What are poults?

Poults are baby turkeys. The word usually refers to young turkeys of either sex, especially birds that are still being brooded or raised during their early development.

Turkey eggs generally hatch after about 28 days of incubation. Newly hatched poults are precocial, meaning they are relatively well developed, covered in down, and able to walk soon after emerging. They still depend on their mother—or on controlled brooder conditions in commercial farming—for warmth, protection, and guidance.

The term is sometimes used more broadly for the young of other game birds, such as pheasants, but “poult” most commonly brings young turkeys to mind. It is different from “chick,” which is a general term for a young bird and is especially associated with chickens. In the Thanksgiving context, poults are the starting point of the turkey’s life cycle before they mature into the birds raised for meat or breeding.