Turkey Decline Due to Chicken Fertilizer?
Has everyone noticed lower numbers of wild turkeys(not the drink) in the past few years? I attributed it to the increase in coyotes and ants. BUT, a farmer told me something that makes since. He said that he noticed the turkey population drop dramatically AFTER they started using chicken crap for fertilizer in the fields. I know it has a HORRIBLE smell that permeates for DAYS. He claims that local game wardens agree, the chemicals feed to the chickens remains in the poop. Then they spray the fields. Then the turkeys eat the bugs, crops, etc and the chemicals cause the turkey eggs to be VERY fragile. According to him, the game wardens say that 65%+ of the eggs are broken in the hens nest. Anyone else know about this? I have no facts to back this theory, but the timing DOES match exactly to when they started using chicken hockey regularly. Makes since to me, just curious if anyone else has heard such. If so, hopefully they will stop the farmers from using this putrid crap!
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Sounds like what DDT did to eggs.
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I would venture locally its Coyotes not Fertilizer but I posted a vid of some Turkeys recently looked like plenty of young there.
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+1 to coyotes and bobcats, foxes, ect. No large farms around here to even use chicken crap on and have seen decline in turkey for last 10 years or so, but have seen LARGE increase in coyotes and bobcats.......
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We use about 5000 tons a year of chicken litter and still have an abundance of turkey. Don
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Eastern north carolina has probaly more chicken and turkey operations than almost any other state . We are home ,Goldsboro,to Butterball turkey . I raised chickens commercially for 30 years . When i startec in the business there were no turkeys in our area . Today we have an established hunting season and a plentitude of birds . Biggest problem for turkeys are yotes and foxes and coons raiding the nest
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Here in PA the game commission banned rifles for our fall Tom and Hen season because of declining numbers. . It had always been shotgun and archery for spring gobbler. My little area in SWPA Fayette county seems to still be holding good numbers.
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Seems like we are seeing more than ever each year and I live in a leading chicken state.
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I have game camera pictures of a hen turkey on her nest. I could see her from my back porch about 110 yds. down the hill. After about three weeks I noticed she was gone. The camera showed a small red Fox carrying the nine eggs away, one at a time. Then he came back and killed her and drug her off.
I don’t see how wild turkey poults stand a chance at survival.
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It's not all because of the wild animals.
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The stinch/stink smell of chicken litter is the SMELL OF MONEY.
I have lots of respect for a Turkey that can survive few years in the wild.
A chicken will not last 3 days in the big woods.
I've heard rumors that farm chickens and maybe Quail carry a disease, maybe called blackhead that wild Turkeys are not immune to. We tried to raise some wild Rio Grande turkeys (the Rio Grande flock took up with the chickens at a ranch house) along with chickens and the Turkeys would die out to just a few from flock of about 30 about every 3 years.
Quail have gone bye bye in this area and see very few squirrels deep in the big woods. Not many trees in this area actually produce squirrel food last few years, Hickory trees do not produce any nuts like they did few years ago and very few acorns in fall.
Squirrels seem to have moved to towns and parks where they can get the freebie hand outs. (stimulus handouts)
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Yea, squirrels are like democrats......they ALL moved to the city😁. Quail are doing ok here, BUT the turkeys are dying off fast!😥
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In my younger days on the farm, 1960's ,everyone kept chickens for eggs and sunday dinner . Hawks ,owls skunks ,coons or egg sucking dogs soon met their maker . With no predators we had tons of quail. Fast forward to now , no yard chickens and an overabundance of varmints ,we have no quail
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