BR Turkey hen killed one of the eggs?

[ohiofarmgirl]

ugh. well a gruesome discover this morning. two of my BR turkey hens are happily setting - has been about two weeks. this morning there was a gooey bloody, yellowy mess near the door of the coop.

and then we found the little body - one of the developing embryos - a couple of feet away under where the tom and the unbroody hen roost.

the hen that is further ahead in her setting had a bit of egg on her beak and some goo on her breast... so i'm guessing she was the culprit.

buy why did she do it? we cant tell if she raided the other hen's nest ..... but probably not b/c the 2nd hen just started to set and i cant imagine one of her embryos would be that developed.

why would she kill her own? the embryo was not eaten - so i dont think its the usual reasons (not enough protein) but it wasnt developed enough to be a live hatch.

any thoughts???

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

She could have stepped on the egg and broken it. In the wild the hens will carry off broken eggs so they don't call in any "visitors".

Is your coop closed at night? something might have gotten the egg and pulled it out - that's remote as it probably would have eaten it.

I have never seen any hen eat her own eggs but have had others rob the nest and eat the eggs/young.

Steve

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

ah-haaaaa...... got it. we were amazed that the little body was moved as such. very early on when they were laying we had one broken egg - left exactly where this one was and just thought that one of the chickens popped in there or some weird thing.

we lock everyone up tight at nite so we really evaluated all possible entry points. my husband got all 'CSI' and determined we did not have an intruder as there was no evidence of anything coming over or thru the coop.

also the turks are next to the geese - our danged demon gander would have screamed bloody murder if anything got in - he's guarding one of his setting girls.

so your explanation makes sense and i am much much much appreciative.

i guess the good news is that its working! we have poults on the way!

on an aside - we candled our turk eggs in the 'bator and thats working too! i just love when nature works... whee! i'm on my way to 20 poults i just know it!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Only 20 poults.... you need more than that. "here a turkey, there a turkey, everywhere a turkey"

Steve

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

dude* - i'm so workin' on it! we got us a poultry palooza on the way!!! remember that hen #2 is still laying! and yikes - there is only 2 of us thats alotta turkey!!!

we candled our turk eggs - wowza no one said (ok i didnt read it close enough!) that you can see them moving. it was creepy enough. i have to admit i totally had a girl-moment and almost ran away screaming!!

*note: altho i'm a good midwest gal i revert to my west coast ways under duress or extreme happiness

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

That is kind of strange to see them moving in the egg when you candle. It's almost like the light hurts their eyes or startles them.

Don't you worry about those west coast girlie ways.... a little turkey math here. say 20 poults = 500 pounds of turkey poo on paper. In real life it turns out to be three times that and gets knee deep and slippery when wet. sooner or later you will end up rolling around in it. When you just scrape it off and keep feeding then you are true "turkey gal".

See what you have to look forward to?

Steve in NC

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

believe me... i lost all my darn shame. i used to work in corporate (software for 20 yrs) and i was used to dealing with all kinds of ...ahem... poo. now i REALLY am workin' in it!

not a day goes by that someone doesnt actually poo ON me.

goodbye nordstroms.. so long manicures....goodbye cushy life.... now the folks at my little country church are just glad if i show up clean and not draggin' straw down the aisle!

i've come a long way, baby

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

And it's a great way to go isn't it? I wouldn't give it up for anything.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i know.. all my big deal friends feel sooooo bad for me living out here in the 'fly over zone'... HA!

i just keep laughing about their $5000 a month mortgage (you read that right) and having an unsatisfying job. i realized that i spent a lot of money trying to make myself feel better about working so much so i had to spend more money to feel better about working so much...

now i just play with my hens, milk that goat, get chased by the mean tom and laugh laugh laugh....

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
There is only one thing to do in that case..... send them some poo.