Can I steal a wild turkeys eggs?

[Henriettta]

This is just a hypothetical question.
My fiance and I run a dairy farm. We have a few hay fields that are often used as Turkey hideouts. During chopping, I always find smashed up nests, and sometimes other unfortunate events.
Sometimes no matter how well you pace the field before chopping, you'll never see or scare off good mothers.

However. Sometimes I find nests with eggs. I wish I could move them, but the mother would never find them, I think. And it's not like I can pivot a huge tractor around one nest. And I would 100% get chewed out if I chose not to work a quarter of the field over turkey eggs.


So my question is: if this happens,can I take the eggs home and put them in my incubater? Can a wild turkey make a good addition to my flock? TIA

 

[SpicyDill]

I'd contact your local Fish & Game department, but I suspect it's likely illegal.

 

[Lelilamom]

We rescued a severely injured goose (I know, not the same) and looked for a resource on how to rehab the poor thing so it could be safely released back into the wild. We were completely willing to do the work, just needed to know what to do. We called our locally fish and game official and was told to put it back into the woods and let it die. It was illegal to handle wild animals and we'd be arrested if caught. I told the officer I was headed out the door to do just that. I then promptly ignored them, cared for the goose for two weeks until I found a vet who could help rehab the animal until it could be released back into the wild.

The moral of the story - let your humanity reign. Go grab the eggs, incubate them and raise the babies as your own. If you don't plan on keeping them as part of your flock, find a farm or wildlife preserve that wants to keep them in a semi-wild situation.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

At least here in FL, that's HIGHLY illegal - I inquired if it was possible to become licensed to do so, since they periodically try to replenish natural turkey populations, and the answer was a firm NO.

 

[Henriettta]

Okay thanks everyone, I didn't even think of the legal aspect of it
I will have to do some thinking on it...

 

[MadamContrary]

It's just as illegal to tamper with nests, aka accidentally smash them, I'd collect them and then delete this thread lol