Will a turkey abandon her babies??

[chickenJesss]

We have three free range mama hens. One had a nest pretty far from our house with 16 eggs. She was MIA for the last few weeks but today she emerged from the woods with no babies! We snuck down to her nest to find no eggs, babies, or even a sign of a broken egg! Does the hen leave the babies, or relocatenthe babies? She has been in Our yard now for a few hours showing no signs of leaving. I am freaking out. Any advice wouldbe appreciated!

 

[sourland]

It would be very unlikely that she would leave her poults. More likely that a predator scavenged the nest, and she is lucky to have escaped. If the poults were alive, you should have been able to hear them calling for the hen. Hope that I am wrong and that they will show up.