bourbon red hen had 11 polts put them and her in pen wont go in coop

[medan]

she sits on the dirt instead of the nice coop with straw yes the poults can get in and out of coop if it rains I will force the indoor move should I ? also she left behind 3 eggs when the hatch happened I put them in my incubator got 2 more poults so far last night they are in brooder can I give them to her or what ?

 

[medan]

turkeys ?

 

[MissTurkey4]

There is this thing called a brooding box that you make for hen turkeys. Not to big but big enough for a hen to eat, drink and poop. A 4x6 or 5X5 is plenty. They go in it when they lay there eggs. When they get broody, you lock them in it. They sit and raise there poults in a safe place in this box until they are old enough to join the big world.

 

[medan]

my birds are free range i had to fight off the toms to get momma and her 11 kids in the pen we grabbed the poults and put them in the pen momma followed toms trying to attack the whole time they pick were they lay i have one under the coop right now on 14 eggs the only reason she is staying in the pen is because we made it so the poults cant get out they have food and water and are looking great
i just wonder can i put the 2 poults that i finished hatching in with her will she accept them and how do i get her to brood in the coop at night

 

[MissTurkey4]

You can't make them do anything with out containing them. If they are free ranged then mama and baby are sitting ducks for all kinds of problems. Good luck!

 

[medan]

yeah I get that but I am a human being with a brain about 100 times the size of a turkey so their are things I can and have done and I know their are other people that know stuff to do once my flock reaches 50 I will no longer interfere other then feeding them and water supply but for right now I need to protect then I lost 7 chickens to 2 opossums and a raccoon that are now dead and one of the opossums pulled a turkey hen off her nest and ate her eggs (one of the opossums that’s dead now) they always come at night and when it rains especially just fyi and I think if I ever incubate turkey eggs again I will let them cool off for 35 mins ever other day because that’s what I observed the hens doing and they had better success by 20% then I have ever seen in any incubator hatch and every poult his healthy all walking running ect from day one

 

[MissTurkey4]

I have know idea why people do not prepare a safe place before the breeding season starts. It is like buying poults with no place to put them.

 

[medan]

because we do not want to interfear with nature or as little as we need to. Mother nature knows what shes doing better then any of us do

 

[MissTurkey4]

Let us know how they do, and stop worrying then.

 

[medan]

I would really like to hear from steve I dont care for your advice sounds like tourture boxes for innocent animals and I dont like your tone please dont respond to my posts ms turkey