Can you go both ways?

[GBov]

Have been reading and wondering and have finally got to ask, if your turkey is laying eggs can you gather some and put them in the bator and leave her the rest to hatch out?

I use to do that with my hens but dont know about turkeys.

And if you do gather eggs, how long till you have to incubate them? I never let my chicken eggs go past 10 days as thats all it took to get a clutch together.

How long will a turkey lay for and if and when one goes broody, will the other hens slyly lay eggs in her nest when she gets up for a stretch

I am sure I will think up more questions but these will do for now lol

 

[houndit]

Quote:
You can leave her some and incubate some. I usually keep them about the same length of time as chickens eggs. I actually have one hen laying still. The others all stopped quite a while back. I do not know about the birds laying in each others nest. I think I had it happen only once.

 

[GBov]

When one of my chickens went broody she wound up trying to set over 30 eggs! Poor thing was beside herself

and each time she got up the sneaky things were in like a flash to lay more!

I learned after the fact I could have put a pencil mark on the first bunch of eggs adn then picked the rest out but as fierce as a hen is on her nest, a turkey must be formidable so would rather not have to mess with a broody turk.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Yes you can gather some eggs to incubate and let the hen sit on the others.

When we are incubating we set eggs once a week. If you think about a turkey hen that layes an egg a day or 1 every other day and gathers 12 or 15 eggs before she sits you could probably go 2 weeks and still get a good hatch. That would depend on the temp you are storing them at, in warm weather hatchability drops pretty quickly, the eggs don't store well when it's warm.

For egg laying it depends on the variety of turkey, our Beltsville Small Whites themselves outlay the other 5 varieties that we have combined. Last year they started laying around Christmas and layed steady until June. If you collect all the eggs they will lay more. if you leave some they will go broody. It really varies from hen to hen on how many they will lay. I have noticed a younger hen (yearling or 2nd year) will lay more eggs than an older one. The older they get the more they try to go broody.

There is a trick to reaching under a sitting turkey hen and not having her rip your fingers off. shhhhhhhhhhh it's a secret.

slowly reach in and lift up her tail, she will put her head/ beak down to steady herself and you can reach under easy while you have her distracted. And if she is really protective to the point where you can't even reach into the nest box you just get used to people asking why you have little brusies all over your hands and arms - the bruises fade after awhile.

Steve

 

[jenjscott]

I gathered this year and set quite a few in the incubator. I only had 1 hen in her first season and she never did go broody, but I never let her collect over a dozen eggs. Maybe next year, I have more hens so I will be able to get what I want and still be able to leave some for setting.

 

[GBov]

LOL about the little bruses Steve lol

My broodiest hen (who tried to starve herself to death sitting on everybodies eggs) was so bad I use to put a little bucket on her head, that way I could work around her and not leave fingers and arm bits behind.

Thanks for all the good information guys, I am really stoked about getting some midget whites come spring but the more information I have, the better we all will do

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

I love the secret Steve! That's great, unfortunately, it dont work on our wild strains, they dont lay in boxes, dug out holes in the ground, usually under a bush,.
They follow you and wont let you behind them, you just have to put on the ol, football pads and go for it! LOL
Still got a scar on my cheek from one using my face as a launching ramp from this year!!!

Oh and by the way, as for our wilds, they all use the same nest hole. Very seldome will there be 2 nest sights in the aviaries..

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
That would be a good thread to start "show us your poultry scars" lol I've got scars all over my forearms from the Muscovy ducks - I'm here to tell you those beasts have sharp claws! And about a 6 inch long scar on my chest from a peacock. Rule number one - don't hold them with no shirt on.

That cut couldn't have been any cleaner if you did it with a razor blade.

Steve

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

I hear ya Steve!
I have been clawed up by about all of them, including the ol muscovies. Just got a fresh on today from a gold pheasant tah freaked out for some reasone and went over my face. Flew up, hit the net and came right down on my face. I am going to have to get a hockey mask before long to go with the footbal pads!!!LOL
Aubrey

 

[GBov]

Poultry, not for the faint heart