Phil from Maine

I have a question on turkeys that I am not sure of. Turkeys here are realatively new sort of to speak. The area I am in is has opened up for it's first time ever. It is a big area with a natural gas pipeline and a power line. These have a dirt road running the length of them. So basically it is a field that is over 60 miles long with no houses ect.. I have been driving on it some what scouting early in the morning and have been seeing a lot of birds.

Now my question is this. Sometimes I will see hugh flocks with toms, jakes, and hens all together. Other times I will see just hens with no toms at all or toms with maybe 1 or 2 hens and maybe 4 or 5 jakes. Why is it that some of these hens have appeared to have no toms or jakes with them at all? Sometimes the jakes will have no hens around at all? I believe that the big toms have run the jakes off. But at times it will be just jakes and hens. So when I see 6 to 8 hens by themselves is it because they have already bred or is it then simply can not breed because they are to young? It puzzles me why this is.

Sheridan

Just before the breeding season the birds all flock up together.

As the breeding season gets underway the dominate birds mate as many respective hens as possible.

As time goes on, those covered hens will go to lay their eggs & nest, which prompts the flocks to start to break-up into smaller groups.

The lesser toms and jakes who are beat up on by the dominate birds, start to look for the single & small groups of hens.