About 245 million turkeys are slaughtered each year in the U.S., with 46 million alone killed just for Thanksgiving. While turkeys are as social and playful as cats and dogs, there could be no starker difference between the lives and deaths of these creatures and that of most companion animals.
The Life Expectancy of Turkeys: How Long Do These Birds Live?
Turkeys are a popular poultry bird raised for meat and enjoyed especially during the holidays. But how long do turkeys actually live, both in the wild and domestically? The lifespan of a turkey can vary quite a bit based on its environment, breed, and gender. Read on to learn more about the factors impacting turkey longevity.
Wild Turkey Life Expectancy
Wild turkeys have a relatively short life expectancy compared to other wild game birds. According to the National Wild Turkey Federation the average lifespan for a wild hen turkey is around 3 years. Toms fare slightly better averaging about 4 years in the wild.
The biggest threat to wild turkeys is predation. Hens are especially vulnerable when nesting on the ground, exposed to predators like bobcats, coyotes, owls, hawks, raccoons, and snakes. Toms are less prone to predation since they can fly up to roost in trees at night.
Disease outbreaks can also shorten the lifespans of wild turkeys if their immune systems are weakened by poor nutrition. The availability of food and water resources impacts wild turkey longevity. Turkeys forced to range farther from their roosts to find sustenance are more likely to fall prey or succumb to illness.
The ideal habitat for wild turkeys includes adequate food, water, cover and nesting sites all within close range of their roosting areas. This allows them to thrive and reach the upper end of their natural lifespan. Conservation efforts aim to improve turkey habitat across their native ranges.
Domestic Turkey Lifespan
When raised on farms, turkeys enjoy a significantly longer average life expectancy thanks to steady food water shelter and lack of predators. However, there is still quite a bit of variability.
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Commercial Broad-Breasted Turkeys The typical commercial turkeys raised for meat live only about 18-28 weeks, reaching a harvest weight between 14-40 pounds depending on gender. These broad-breasted turkeys reach market size quickly thanks to selective breeding. They are slaughtered long before reaching maturity.
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Heritage Breed Turkeys:
Heritage turkey breeds take 28-30 weeks to reach harvest size. If allowed to mature, heritage turkeys can live 5 to 8 years. Popular heritage breeds include Narragansett, Bourbon Red, Standard Bronze, and Black Spanish turkeys. Their longevity allows them to be bred and produce fertile eggs year after year. -
Exhibition/Show Turkeys:
Turkeys entered into poultry exhibitions and breed competitions are often allowed to live even longer, some over 10 years. These turkeys kept for showing are carefully bred for desirable traits and cared for long term by dedicated owners.
Factors Affecting Domestic Turkey Lifespan
Several key factors contribute to the lifespan of domestic turkeys:
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Breed – Heritage breeds live longer than commercial broad-breasted turkeys.
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Purpose – Turkeys raised for meat have shorter lives than exhibition breeds.
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Gender – Toms often outlive hens by 1-2 years.
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Health – Disease can shorten any turkey’s life. Adequate space, nutrition and vet care promote longevity.
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Predation – Confined domestic turkeys are safer from predators vs. free range.
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Harvest Age – Commercially farmed turkeys are slaughtered at under 6 months old.
The typical lifespan of a domestic turkey ranges from less than a year for commercial breeds to 5-8 years for heritage turkeys allowed to reach maturity. With optimum care, some exhibition breeds can live over 10 years. The average turkey dinner bird, however, will not make it past 28 weeks.
A wild turkey living undisturbed can reach 3-4 years on average. Domestic turkeys have a much wider range of life expectancy based on their breed, purpose and living conditions. Commercial meat turkeys seldom exceed 28 weeks before slaughter. Heritage and exhibition turkeys enjoying good care may live 5 years or more. Gender, health and predation also impact longevity. With their relatively short life cycle, every year is precious for these big, beautiful birds.
How Long Do Domestic Turkeys Live?
Domesticated turkeys, such as those on factory farms across the country, are killed between five and six months. Pet turkeys can live up to 10 years.
What Factors Impact a Turkey’s Lifespan?
There are several key factors that typically impact a turkey’s lifespan, most important of which are whether the turkey is wild or living in captivity, particularly a factory farm.
Wild turkeys thrive in and around mature forests that produce mast, described as the “fruit and nuts of woody trees and shrubs.” In the spring, free-roaming turkeys tend to eat leaves and grass, while in the fall, these creatures feed on fruits, berries, seeds and insects.
Farmed poults need a lot of heat to survive. As a result, turkey producers are instructed to heat their turkey houses, called brooders, to 95 to 100 degrees in the first week after the turkeys hatch, decreasing it by five degrees every week until the birds have all of their feathers and can better maintain their body heat.
For wild turkeys whose environmental conditions aren’t controlled by humans, the length of their lives is highly dependent on the environment in which they live. Local wild turkey population rates shift throughout the year depending on a number of environmental factors, including local habitat, “availability of food, weather, density of predators, disease and hunting season.”
Turkeys are also highly susceptible to pathogens, even vulnerable to diseases that do not affect chicken. As a result, it’s not recommended that producers keep the two types of birds together. Vaccinations are available but generally not recommended for small-scale producers absent a specific threat.
The farmed turkey industry has long used selective breeding techniques to grow larger turkeys that produce more breast meat, leading to an increase in birds that are very susceptible to heart disease and other infections. Heritage birds are not susceptible to many of these conditions due to their more balanced size and spacious living conditions.
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