A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[Crazydoglady99]

alicia!!!!

Hey Turkey people.. a question..

If I were to have say 4 hens, 1 tom. When hen is broody sitting on eggs, move her (or move tom).

Can more than 1 hen be in the same enclosure (seperate nests) while they are hatching poults? Or do they need a separate fenced area each?

How do you reintroduce the Tom later? How old do the poults need to be in order for them to be safe (from Tom/other hens) etc?

Sorry -that is more than 'a' question

 

[R2elk]

alicia!!!!

Hey Turkey people.. a question..

If I were to have say 4 hens, 1 tom. When hen is broody sitting on eggs, move her (or move tom).

Can more than 1 hen be in the same enclosure (separate nests) while they are hatching poults? Or do they need a separate fenced area each?

How do you reintroduce the Tom later? How old do the poults need to be in order for them to be safe (from Tom/other hens) etc?

You should either move the tom or build something around the nest area with an entrance that is big enough for the hen to go through but small enough that the tom cannot get into the nest.

Turkey hens do not normally take well to having their nests moved and is one way to get a hen to quickly abandon her nest.

You can have multiple broody hens in the same area but it is best if they each have their own nest site. Having multiple hens share the same nest often works out badly for the hatch rate and poult survival as jockeying for position can cause broken eggs and squashed poults.

Every tom is different and even the same tom can react differently over the course of the season. There usually is no problem letting the tom back in with the hens (after they have left their nests). It isn't the same as separating toms and having the dominance fights start all over.

I prefer to have the poults at least a couple of weeks old before introducing them into the general population if they are being brooded by a hen. A hen with poults can become very nasty to others in the flock. Even a bottom of the pecking order hen can seem to suddenly become top of the pecking order as she attacks other turkeys in order to keep them away from her poults.

 

[Crazydoglady99]

Thanks R2!! You are a champion!

 

[aliciaplus3]

Just a couple of poults hanging with some cute chicks

oops that one got too close to the camera

 

[memphis]

Cuties

 

[duluthralphie]

alicia!!!!

Hey Turkey people.. a question..

If I were to have say 4 hens, 1 tom. When hen is broody sitting on eggs, move her (or move tom).

Can more than 1 hen be in the same enclosure (seperate nests) while they are hatching poults? Or do they need a separate fenced area each?

How do you reintroduce the Tom later? How old do the poults need to be in order for them to be safe (from Tom/other hens) etc?

Sorry -that is more than 'a' question

I agree with R2elk and disagree slightly. I try to not have the hens in the same enclosure when brooding. I have had some completely loony hens that will chase and try to kill the other hen if she gets too close to the babies...of the first hen...

I have had toms that will sit on eggs and brood babies...I think it was a gender fluid Tom, but I am not sure.....

If you know your hens you will know what to do.

Please take this with a grain of salt because as was mentioned before, I have psycho birds...

 

[Crazydoglady99]

Thank you!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

And then, I do things totally different. I don't move anyone and let the hens brood right in the flock lol

 

[memphis]

Auroras flock takes the team approach. I agree with Ralphie....know your bird! Mine shared custody of two chicks last year. The chicken hens ignored the babies. The Turkey hens proved to be great moms. But no toms here.

Sunny & 60. Turkey girls out sun bathing. Catching a little vitamin D!

Question....can turkeys eat rolled oats? As in Quaker Oats? Someone asked...I dont know...mine only get a bit of BOSS at bedtime. Since they free range...I'm not into treats.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Auroras flock takes the team approach. I agree with Ralphie....know your bird! Mine shared custody of two chicks last year. The chicken hens ignored the babies. The Turkey hens proved to be great moms. But no toms here.

Sunny & 60. Turkey girls out sun bathing. Catching a little vitamin D!

Question....can turkeys eat rolled oats? As in Quaker Oats? Someone asked...I dont know...mine only get a bit of BOSS at bedtime. Since they free range...I'm not into treats.

sure they can!