- Acorns, hickory nuts, beechnuts, or walnuts, either cracked open or swallowed whole
- Seeds and grain, including spilled birdseed or corn and wheat in agricultural fields
- Berries, wild grapes, crabapples, and other small fruits
- Small reptiles including lizards and snakes
- Fleshy plant parts such as buds, roots, bulbs, succulents, and cacti
- Plant foliage, grass, and tender young leaves or shoots
- Large insects including grasshoppers, spiders, and caterpillars
- Snails, slugs, and worms
- Sand and small gravel for grit to aid proper digestion
Where can I buy a Turkey feeder in Michigan?
Free plans for turkey feeders are available by calling Jim Maturen with the Michigan Wild Turkey Hunters Association at (231) 832-2575. To purchase a feeder from the National Wild Turkey Federation, contact a local chapter or Pete Demos at (989) 766-8422.
What do you feed wild turkeys?
As the poults grow, the seeds of ragweeds, sunflowers, and grasses are favored along with the fruits of dogwood, wild grape, cherry, sumac, and blackberries. Wildlife managers generally agree that artificial feeding of wild turkeys can overly concentrate the birds in a small area, making them more susceptible to poaching and the spread of disease.
Can You bait and feed turkeys in Michigan?
Feeding and Baiting in Michigan. It is illegal to use bait to aid in the harvest of a wild turkey in Michigan. Providing recreational or supplemental turkey feed is legal, but not recommended in areas with lower annual snowfall or when snow depths are below four inches. In areas where deer baiting and deer and elk feeding is prohibited,...
How much does it cost to feed wild turkeys?
The openings are large enough for wild turkeys to stick their heads in. The feeders sell for $45 to $75. Demos recommends contacting local chapters for purchase. "We fed 24,000 birds last year, including in the Upper Peninsula," Demos said. "We provide corn as a supplement to landowners who do the feeding.
What can I feed a wild turkey in my yard?
Preferred foods of wild turkeysBeech (Beechnuts are an alternate food source when acorn supplies are low.)Hickory (As with beechnuts, hickory nuts are an alternate winter food source.)Dogwood.Wild cherry.Grapes.Berries.
What is the best thing to feed a wild turkey?
FEED turkeys cracked or whole kernel corn, sunflower seeds, oats, wheat, or non-medicated commercial poultry or turkey rations. FEED turkeys daily by broadcasting food at a rate of 2 large handfuls (or 1/2 cup) per turkey per day.
What do wild turkeys eat in the winter in Michigan?
But wild turkeys are tough birds and can go days without food or water. When snow gets packed hard they can walk on the surface and escape coyotes with ease but food sources are hidden deep below the white blanket. That's when they eat grasses, tree buds, dried berries, crabapples and nearly anything they can swallow.
Is it OK to feed wild turkeys?
Never deliberately feed wild turkeys to attract them to your property or keep them around. Turkeys can survive very well on natural foods and do not need handouts from people.
What should you not feed turkeys?
Here is some food that you should not feed to turkeys:Low-Quality chicken feed.Dairy foods.Onions.Raw meat.Chocolate.Processed foods.Fruit pits and seeds.Tomato and eggplant leaves.More items...
Do wild turkeys eat bird seed?
Foods They Eat Seeds and grain, including spilled birdseed or corn and wheat in agricultural fields. Berries, wild grapes, crabapples, and other small fruits. Small reptiles including lizards and snakes. Fleshy plant parts such as buds, roots, bulbs, succulents, and cacti.
Can you feed wild turkeys in Michigan?
Providing recreational or supplemental turkey feed is legal, but not recommended in areas with lower annual snowfall or when snow depths are below four inches. In areas where deer baiting and deer and elk feeding is prohibited, turkey feed must be placed in a feeder/container to make it inaccessible to deer and elk.
Do wild turkeys eat sunflower seeds?
Sunflower, milo, and millet are all enjoyable types of seeds to put out for wild turkeys. Nuts- Acorns are a chosen favorite for wild turkeys. But in the wintertime, acorns can become scarce.
Can turkeys eat cat food?
Some cat food can have ingredients that aren't particularly good for birds — things they can't digest, their body can't fully process or is just too much for them. But it can depend on the food, the bird and how much it eats. Filling up on cat food also could stop them from eating the foods that are good for them.
Do wild turkeys get cold?
Northern-range turkeys have been resilient through frigid winters, although they aren't invincible. If food is available during winter, turkeys can often survive extended periods of extreme cold and snow. However, deep snow and limited amounts of food can greatly decrease the turkeys' chance of survival.
Can wild turkeys eat black oil sunflower seeds?
A: Naturalists in the Ely area tell me that these beautiful birds do just fine in winter without human assistance. But they relish black oil sunflower seeds, so if you keep your feeders stocked with this high-energy food you'll be doing them a favor.
Do wild turkeys eat peanuts?
If you want to feed Wild Turkeys, I would recommend our Wild Birds Unlimited Wildlife Blend. It's a nice mixture of peanuts, sunflower seed and corn. Our Choice Harvest Blend also has enough tree nuts, sunflower seeds, dried cherries, and suet nuggets to satisfy any turkey as well as a wide variety of other birds.
Is Cracked corn good for wild turkeys?
Cracked Corn-Corn is chocked full of protein and fiber that makes a great wild turkey food. Cracked corn is simply corn that has been dried and broken into pieces. This process makes it easier for wild turkeys to digest.
What kind of fruit do turkeys eat?
Other planting suggestions include black cherry trees, blueberries, wild grapes and dogwood. Wild turkeys consume cacti fruits in arid areas and like many species of wildlife, will even consume poison ivy berries too.
Do turkeys eat whole corn?
Whole corn is an excellent choice if you want to feed them. Cracked corn works good too but tends to get covered up quickly if it is snowing or blowing. I've found they also like alfalfa hay, strange as it might seem. They get right into it and eat the green leaves and flowers.
How can I bring a turkey to my property?
6 Ways To Attract Turkeys To Your YardProvide Turkeys with a Varied Diet Year-Round.Provide a Water Source.Install Shelters and High Perches.Provide Nesting Sites.Limit Your Use of Pesticides.Lock Up your Pets.Attracting Turkeys May Be Illegal in Some States.Turkeys Can Cause Damage to Your Property.More items...•
What do turkeys eat?
Hens consume about 1/3 pound of food daily; adult gobblers may eat 1/2 to 1 pound of food each day. Turkey foods fall into four main categories: mast (nuts and fruits), seeds, greens, and insects. In winter they prefer hard and soft mast including acorns, beechnuts, crabapples, and hawthorns. They will also eat waste grains in harvested fields of corn, buckwheat, soybeans, oats, and grain sorghum.
What trees do turkeys eat in the winter?
Mature woods that contain nut-producing trees (oaks, beeches, hickories) are especially important in winter because they yield carbohydrate-rich food.
How do turkeys survive in the woods?
Although turkeys can survive in areas that are only 10 percent forested, their survival improves when mature woods comprise 30 to 50 percent of the available habitat. Turkeys like open, mature woods but will also use timber stands that have grown beyond the small-pole (2-inch to 9-inch diameter) stage, if the understory is not too dense. Turkeys prefer varied habitats and also make use of brushlands and openings as well as pastures and row-cropped and idle farm fields. Travel corridors for turkeys include forested streams and river floodplains, which connect adjacent woody cover.
What is prime cover for turkeys?
Prime cover includes a mixture of open areas within a mature (or nearly mature) forest containing a variety of tree species including white and red oaks, hickories, ash, beech, and white and jack pine. Turkeys use these mature trees as roosting sites but seldom roost in the same place on successive nights. Therefore, several suitable roosting locations scattered throughout their range are needed. Understory trees, and trees/shrubs at woodland edges or in openings also provide cover. Such trees and shrubs include ironwood, musclewood, hazelnut, beech, wild plum, serviceberry, mountain ash, wild black cherry, dogwood, crabapple, black locust, hawthorn, and pin and chokecherries.
What is the best habitat for brood rearing?
Grass and clover meadows produce high quantities of insects and can provide outstanding brood rearing habitat. Mixes of grasses, clover or alfalfa can be used. Refer to the Grassland Management section for more information on grass varieties, seeding rates, and methods.
How fast can a turkey fly?
The bird's ability to run at 15 to 18 miles per hour and to fly on five-foot-wide wings at speeds approaching 55 miles per hour also make it a challenging quarry for predators. Many landowners simply enjoy seeing turkeys. Because the birds may travel several miles each day, opportunities for seeing them are good if habitat needs are met.
How many acres are there in Michigan for turkeys?
The home range of wild turkeys is one to four square miles or about 640 to 2,000 acres. Michigan landowners who are able to provide the necessary habitat components are likely to have turkeys on their property, especially if they live in a region of the state that does not receive more than 60 inches of snow each year.
Life Cycle
Food and Water
- The diet of an adult wild turkey includes about 90 percent plant matter and 10 percent animal matter. Hens consume about 1/3 pound of food daily; adult gobblers may eat 1/2 to 1 pound of food each day. Turkey foods fall into four main categories: mast (nuts and fruits), seeds, greens, and insects. In winter they prefer hard and soft mast including ...
Cover
- Prime cover includes a mixture of open areas within a mature (or nearly mature) forest containing a variety of tree species including white and red oaks, hickories, ash, beech, and white and jack pine. Turkeys use these mature trees as roosting sites but seldom roost in the same place on successive nights. Therefore, several suitable roosting locations scattered throughout their rang…
Habitat Considerations
- In Michigan, the ideal habitat mix is 20 to 30 percent bottomland hardwoods, 10 to 30 percent mature oaks, 5 to 10 percent conifers, 10 to 15 percent shrubs, 20 to 30 percent croplands and 15 to 25 percent grasslands, clover pastures oridled fields. In good-quality habitat, the area will safely support one bird per 30 acres or one flock for every 640 to 800 acres. But unless you own a lot o…
Concerns
- No matter how we manage our property for wildlife, our decisions will always have impacts. For example, if we manage mature woodlands for turkeys we will discourage brushland species such as grouse and catbirds. Creating openings may produce habitat for turkeys and deer, but may increase cowbird or raccoon predation. Habitat that is managed for wild turkeys also tends to be…