Found in the East Indies, Australasia and Polynesia, megapodes construct mounds of vegetation to incubate their eggs in. Using vegetation gathered from the forest floor around them, male brush turkeys build a large and distinctive incubation mound, which can be up to four metres wide and up to two metres high. A female will then lay between 18 and 24 white eggs in the mound, with intervals of two to three days between the laying of each egg. As the vegetation in the mound decomposes, it gives off heat which warms the eggs. The optimum incubation temperature is between 33 and 35 degrees centigrade, and the male brush turkey maintains this temperature by removing and adding layers to the mound.
Temperature regulation is the only assistance the parents provide to their offspring.
The young brush turkeys hatch after about seven weeks, fully feathered and able to run. They dig their way through the layers of the mound and into the open air. Brush turkeys are generally wary of humans. However, they can become very tame around picnic grounds and homes, particularly if they are fed. Feeding brush turkeys is not recommended.