How cold can wild turkeys take?

[Dom]

We have a lot of wild turkeys on the property. Weather channel predictions are for lows of -7, -13, & -20 over the next several days with highs predicted to be at 0 & -2. Any one have any idea of just how cold a wild turkey can take & survive? Coldest I have seen has been around a -2.

[Winger Ed.]

If they can find a place in out of the wind and 'hunker down' I'd guess the temp. can get way on down
and they'll still survive like they did back in the days of the last Ice Age.

[Gewehr-Guy]

I think if they have an adequate food source they should survive any temp for a short time frame, if they have a sheltered spot too roost. Loss of body mass from starvation would be the reason for freezing to death.

[country gent]

I think heavy snow and Ice is harder on them they cant get to food or water thru it.

[Tripplebeards]

I live in the northern states where it gets 30 below and colder with windchill and they’re still running around on my property since I saw them first in the early 80s. They have some pretty good claws to dig through the snow to get to the ground and forage food along with a fast running creek that never freezes over on my property. When I was out squirrel hunting the other day I had half a dozen of them come walking by and wish I had a shotgun instead of my 22 win mag because it’s illegal to use anything except for shotgun in my state…just my luck…and all big 10.5” plus bearded Toms! I just had wild turkey tacos last night. I’m on the last of my meat from the second time I got last spring. Wild turkey nuggets will be the last of it next week.

[Dan Cash]

Where I live, winter temps of -20 are normal and spells of -40 or colder are not unusual. We have bunches of turkeys. 30 of them in my yard right ow and it is +7 with 10 MPH breeze.

[Dom]

Good info to hear. We had a large hatch last spring , turkeys every where. Some flocks at 100 birds or more . A sight to see.

[gwpercle]

I heard a rumor that wild turkey could fly ...

Maybe they will fly South , to warmer weather and not sit there and freeze to death in the -20 degree weather .
Gary

[Winger Ed.]

It's more than a rumor.

It's common to see turkeys roosting in trees at night, and they are about the only bird that can fly straight up.
However; flying any distance is hard for them.
Sort of like chickens- they can fly, but not very far, and it's a lot of effort.

[Kestrel4k]

My chest freezer at 0F is a pretty good temperature for wild turkey.

[Beerd]

gets pretty chilly in eastern Montana and the turkeys seem to do okay
..

[racepres]

How cold can wild turkeys take?
Much much, more than Me or You

[GhostHawk]

I live in Fargo ND, yeah way up there. Our trees along the Red River of the North are loaded with wild turkeys.

-30 is no sweat as long as they have food. Birds fluff up their feathers which are terrific good insulation.
Main thing is finding a place out of the wind. But they know how to do that.

Don't worry, they'll be fine. But if it keeps cold for more than 3 days you might take them a bag of corn.

[MUSTANG]

Last winter we had a couple of days get to -37 and we had about 30 Wild Turkey hanging around the Horse Feed area to pick up scrap Corn and Alfalfa from the horses. All of them survived to the Spring when the flock dispersed.

[waksupi]

It's supposed to hit -55 here in the Kalispell area tonight with the wind chill. I have a turkey roost on my property, I'll check for dead ones after this blows through. I suspect they will survive just fine. Previous cold blasts haven't hurt their population.
Wild Turkey in a bottle, however, WILL freeze!

[MaryB]

They do just fine in MN... gets to -31f where I live.

[farmerjim]

I have seen them survive -40.

[Shawlerbrook]

Agreed, heavy snow and ice is a bigger problem. We have turkeys here in Tug Hill where we get 300+ inches of snow and it dips to -30 and they survive. As long as these stretches don’t last for months.

[obssd1958]

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." - Les Nessman, WKRP

[TurnipEaterDown]

Wild TurkeyS (which make their own heat and have some intelligence) fare better than Wild Turkey (80 proof) which freezes at -17°F...

[DaleT]

Critters be like lice up here, Cold can get the snowbirds away in the winter but it don't work on these vermin.

[elmacgyver0]

I don't care.
All I know is they can stand cold better than me.

[quilbilly]

The experience here in Washington is that they can handle the cold just fine but the consistent 35 degree rains for months on end in NW Washington are what they can't handle just like, apparently, feral hogs. That is why we don't have either in my neck of the woods.

[white eagle]

is it ever cold enough to be rid of those?
ever since the mettled with the natural order we have had no grouse around here
I would much rather have grouse than turkey's but that is just me

[Tripplebeards]

The birds on my property when they come off of roost will fly and glide over 500 yards across the valley and into the neighbors ridge. Seen it 100’s of times over the decades. I have called them in that way to watch them glide and crash in front of me bright during a calling session. They can fly a lot longer and farther than most people give them credit for. Have a group that roost down below my property quite regularly. Hear them, and can see them at sunrise still roosted in the trees down below. I’ve seen them several times fly out of the tree and glide a good 300 to 400 plus yards onto my property. They are Good gliders.

Hope they have their booties and earmuffs on this morning since it -30 with windchill today!

[MUSTANG]

Last two nights were -35F; the 30 or so Turkey are still doing well (Hanging in the Trees or on the Fence Lines most of the evening/night). They really fluff up those feathers when it's -10 to -35. They ALL come running this morning along with 18 deer when I went out to feed.

[elmacgyver0]

If you are worried about it you can invite them in to sit around the fire.

[MUSTANG]

If you are worried about it you can invite them in to sit around the fire.

No thanks - but it would be nice if they would do their droppings in one place so it could be collected for Fertilizer.

[Walkingwolf]

If you are worried about it you can invite them in to sit around the fire.

I have heard no complaints from my turkeys in the freezer. OK to be more serious at one time I had chickens, and they seemed to survive freezing temperatures just fine.

[Walkingwolf]

No thanks - but it would be nice if they would do their droppings in one place so it could be collected for Fertilizer.

I don't think you would have problems with droppings, maybe drippings but those are used for the stuffing.

[elmacgyver0]

I have a 15-inch square box with a plastic sack for of turkey droppings I was going to use in my garden.
It made my shed smell like dead animals for years, finally dried out and very little smell now.
I was initially going to put it in a gunnie sack ant use it like a tea bag and use the "tea" to spread on my garden.
Sometime I will spread a little of the dry powder on my garden if I think about it.
A little will go a long way, pretty potent.