Clean up day at out campsite on lease today. Ran across these. Hope she comes back to nest before hawk, snake, bobcat or coyotes do.
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Good clutch—Sad Update
- Thread starter Knothead
- Start date
Wrangler95
Well-Known Member
This is probably her second nest of the year!
wildlifefarmer
Well-Known Member
you failed to mention armadillo!! with the increased population of these critters, are they part of the cause in the decline of the turkey population. However, great find you had!
Wrangler95
Well-Known Member
Saw a hen this morning with two poults!
I've got 2 hens on each end of my property with poults. One has 6 and other has 7. I also flushed a hen off nest Sunday. She had 12 eggs.
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Very cool.
thirdwilliam
Well-Known Member
very nice
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Nice! My cousin saw about 10 poults on our place over the weekend. It's been years since we've seen that
Saw a hen with 5-6 poults today while cutting some of our fields.
Doesn't look like a good ending for this clutch after all. I went down today to spray our campsite area after we cleaned up and mowed/bush-hogged last weekend. Looks like something may have put the sneak on her , or perhaps a hawk dive-bombed her. Who knows? Bobcat, coyote, owl ? It's anyones guess. Hen feather and egg shells scattered everywhere.
Man, I hate that!!
Man, I hate that!!
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
Doesn't look like a good ending for this clutch after all. I went down today to spray our campsite area after we cleaned up and mowed/bush-hogged last weekend. Looks like something may have put the sneak on her , or perhaps a hawk dive-bombed her. Who knows? Bobcat, coyote, owl ? It's anyones guess. Hen feather and egg shells scattered everywhere.
Man, I hate that!!
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I know it happens but I sure hate it...year before last I followed up on a nest that was successful....then last year I followed up on a nest that was clearly robbed.....its very frustrating to find evidence that shows they didn't make it.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Man I hate that! She likely was in the last stages of incubation where the hens won't leave the nest, even when predators come. Looks like she lost the battle 
Coon, bobcat, fox, or coyote would be my guess. I'd say predators are hard on them at night. The old hen turkey can't see them coming.
SES
Well-Known Member
I had 4 hens nesting behind my house. I've seen 1 poult.
Bummer dude.
There was a thread on an Arkansas forum where a guy put a cell cam over a nest. It showed coons, possums and other vermin trying to get the eggs, and the hen defended it. A coyote came by later, but eggs had hatched.
Unfortunately, this happens more than most want to believe. We lose both the healthy hen that COULD have reproduced more eggs/poults in out years as well as the eggs this year.
I think bobcats are harder on them than most realize.
