Anyone use a turkey hen to hatch chicken eggs?

[chicks4kids]

I have a broody Palm turkey that is setting on a nest of 9 unfertile turkey eggs. Has anyone ever let a turkey hatch out chicken eggs before? And what are your pros/cons about it? I did a search on BYC and found 1 thread about it and it was very short. Noone in my area has turkey eggs and the one guy that lives 30 minutes away won't let me buy them and come pick them up--he wants to ship them. But she was a broody last year and that's what she was used for. And apparently she was very good at it.

So I'm just thinking that maybe I should just throw some fertile chicken eggs under her. What do you think? I already have turkey poults in a brooder now, however, if I could get some fertile eggs locally I would. But that doesn't seem to be a possibility. So....go with chicken eggs??

 

[Cindiloohoo]

It is my understanding that they are too heavy to sit on chicken eggs, they will crush them.

 

[chicks4kids]

I had heard of that, but I heard it was crushing the babies, not the eggs. I suppose that that may be possible. She is one of the lighter breeds of turkeys however.

 

[oldno7ranch]

A friend of mine had a broody turkey that ran a chicken of the chickens own nest and hatched 8 baby chickens, only thing was when they got bigger and were to be put i the chicken pen the hen turkey would allow anyone to take her babies...lol So they ended up staying in the pasture with the turkeys...

 

[abanjaf]

cute story oldno7ranch