turkeys will form a hierarchy or pecking order amongst their flock with clear dominant individuals, usually males and older females. Turkeys can be aggressive towards one another, especially if new birds are introduced to an existing flock. Head pecking is common and to avoid injury when introducing new birds,…

Turkeys sleep in trees. Due to their aforementioned deliciousness, turkeys have a lot of natural predators. As the sun goes down, the turkeys go up- into the trees. They start by flying onto a low branch, then clumsily hop their way upward, branch by branch, until they reach a safe height.

Turkeys have been known to be aggressive toward humans and pets in residential areas. Wild turkeys have a social structure and pecking order and habituated turkeys may respond to humans and animals as they do to another turkey.

Are Wild Turkeys Dangerous? Feral turkeys can present health risks through their activities. Their droppings can ramp up the likelihood of having airborne disease-causing bacteria. Plus, these wild turkeys have moved beyond their natural habitats and invaded human dwellings.

If you’re cornered by a belligerent bird, it’s important to not let the turkey intimidate you. “If confronted by a wild turkey that has lost its fear of humans, an open umbrella may help steer it out of your path,” the California Department of Fish & Wildlife tip sheet reads.

Wild turkeys have an uncanny and somewhat scary ability to recognize our voices and appearance. They can differentiate humans from one another, a skill they use to rank us in the all-important pecking order.

While both wild and domestic turkeys share similar DNA, they are two very different birds indeed. Laws prevent farmers from releasing their birds into the wild, primarily out of fear that domestic birds could spread disease to wild populations.

Protect your garden from turkeys Most of the crop and garden damage blamed on wild turkeys is actually caused by other animals (such as raccoons, groundhogs, foxes, deer, or squirrels). Still, you can keep wild turkeys from feasting on your garden or shrubs by using a motion-activated scare device (such as a Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler ) or by protecting plants and vegetables with hardware cloth.

Dec 18, 2008. McCleary, WA. Yes wilds will breed with your domestics and vise versus. that is why in many states with natural wild turkeys it is illegal to free range domestic turkeys, for that very reason. Your tom could and will mate with a wild hen if given the opportunity.

Standard Bronze. Standard Bronze turkey is one of the largest heritage turkey breeds. They have also been the most popular turkey breeds in American history. Bronzes were originally a cross between the native wild turkeys (discovered by Europeans) in America and the turkeys brought to the colonies by Europeans.

Behavior. Wild Turkeys get around mostly by walking, though they can also run and fly—when threatened, females tend to fly while males tend to run. At sundown turkeys fly into the lower limbs of trees and move upward from limb to limb to a high roost spot. They usually roost in flocks, but sometimes individually.

Eastern Wild Turkey. Breeding usually begins in late February or early March in its southernmost habitats, but not until April in northern states. The cycle is complete with the hatching of poults by June or as late as mid-summer farther north.

Another turkey, the ocellated turkey, is a completely separate species and looks quite different from more familiar wild turkeys, with bolder, brighter colors and different wattles. Wild turkeys have very powerful legs and can run at speeds up to 25 miles per hour.

Domestic turkeys can’t fly; they lose their aerodynamic properties because of how they are bred for heavy meat production, although they will sometimes try to hop around. Wild turkeys, however, can fly for short bursts. Turkeys get spooked by loud noises, and when they do, they often crowd together along a fence.

Perhaps the “dumb bird” reputation is the reason behind the tale that during a rainstorm, turkeys will stare up at the sky with their beaks hanging open, transfixed, until they drown. Although turkeys sometimes do tilt their heads up at the sky and remain there for several moments, scientists say the idea that turkeys drown that way is just a myth.