broody turkey questions

[nstilwater]

OK so i have a turkey hen sitting on eggs, after some issues with a hen trying to steal eggs and another hen laying more in the nest, I went to candle the eggs last night and discovered two pipped and the rest in various stages of development but all look ready to hatch within the next 4-5 days, and all alive and moving, this am i pulled out the one poult that had hatched and plan on doing the same with the other pipped and now half zipped poult. my question is, after the rest hatch out, is it ok to put the other slightly older poults/chicks back with mom or will i have to raise in a brooder. if so what is the best way to put them back. thank you

 

[cassidy22]

Probably best to put them in a brooder. Mom might not realize they are hers if she didn't see them hatch from her nest. Brooder them, and if hens were competing for the same nest, the other hens might be mean to the babies. If mama isn't protecting them properly, they won't make it. Brooder them, better to be safe than sorry!

 

[nstilwater]

I should probably mention that the other hens are not an issue any more since i have built a pen inside the coop with outdoor access for turkey hen. she is on her own inside this pen. it would be just her and babies.

 

[DeannaOR]

I have a turkey hen who has laid 7 eggs now....but yesterday one of the chickens started sitting on them. She was on them again today. This is my first time with turkey eggs and I wanted the turkey hen to hatch them out and raise them. Should I let the chicken do it? Separate her? I have read the turkey hens aren't always the best moms?
If the turkey isn't done laying her clutch, and the chicken is sitting on them..the hatch times will be different right? If I take the chicken out..will the eggs she has already been sitting on for two days go bad?

I'm not meaning to jack the thread..but it seemed like similar issues.

 

[nstilwater]

I have a turkey hen who has laid 7 eggs now....but yesterday one of the chickens started sitting on them. She was on them again today. This is my first time with turkey eggs and I wanted the turkey hen to hatch them out and raise them. Should I let the chicken do it? Separate her? I have read the turkey hens aren't always the best moms?
If the turkey isn't done laying her clutch, and the chicken is sitting on them..the hatch times will be different right? If I take the chicken out..will the eggs she has already been sitting on for two days go bad?

I'm not meaning to jack the thread..but it seemed like similar issues.

dont worry about jacking the thread, this is the same thing that happened to me. my solution was to seperate them, my coop wa easy to do this with, i was able to build a pen around the turkey, she started sitting on 15 turkey eggs and i ended up with five turkey eggs and six chickn eggs, i gave her a couple chicken eggs and the hen broke into the pen and laid a couple too. i think the reason that so many failed was because of the hen laying on the eggs and then getting up the next day, so i think the ones that made it are the ones that she laid after i built the pen. i have since put 10 eggs in the bator and at two weeks all ten of them are alive and well sooooo I would seperate them if possible, people have told me it will affect hatch rates. i have always raised in a bator, and brooder so this is my first attempt at a broody of any sort, i raise chicks, ducks, and turkeys. this is also my hens first attempt at brooding, so we'll see how it goes, you could take all the eggs out and put dummy eggs in until sh starts to set and then seperate her and place her eggs under her, then there is no chance of early incubation

 

[DeannaOR]

dont worry about jacking the thread, this is the same thing that happened to me. my solution was to seperate them, my coop wa easy to do this with, i was able to build a pen around the turkey, she started sitting on 15 turkey eggs and i ended up with five turkey eggs and six chickn eggs, i gave her a couple chicken eggs and the hen broke into the pen and laid a couple too. i think the reason that so many failed was because of the hen laying on the eggs and then getting up the next day, so i think the ones that made it are the ones that she laid after i built the pen. i have since put 10 eggs in the bator and at two weeks all ten of them are alive and well sooooo I would seperate them if possible, people have told me it will affect hatch rates. i have always raised in a bator, and brooder so this is my first attempt at a broody of any sort, i raise chicks, ducks, and turkeys. this is also my hens first attempt at brooding, so we'll see how it goes, you could take all the eggs out and put dummy eggs in until sh starts to set and then seperate her and place her eggs under her, then there is no chance of early incubation

Thank you...I appreciate the response. My bf wants me to allow the chicken to sit on them and see what happens. The turkey hen gets in there with her from time to time. I have a feeling I am about to experience a big learning curve

 

[DeannaOR]

I'm not sure how things will play out. There are now 11 eggs, the chicken lays on them sometimes but not all the time. I'm going to just let things happen..see if the turkey hen goes to sitting when she is done laying her clutch. Both laying hens only lay their eggs in the turkeys nest..I keep trying to get them to lay in the nesting boxes ..but they always lay in the turkey nest.

 

[chicks@feathers]

Chickens can hatch out turkeys just fine and you wont be abel to stop the hen chickens from laying eggs with the turkeys unless you sepeate them from the other a nother thing you can try is put some fake eggs in the chicken box make them think that a nest is starting thier