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Turkey Land Management
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<blockquote data-quote="Boll Weevil" data-source="post: 4753755" data-attributes="member: 10006"><p>No can't type this much this fast...had posted it some years ago so just cut and pasted here.</p><p></p><p>I started out with a primary goal of creating a "turkey factory" and focused on nesting and brood rearing. If you remember the movie Honey I Shrunk the Kids...this must be what it's like for little turkeys. When they hatch they're only about the size of a golf ball; the hen's watchful eye and camouflage is their only defense. A key objective was to help them get past those first several weeks at "ground level" until they could hop up in little trees/bushes and eventually fly to escape ground predators.</p><p></p><p>During this time they are absolutely bug eating machines so I wanted to create areas that were easy for the poults to move through, havens for insects, and where the hen had good visibility as the lookout. Here's a few things that I believe have contributed greatly to poult production and survival on my place:</p><p></p><p>1) Burn hedgerows and fencerows periodically to knock back the woody stuff and encourage native plants and grasses. I also now have quail in these places where they weren't before.</p><p>2) Discourage fescue where you can; it's just too thick a "vegetative maze" for little turkeys to navigate easily.</p><p>3) Strip disk hard field edges and they'll sprout in forbs and grasses that poults can use, but with cover where they can hide. They'll also use these areas for dusting.</p><p>4) Establish clover wherever you can and encourage whatever volunteer clover is already growing. In early summer I've parted clover and it is absolutely slam full of crickets but still easier for little turkeys to navigate.</p><p>5) The little guys can't scratch; burn areas in stands of bigger timber get rid of the thick mat of pine needles and leaves. It'll resprout in good stuff and make bugs and seeds more accessible.</p><p>6) Creating nesting areas by felling cedar trees. Especially along edges where sunlight penetrates, the "skeletons" form a sort of trellis for all manner of vines and grasses to grow up, through, and around. </p><p>7) I've lost count how many skunks, armadillos, coons, yotes and possums we've killed. What seemed to yield a little better outcome is focused predator control immediately adjacent your nesting areas. I'm blessed to have a fairly large tract to manage and it would be impossible to rid the property of every nest predator. I can however work to remove egg snatchers from those areas where I know hens are likely to nest.</p><p>8) I don't shoot hens...they're at the core of the baby turkey factory. Sure it makes for more competition in the spring but with a large population of hens, there's a far better chance of replacing annual mortality (or even growing your local population).</p><p></p><p>I've watched hens and their brood stay in these areas literally ALL DAY. I'll go about my days work and there they are at 815am. I come back to get a bite to eat and they haven't moved 80 yards from where I saw them earlier. Same in the afternoon, and when it gets hot they'll just be loafing in shadier spots. In these type areas the hen is comfortable standing guard, poults can move/feed freely, and escape cover is only a few feet away.</p><p></p><p>I know we've had good hatches in my area the last couple of years but I just could not believe the droves of little turkeys I saw or got pictures of as the summer went on. Even if a hen only had a chick or 2 make it out of the egg, if she can get them through the next several weeks their chance at surviving skyrockets. By the time fall rolled around in the 3rd year of management, I was seeing multiple flocks of 3 or 4 hens and 20-30 jakes/jennies.</p><p></p><p>Speaking of my own learning with regard to the slow and incremental rebound, I totally underestimated the importance of just 1 or 2 birds raising a brood to the jake/jenny stage. It took years of work and Ma'Nature cooperating but I now appreciate just how difficult it is to get a clutch or 2 hatched out; it's a really BIG deal. In the past I figured a flock of 6-8 hens could surely produce enough little turkeys to sustain the population but considering predation, nest robbers, poult mortality, hunting, I now know better.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Boll Weevil, post: 4753755, member: 10006"] No can't type this much this fast...had posted it some years ago so just cut and pasted here. I started out with a primary goal of creating a "turkey factory" and focused on nesting and brood rearing. If you remember the movie Honey I Shrunk the Kids...this must be what it's like for little turkeys. When they hatch they're only about the size of a golf ball; the hen's watchful eye and camouflage is their only defense. A key objective was to help them get past those first several weeks at "ground level" until they could hop up in little trees/bushes and eventually fly to escape ground predators. During this time they are absolutely bug eating machines so I wanted to create areas that were easy for the poults to move through, havens for insects, and where the hen had good visibility as the lookout. Here's a few things that I believe have contributed greatly to poult production and survival on my place: 1) Burn hedgerows and fencerows periodically to knock back the woody stuff and encourage native plants and grasses. I also now have quail in these places where they weren't before. 2) Discourage fescue where you can; it's just too thick a "vegetative maze" for little turkeys to navigate easily. 3) Strip disk hard field edges and they'll sprout in forbs and grasses that poults can use, but with cover where they can hide. They'll also use these areas for dusting. 4) Establish clover wherever you can and encourage whatever volunteer clover is already growing. In early summer I've parted clover and it is absolutely slam full of crickets but still easier for little turkeys to navigate. 5) The little guys can't scratch; burn areas in stands of bigger timber get rid of the thick mat of pine needles and leaves. It'll resprout in good stuff and make bugs and seeds more accessible. 6) Creating nesting areas by felling cedar trees. Especially along edges where sunlight penetrates, the "skeletons" form a sort of trellis for all manner of vines and grasses to grow up, through, and around. 7) I've lost count how many skunks, armadillos, coons, yotes and possums we've killed. What seemed to yield a little better outcome is focused predator control immediately adjacent your nesting areas. I'm blessed to have a fairly large tract to manage and it would be impossible to rid the property of every nest predator. I can however work to remove egg snatchers from those areas where I know hens are likely to nest. 8) I don't shoot hens...they're at the core of the baby turkey factory. Sure it makes for more competition in the spring but with a large population of hens, there's a far better chance of replacing annual mortality (or even growing your local population). I've watched hens and their brood stay in these areas literally ALL DAY. I'll go about my days work and there they are at 815am. I come back to get a bite to eat and they haven't moved 80 yards from where I saw them earlier. Same in the afternoon, and when it gets hot they'll just be loafing in shadier spots. In these type areas the hen is comfortable standing guard, poults can move/feed freely, and escape cover is only a few feet away. I know we've had good hatches in my area the last couple of years but I just could not believe the droves of little turkeys I saw or got pictures of as the summer went on. Even if a hen only had a chick or 2 make it out of the egg, if she can get them through the next several weeks their chance at surviving skyrockets. By the time fall rolled around in the 3rd year of management, I was seeing multiple flocks of 3 or 4 hens and 20-30 jakes/jennies. Speaking of my own learning with regard to the slow and incremental rebound, I totally underestimated the importance of just 1 or 2 birds raising a brood to the jake/jenny stage. It took years of work and Ma'Nature cooperating but I now appreciate just how difficult it is to get a clutch or 2 hatched out; it's a really BIG deal. In the past I figured a flock of 6-8 hens could surely produce enough little turkeys to sustain the population but considering predation, nest robbers, poult mortality, hunting, I now know better. [/QUOTE]
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