Broody wild turkey

[quarryacres]

Hi we have started our Turkey coop with one year old wild Merriman Turkeys 2 Jenny's and three Jakes or so we thought but now a month I think we have 3 Jenny's and two jakes the one jake has really grown looking very gobbler like
The one question that I need to ask is in the last week or so one hen has made a nest in the little house under the ramp and two days ago noticed 28 eggs and one main hen behaving broody . Hissing and not leaving the eggs much
Do you think all eggs are hers ? I plan on candling them in a week to see if they are fertile
And should we separate the toms ( jakes) to help the broody hen hatch the eggs if fertilized ?
Only one jake has developed into a juvenile Tom the other hasn't would that mean we have 4 hens and one Tom ?

 

[Book Em Danno25]

Go to the forum Turkeys.

you will have more help there than here probably. Just start a new thread and copy what you wrote here.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/20/turkeys

Welcome to BYC!! glad you joined the flock

 

[ivan3]

Twenty eight eggs more than likely represents the work of more than one hen. If both "jakes" are the same age, only one is "shaping-up" and there has been no sparring at all (or other consistent signs of one-upping on the dominance ladder) observed? Could well be 4 females.

Separating out the obvious jake (after examining for percentage of fertile eggs - might have some more work to do...) can be useful, ours have never injured poults, or bothered the hens once they went broody - but there is a low "fence" separating them until the hens start taking the poults out to explore.