Turkeys

Turkeys are the biggest game birds in the world, they live in huge groups with more than one dominant male. They fight in big groups and the females rarely do to . Turkeys do not fight eachother unless one is an 'intruder'. Turkeys live in families, and are more the loving and very protective birds. They live for approximately 5-8 years. Turkeys have very facinating body parts such as the beard, and the caruncles, snood and wattles which is found on male turkeys, and a smaller snood, caruncles, wattles and beard on the females.

Food

Turkeys eat the same things as a chicken would eat, they eat grain, worms, berries and fruits found in their natural habitat. The difference in what turkeys eat is the quantity and the berries, as they have a different environment. Domestic turkey chicks might need to eat cheese or something soft because their body's aren't resistant and the stomach hasn't developed to crush and grind the seeds.

Appearance

Turkeys can come in different colours, the most popular is the bronze turkey, and the white turkeys. The turkeys feathers are beautiful, colourful, thick (for their habitat, it often gets cold in America) and shimmery. The feathers are most amazing on the Tom's (Male turkey) tail.

On the left you can see the body parts labelled on a tom.

Reproduction

Turkeys lay eggs at about 20-21 weeks. They lay about 80 eggs every year, and about 1000 in their life. The eggs are rounder than chickens egg but the same size. Turkey poults (turkey chicks) are alot smaller than their parents.

Habitat

Turkeys are native to America, they still walk the prairies wildly.

Article By Melinda G. of Adelaide, Australia and Edited By Melisa G. of Adelaide, Australia