P
PAHunter
Guest
Read an interesting article awhile back by turkey guru,Lovett E.Williams,and thought I'd share it for those who never read it.He conducted a study to figure the odds of a wild turkey surviving from the egg stage.The odds were based on unsucessful nestings due to predators,deaths from weather,harvests from hunting and poaching.He stated,disease was seldom a serious problem in wild turkeys,as they are in captive birds.The oldest known captive turkey lived to be 12 years old,wild turkeys aren't as lucky.
The odds of a wild turkey surviving were stated as follows:Starting from the egg,less than half the eggs will hatch.Only 30% of the poults will live another two weeks and begin to fly up to roost.From that point,there is only a 50% chance of a bird living one more year.So,for every 1,000 turkey eggs laid,457 will hatch,137 poults will reach 2 weeks,and 69 will reach one year.Of the 69,only 34 will become 2 years old,17 will become 3 years old,and 9 will become 4 years old.
So a typical turkey population turns over every 4 years.An unproductive turkey population would be nearly extinct in only 5 years.If you calculated the longevity of the average turkey,beginning with the egg stage,the mean life span would be only a few days.
I thought that was pretty interesting,which really shows how fortunate you really are,when you bag one of those rare 3 or 4 year olds.
The odds of a wild turkey surviving were stated as follows:Starting from the egg,less than half the eggs will hatch.Only 30% of the poults will live another two weeks and begin to fly up to roost.From that point,there is only a 50% chance of a bird living one more year.So,for every 1,000 turkey eggs laid,457 will hatch,137 poults will reach 2 weeks,and 69 will reach one year.Of the 69,only 34 will become 2 years old,17 will become 3 years old,and 9 will become 4 years old.
So a typical turkey population turns over every 4 years.An unproductive turkey population would be nearly extinct in only 5 years.If you calculated the longevity of the average turkey,beginning with the egg stage,the mean life span would be only a few days.
I thought that was pretty interesting,which really shows how fortunate you really are,when you bag one of those rare 3 or 4 year olds.