Damn! Damn fat broody turkey

[Anethema]

So we have a Beltsville turkey and she was starting to get broody, spending more and more time in the nest.

So we figured best way to bust it is just to have her hatch some out. We don't have a tom, so we just decided to throw a couple fertalized buff orpington eggs under her.

Well we candled a couple weeks in and both eggs going great! Finally day 21 happens and we see two pips.

The next day we come back, one has partially unzipped but the shell was just crushed. The chick was still alive seemingly but I wasn't optimistic. Helped it out a bit, but it died shortly after.

The second bird fully unzipped and got out so we figured it would be ok. Nope.

Next day we came and found the chick dead and flat as a pancake. The turkey was just crushing her whole weight on it.

So that was pretty sad, and doubly so because shes still broody! It is just starting to get nice we want her roaming and foraging!

Can you bust her broodyness the same was as a chicken? (Normally just keep tossing it outside and locking the coop, or suspension in a cage if needed.)

 

[sourland]

Can you buy some day old poults to foster to her ?

 

[Anethema]

I'll have to look into it I might be able to.

 

[R2elk]

So we have a Beltsville turkey and she was starting to get broody, spending more and more time in the nest.

So we figured best way to bust it is just to have her hatch some out. We don't have a tom, so we just decided to throw a couple fertilized buff orpington eggs under her.

Well we candled a couple weeks in and both eggs going great! Finally day 21 happens and we see two pips.

The next day we come back, one has partially unzipped but the shell was just crushed. The chick was still alive seemingly but I wasn't optimistic. Helped it out a bit, but it died shortly after.

The second bird fully unzipped and got out so we figured it would be ok. Nope.

Next day we came and found the chick dead and flat as a pancake. The turkey was just crushing her whole weight on it.

So that was pretty sad, and doubly so because shes still broody! It is just starting to get nice we want her roaming and foraging!

Can you bust her broodiness the same was as a chicken? (Normally just keep tossing it outside and locking the coop, or suspension in a cage if needed.)

Beltsville Small Whites are supposed to be heritage turkeys. Heritage turkeys do not smash the eggs they are hatching unless it is due to other turkeys trying to share the nest or a tom trying to mate with the hen while she is on the nest.

Heritage hens move their feet very delicately to avoid causing harm to the eggs.

Now a Broad Breasted turkey could smash eggs in her care because they are not capable of moving their feet delicately. Your description of what happened leads me to believe that you don't have a Beltsville Small White turkey. A hen that will step on eggs and break them will also step on newly hatched poults and kill them.

The best way to break a turkey hen of being broody is to remove all eggs and destroy the nest by making the nest inaccessible to the hen. You could put something such as a log where the nest was to prevent her from getting to the nest.