The Australian brush-turkey has evolved an extraordinary breeding strategy in which the adults produce many large eggs and build and maintain a large natural incubator in the form of a mound, but devote no time or energy to the hatchlings. Lacking parental care, the chicks need to be precocial, independent and resourceful, and they inherit unusual behaviours for surviving in the rainforest. Some of these pre-existing behaviours change as chicks age and learn from experience. New information on chick ecology and behaviour will assist in their conservation and management.