Turkeys and Egg Laying

[Chelse]

Hello my wild turkey laid and hatch a clutch of 15 eggs, 5 of which I helped out with a bit of incubation. Her babies are a couple of weeks old now and she has just started laying another clutch, is this normal? Also how long does the sperm of the male turkey remain active in the female? I only ask because our male passed away about a week ago so the situation is a bit complicated.

 

[GotCoop]

If she didn't get to "finish" the first clutch, then it isn't that unusual for her to do a second.

 

[Chelse]

She hatched 10 of her 15 eggs on her own and I hatched the last 5. Nine of the 15 survived and she is caring for them but has started laying again.

 

[R2elk]

She hatched 10 of her 15 eggs on her own and I hatched the last 5. Nine of the 15 survived and she is caring for them but has started laying again.

Each hen reacts differently. I had a Royal Palm hen that started laying again within a week of hatching her poults. I have had other hens that did not lay again until the next year.

Once a hen goes broody and hatches her clutch, she will need to be bred again before laying more fertile eggs. If your tom died before the poults were hatched, her eggs will not be fertile.