It's turkey breeding season on Eighty Acres and and if you listen carefully, you will hear the Toms gobbling in the quiet of the early mornings. It's show time as the Toms are impressing the hens, hoping to gain their attention and affection. The Toms will puff out their feathers, fan their tails, strut, swagger, parade and gobble across the prairie. (Kinda sounds like my younger days.)
Soon, the hens will build a shallow nest of dry leaves near brush piles or thick shrubs and lay one egg each day for the next 10-12 days. Once all eggs are laid, the hens will begin incubating the eggs for 28 days. After the eggs are hatched it will be a constant battle for the hen to protect the vulnerable chicks from their many predators. But some chicks will survive and next spring the circle of life continues as the Toms once again begin gobbling and strutting on the prairies of Eighty Acres.
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