Poults

Just got back from a week up by Hayward and Clam lake. Very surprised by the amount of turkeys I saw along the road. Hundreds of hens with poults picking grit. I live in se Wi and hadnt seen a poult all summer. I guess mother nature says our population is near capacity and Sawyer county has plenty of capacity to fill. Funny thing is all were on the highway shoulder none on forest roads.

Have been seeing a group of several hens and a large group of poults traveling together  . The young are about the size of a chicken. 

Saw momma and her large brood this morning near where I saw her and the one yesterday. Gotta think it's the same momma. There were at least 10 little ones. Nice to see that many made it to this point when their survival rate is so low at the young age.

Tim

Saw momma and 1 poult today. It was about 15"-16" tall. Guessing there were others already in the growth alongside the road.

Tim

          I have seen all sizes here in Marquette county and yesterday on my morning walk in my woods out jumps a hen along with 8 - 10 very young ones who could just somewhat scramble away. The hen gave me her best broken wing and putt act. I looked down between my feet and here is one just looking around. I picked it up and made sure I hadn't stepped on it and it looked ok so I put it back down and went on my way. That hen followed me all the way back to my house putting at me all the while she then returned to gather up the little ones and then they went out into the open field to eat grasshoppers. They couldn't have been more than a day old. They better grow up fast or the winter and yotes will get them.

grouse size in Sheboygan County. 

Saw some last week in Taylor county that were quail size. Saw some in Kenosha county that were a little bigger, surprised me when they were able to fly up about 10' high into a pine tree. I reduced the coyote population drastically last winter and have seen a great fawn / poult year.

Saw several hens while driving around but no little ones, north of Crivitz.

Saw a 2 x 9 brood flock Thursday, eastern Wood County.  Poults were pheasant-sized.

Just about the same as my last post . 2 hens , and about 8 young.  A bit smaller though. 

Saw 2 hens moving together with about 12 little ones . About the size of a football  .

Saw a hen with 3 poults this morning on the way to work. They couldn't have been much bigger than a softball. She must have nested real late.

Mapper

Just saw 5 or 6 very little ones with momma crossing a road. Likely others already in the grass with them. They weren't 6 inches tall. 

Tim

Saw my first ones today  . Must of hatched in last day or so . Smaller than a robin .

In Shawano County we've got a ton of birds by us.  Seems like about the most I can ever remember having around.  The 2015 spring season was excellent for # of poults per hen.  Seemed like we had great survival year over year.  Had a bit smaller brood sizes this year, but with the larger number of hens around to breed we are loaded with turkeys now.