On December 23, 2017, I shot a wild turkey hen. While dressing out the carcass, I found these tiny egg clusters that were attached to the inside of her lower backbone. Apparently, these are the beginning of egg formation.
Wild Turkey eggs recovered from a hen shot on December 23, 2017
Until I found these tiny egg packets the question of when eggs begin to develop in a wild turkey had never occurred to me. And since I usually try not to shoot adult hens during the fall hunt, this is the first December hen I have dressed out in preparation for the table.
Also, see When do Turkeys nest in Wisconsin?
It is legal to shoot any turkey during Wisconsin’s fall season so why do I try not to take a hen?
An adult hen (brood hen) is a proven breeder, so I choose to focus on the jakes and jennies, thinking turkey biology, they are the most likely members of a turkey flock not survive the long cold winters. In other words, they are more likely to perish so why not put those excellent eating turkeys on the table?
In December most turkeys are approaching the same size, except for some late in the season hatched chicks. Documented turkey nests with incubating eggs have been located as late as mid-August. Over the years, on three occasions, I have discovered broods of flightless poults at the end of August.
These eggs located in Wisconsin mid-March
Other interesting observations from the hen.
Pictured are the contents of a Dec 23rd hen’s crop. Temperatures were in the low teens and single digits.
This insect was found alive in the hen’s crop.
I do not know what kind of insect it is. Even when temps are subzero, these bugs can be found moving around at the base of trees and in the bark when the sun warms the south side.
N.C.L.W. says
If it were not for this article’s title I may well have been likely to believe that those developing Turkey eggs were in fact fish roe from somewhere early on in that bird’s digestive tract.
I suppose the eggs begin to form inside the bird where you discovered these, then change location inside the Hen to become fertilized and subsequently grow into full eggs which are then laid?
No help with entomology as per ID’ing the bug found there. They seem familiar yet I do not recall personally seeing that one before. Certainly would be good to know who that is! Many insects overwinter among trees like that, it seems to act like a Box Elder Bug yet lacks the markings and is shaped differently.
Charlie says
When time allows I intend to do more research on both the timing of the eggs and these insects that stay active in the snow and cold.