Anyone else's turkeys do this?

[Blisschick]

Last year I had one of my turkey hens insist upon nesting on top of the chickens' shelter in the netting. (Some of you may remember that.) I thought that was great because it helped protect her from predators while she was sitting. I also thought it was a fluke thing, because she didn't try it again. It's very unusual for turkeys to want to nest UP.

Well, guess what...she's gone off and nested on top of another shelter, in the netting.

I heard her squawking and being distressed like she wanted to lay an egg, but she was pacing on top of the little coop, so I didn't think much of it at first, but when she started scratching, I knew what she was up to. I threw a couple of empty feedbags up there, along with some old leaves, grass and sticks, made a tent under the netting, and let her go. I had a dead branch with some leaves still on it that I used as sort of a bower for her to hide under. She got all excited and fixed it up to her liking, with me adding some pine shavings to help pad it a little. Right after we got it all fixed up, she laid her egg. Looks like I'm going to have some more babies on the roof again this year!

 

[98 gt]

Congrats!!

 

[lilbreeches]

congrats...wish my turkey girls would get it on and lay me some eggs! poor tom boy is ready the girls are just not...but soon

 

[austinhart123]

will the babies feet fall throuh the netting?

 

[Blisschick]

Last year I kept track of when she started brooding, so I was able to get the babies before they started running loose. I would imagine that they'd fall through between the loose edges, but they'd be too big to fall through the holes.

I went out later to find that some stupid chicken had found the nest and went and scratched all through it, so I put the egg in the incubator. I'll have to figure out a way to fix her up so no one will bother her nest.

 

[austinhart123]

Quote:
your going to hatch the one turkey egg, or are u gunna fix the nest and put it back?

 

[Blisschick]

I'm going to hatch the one, but I just put in about 5-6 dozen chicken eggs in last night, so it will have company. My other turkey hens are laying, too, so if I have to, I can sneak the one in and they won't be any wiser. I'll have to fix the nest so the loose chickens won't bother her. I may have to stick her in the pen with the birds that are there so she can have access to it. She's an escape artist, tho, so I'm not sure how it's going to work just yet.

 

[austinhart123]

Quote:
well if u are incubating i now and the hens are still laying, and wont brood till the have a decent nest, and then u put the egg in, wont it hatch early?


AND ALSO I CANT GET A GOOD MENTAL PICTURE OF WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT WITH THE LOCKING HER IN THE PEN AND WHATNOT, SO IF U HAVE TIME CAN U POST SOME PICS?

and i would love to see some pics of the turkeys

 

[ivan3]

Remember reading the report of a researcher who had come across a Wild Eastern that had built her nest about twelve feet above the ground in the base of busted off hickory snag (apparently it didn't work out well at all).

Only mention of this behavior I've ever come across. Good luck!

 

[Blisschick]

Quote:
well if u are incubating i now and the hens are still laying, and wont brood till the have a decent nest, and then u put the egg in, wont it hatch early?


AND ALSO I CANT GET A GOOD MENTAL PICTURE OF WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT WITH THE LOCKING HER IN THE PEN AND WHATNOT, SO IF U HAVE TIME CAN U POST SOME PICS?

and i would love to see some pics of the turkeys

I meant that if/when the other hens hatch out their babies, if I put that one baby in with those, they probably couldn't tell. Mine are a very nurturing bunch.

Picture an 8 ft wide x 16 ft. deep pen, 6 ft. tall, completely surrounded by wire. Across the top edges of the pen, I have boards nailed around it, framing out the top so I can drape netting across and have something to secure it to. The door is at the right front corner. The little shed/coop is in the back corner, directly across from it. It's about 5 ft. high with a slightly sloping roof. The netting sags down and touches the top of the roof, so it's giving her something solid to stand on when she's on the netting. There is a gap in the netting there where the two lengths of it overlap across the top of the coop. She's been ducking into the gap to get into the pen there. The roof needs replacing on the coop, so it's formed a little dip in the back left corner where it's bowed down. This is where she is wanting to lay.

I had propped the netting up with a stick so she could jump from the ground to the top of the coop without having to duck, but doing so has opened the gap pretty big, so the other loose chickens that roost on the edge of the pen can now get inside. Why they never did before when the turkey hen has, I don't know. (I agree, it doesn't make much sense.) Now that the gap is obvious and all the bedding is up there, being nosey and intrusive butts that they are, they nearly destroyed what we fixed up. What I need to do is either close the gap and keep her in the pen, or find another way to accommodate her, since I don't have any place to keep the loose birds right now.