crazy turkey questions but don't you want to know too?

[crj]

Hi, I only have a few questions and thought someone might know the answers.

Why do baby chicks have feathers all over like a baby chicken chick and later have no feathers on it's head and neck? The reason I ask this is because they look like vultures yet they don't have a vultures diet. There is a reason why vultures don't have feathers on there neck and head which is why I am asking such a question.

I had a chicken hatch a turkey egg since my first time broody turkey hen is, well, killing the chicks as they hatch. I was able to get an egg that was pipping out from under her, it was NOT easty. So, the question is......... do baby turkey chicks develop and grow slower then chicken chicks? This little chick does not seem to be growing as fast as the baby chicks it's age. It's doing everything else the same and probably running around more. Gets lost ALL the time yet it does find it's way home.

Are turkey chicks called "chicks"?

I'm sure I will or maybe someone else will have more questions. Thanks

 

[nivtup]

They are poults.

That poult will catch and pass the chicks here any time.

Good luck

 

[95yj]

i think that vultures dopn't have head feathers so they don't get covered in blood and other gross stuff associated with carion. Also, have you ever noticed how naked neck/turken chicks don't have feathers as day olds yet poults do? My poults quickly outgrew my chicks, but it may depends on the breed, i was raising broad breasted bronze turkeys and standard cornish chicks.

 

[ColbyNTX]

If you are feeding the 28-30% protien that poults need then they should be growing much faster than your chicks.

 

[crj]

Quote:
Yes, that is true about vultures that's why I'm wondering about turkeys. They don't have that kind of diet yet they are bald with featherless necks. Yes, turkens are a strange looking bird and the same questions apply. I would love to know the reason. They don't eat food that gets them dirty. Maybe it's a way of being protected from other preditors thinking they are vultures? Don't know.

 

[crj]

Quote:
The baby chick is getting lots of grass, bugs from nature and the feed is starter-grower chick feed and flock raiser since I do mix it in a bowl for the mother and chicks to eat together. The little bugger runs around like crazy checking everything out. Very outgoing little bird. More so then the chicken chicks. It's fun to watch.

 

[crj]

Quote:
Thanks, I sure hope so. Cute little bugger..... lol. It's a standard bronze.

 

[ColbyNTX]

Quote:
Yes, that is true about vultures that's why I'm wondering about turkeys. They don't have that kind of diet yet they are bald with featherless necks. Yes, turkens are a strange looking bird and the same questions apply. I would love to know the reason. They don't eat food that gets them dirty. Maybe it's a way of being protected from other preditors thinking they are vultures? Don't know.

Why does the platypus and spiny anteater lay eggs? Why do guineas have a bald head? That's a question for mother nature!

 

[crj]

Here is another question. I have several tubs of water around the yard for the birds. Most of the time the ducks or my two baby geese sit in them. What I did notice is my turkey hen standing in the tub at least once a day. It's as if she is washing her feet. Can someone explain that to me? She did this even before she became broody. She doesn't stand in the water very long.

 

[ivan3]

crj wrote: Why do baby chicks have feathers all over like a baby chicken chick and later have no feathers on it's head and neck? The reason I ask this is because they look like vultures yet they don't have a vultures diet. There is a reason why vultures don't have feathers on there neck and head which is why I am asking such a question.

Sexual ornamentation (measure of reproductive fitness):

Some species in the Phasianidae (and in galliformes overall) also have regions on the head and neck that lack plumage, instead showing the “flesh” underneath [25]. These fleshy traits can vary from simply bare regions around the eye to the complete absence of feathers on the head and neck of the turkey and specialized structures such as the comb and wattle of junglefowl. In some phasianid species, these fleshy traits have the ability to be “erected” in which the trait can greatly change its size and appearance in a short time, and then be retracted (often being barely visible in the nonerect state). Taxa that are able to rapidly erect these fleshy structures form a clade [25, 26], suggesting that the physiological basis for trait erection may have evolved a single time. Fleshy traits are typically found in both sexes when they are present in a species. However, the traits can still be dimorphic, since males often exhibit larger or more brightly colored fleshy regions than females. Moreover, the ability to erect these traits is found only in males.

In part due to the large number of ornamental or exaggerated traits, the role of both competition and mate choice has been extensively studied in several species in this family. Results of these studies have varied and highlight the role of sexual selection in this group. For example, in red junglefowl (the ancestor to domestic chickens, also Gallus gallus), the size of the male comb appears to be most consistently used by females in mating decisions (e.g., [27]), and along with body size, correlates with dominance [28]. Manipulation of social structure indicates that females prefer males with large combs, even when these are not the dominant male [29]. In the Indian peafowl (P. cristatus), females prefer males with more ocelli (eye-like spots) in the modified tail coverts that form the train (e.g., [30, 31]), though this may not be consistent across populations [32]. Both train and tarsus length appeared to be involved in competition in the Indian peafowl [31]. In wild turkey, both competition and mate choice favor males with long snoods [33, 34], the fleshy protrusion above the beak. Studies in the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) and various species of grouse have been less clear, but implicate various aspects of morphology and display behaviors in mate choice (e.g., [35–38]).

http://www.sage-hindawi.com/journals/ijeb/2011/423938/


They like to stand in water in order to cool off.​