Turkeys, whether the wild subspecies or their domesticated relatives, are oviparous, meaning they reproduce by laying eggs. A turkey is not born through live birth but emerges from a hard-shelled egg after a period of internal development. The process is a sequential journey, starting with seasonal behavior and culminating in the physical act of hatching.
Courtship and Mating Rituals
The reproductive cycle begins in the spring, triggered by increasing daylight hours which stimulate a hormonal response. Male turkeys, known as toms or gobblers, engage in elaborate courtship displays to attract receptive hens. The most recognizable display is the gobble, a loud, far-reaching vocalization designed to announce the male’s presence.
Gobbling is often accompanied by a visual performance called strutting, where the tom puffs out his feathers, drops his wings, and fans his iridescent tail feathers into a large semi-circle. This display showcases the male’s health and vigor. Dominant males often engage in physical combat to establish breeding hierarchy, and receptive hens signal willingness by crouching low to the ground.
This submissive posture allows the tom to mount the hen, leading to internal fertilization. The hen can store the sperm within her oviduct for weeks after a single mating event. This stored sperm is used to fertilize the entire clutch of eggs she lays, ensuring viability even if she does not mate again.
Nesting and Egg Laying
After mating, the hen becomes secretive and solitary while preparing a nest site. She typically selects a secluded location on the ground, often a shallow depression scratched into the soil and concealed by dense vegetation or thickets. The chosen spot must offer cover from predators and protection from the weather.
The hen lays her eggs over approximately two weeks, depositing a single egg roughly every 24 to 32 hours. A completed set of eggs, known as a clutch, usually consists of 10 to 12 eggs, though the number can range up to 17. The hen does not begin the process of keeping the eggs warm until the entire clutch has been laid.
The period between laying allows the hen to feed and replenish her energy stores in preparation for incubation. The eggs are off-white or buff-colored, often speckled with brown or reddish-brown spots, which helps them camouflage against the nest’s ground cover.
The Incubation Period
Incubation begins after the final egg is laid, ensuring all developing embryos start growth simultaneously. This timing is necessary for synchronous hatching, where the entire clutch emerges at nearly the same time. The hen’s body heat provides the precise temperature needed for development, maintaining constant warmth.
The incubation period lasts 26 to 28 days for both wild and domestic turkeys. During this time, the hen is dedicated, leaving the nest only for brief, infrequent intervals to feed and drink. Her dedication is crucial because the eggs must be kept at a stable temperature for the embryo to develop correctly.
The hen gently turns the eggs about once every hour, moving and repositioning them within the nest. This physical act prevents the developing embryo from sticking to the shell membrane, which could inhibit its growth or ability to hatch. Inside the shell, the young turkey, called a poult, is completely formed and relies on the yolk sac for its nutritional needs until it is ready to emerge.
The Hatching Process
The final stage begins when the fully developed poult positions itself inside the egg, with its beak pointed toward the air cell at the broad end. The poult uses a tiny, temporary projection on its upper beak, called the egg tooth, to break the inner membrane and access the air cell. This first break is known as “pipping.”
Hatching is a physically demanding and slow process that can take 12 to 24 hours from the first pip. After the initial hole, the poult rotates its body, using the egg tooth to chip a circular line around the circumference of the egg, sometimes called “unzipping.” This chipping weakens the shell, allowing the poult to break free.
Synchronous hatching means the poults often emerge within a short timeframe of one another, sometimes an hour or less between the first and last poult. Once the poult pushes out of the shell, it is covered in damp down feathers. The newly hatched young are precocial, meaning they are relatively mature and mobile. They dry out quickly and are ready to leave the nest with the hen, usually within 12 to 24 hours of their emergence.