160 likes | 254 Views
T urkeys in North Dakota. Description. Ave. length Males are 48” & females 36” Weight males 18-25 lbs.. Females 8-10lbs. Body feathers are bronze, green, blue, red, purple Body feathers are black tipped Wing and tail feathers are barred with dark bands. Fleshy growth called wattles
E N D
Description • Ave. length Males are 48” & females 36” • Weight males 18-25 lbs.. Females 8-10lbs. • Body feathers are bronze, green, blue, red, purple • Body feathers are black tipped • Wing and tail feathers are barred with dark bands
Fleshy growth called wattles Caruncles on the side and back of neck Snood or dew bill is fleshy growth across bill Head is red, white or blue When mating, wattle turns bright red Mature males have a beard MALE FEATURES
NESTING • Leaf or grass litter. • Lightly spotted brown and black eggs. • She lays eggs for a period of 15-20 days. • Total of 10-15 eggs . • Hens stays on her nest for about 28days. • Hatching takes about 24-30 hours. • (Poults) remain in the nest 10-12 hours.
POULTS • When hatched they can be 4-5 inches high. • They’re covered in down. • They can feed on insects. • Fly at seven days of age. • Hens stay with her young through winter. • They are sexually mature at one year of age.
FOOD MANAGEMENT • Turkey s eat on whatever food is available. • They feed on insects,berries, green leaves and grass seed. • Adult gobblers feed very little during breeding season.
SENSES AND DEFENSES • Run first and analyze later. • Incredible senses of sight and hearing. • Ability to spot even the slightest movement. • Sight to protect them from danger as well as to locate hens. • A turkey uses its ears to locating potential mates by sound.
Turkeys use their voices and their ears in order to communicate and keep in touch with the remainder of the flock. • Turkeys with their long muscular legs are well equipped and very capable runners. • Like a rocket, they lift off in a short, yet very powerful, burst of speed.
IF BEN FRANKLIN had his way the turkey would have been our national bird. THE BIG END
Today turkeys are an important source of food. • The turkey is the main meal for many family traditions • Turkey hunting keeps getting better