Eggs?

[Struttn1]

Quote:
Just because the hen is not setting right now does not mean she is not going to. They will not set the nest until they have finished laying the entire clutch. They will usually lay 1 egg a day until they have a clutch of 15 or more then they will stay on the nest almost contstantly except for feed, water and potty breaks. If you leave the eggs she will try to hatch them once she lays her entire clutch.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Just because the hen is not setting right now does not mean she is not going to. They will not set the nest until they have finished laying the entire clutch. They will usually lay 1 egg a day until they have a clutch of 15 or more then they will stay on the nest almost contstantly except for feed, water and potty breaks. If you leave the eggs she will try to hatch them once she lays her entire clutch.

Ok. I guess I'm just impatient. I will be patient and wait. I think the clutch is up to about 10. I will see what she does. The area where she has layed them is an area where the eggs could possibly get wet. Should i worry about that or not? If a hen lays an egg a day for 15 days, will the eggs still be good? What about the temperature. I always worried about that.

 

[Struttn1]

Getting wet from rain does not hurt them at all but if they are in an area where the nest could flood and do flood then they will not hatch. Temps should be no problem unless the temps drop below freezing. If she has 10 she will probably finish her clutch and set the eggs in the next week. if she is safe from predators just let her be and visit the nest once a day to count the eggs. Just don't disturb her when she is on the nest.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
You're a life saver !!! I was paranoid!!! Thanks for the advice. You're my turkey expert!!!

Thank you!

 

[Frosty]

If they start setting, keep an eye of them. I had a hen that didn't get off of her nest for anything (except to stand up when I found the nest - because the dog almost stepped on her). I put feed and water where she could reach it, and rigged a shelter over her to keep the weather off and her feed dry.

 

[Struttn1]

I would be careful putting food near her in an open pen. It could attract a racoon to her if the pen is not predator proof.

 

[NoCouth]

CAN A BROODY GOOSE successfully set TURKEY EGGS???

kuntrygirl, you said:

"I have 1 tom and 2 hens. The hens are about 8 months old and are laying eggs EVERY DAY. They are laying in 2 different places but they are not setting on the eggs. Your 1 yr old hens should be laying eggs
at this time. I have experienced that they hens will lay wherever THEY want to lay. Wherever they are comfortable and feel "safe", they will lay their eggs in that area. I set up a nesting box (large dog kennel) for
my geese to lay their eggs but I found my turkey hen in there, so now she has layed about 5 eggs in the dog kennel. The only thing is the goose has gone broody and is now setting on both goose eggs and turkey
eggs."

I have an important question I hope you or somebody else can answer. I have a broody African Brown goose, "Lou-lou," who has been setting on an empty nest for over a week. Her mate, Gussie, walks around squawking and hissing whenever anybody comes near. I got three fertile duck eggs from a friend, and put them in her nest and she was fine with that -- even seemed a little "excited" if that's possible! My question, however, is that my friend said that putting fertile TURKEY EGGS under her would result in her crushing/breaking them. She seemed to think that somehow the DUCK EGGS would be more likely to withstand her clumsy feet than the turkey eggs.

Did your goose successfully hatch out any of the TURKEY EGGS you reference above? Did she break or crush any of them? Any help from anyone on this issue would be appreciated! I have 10-12 lavender turkey eggs coming that I'd really like to put under Lou-Lou, but they're too precious to have her accidentally crush them, and probably ruin the duck eggs in the process. Are turkey eggs more fragile than duck and goose eggs? Thanks!

 

[byoung14ever]

I would give it a try. They are cautious when nesting so she will not break them IMO. I set 14 chicken eggs under a broody turkey this year and she hatched them all. She protects them and does not know the are chickens!!! I have never done ducks or geese but do not see much of a difference.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
UPDATE: In response to your question, my geese DID break AND crush a few of the the turkey eggs. She also kicked out the other turkey eggs. She refused to sit on them. This was a bad experiment on my part. The geese were just too big to try to sit on the turkey eggs. I had also put some duck eggs under my goose as well and disappointingly enough, she did the same thing. She broke some and kicked out the other duck eggs. She was smart enough to know the difference.

So, please don't try putting any eggs under a goose unless they are goose eggs. As you stated, the eggs are too precious to have her accidentally crush them.

A lesson learned for me.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
I had a chicken lay an egg in my turkey's nest of eggs and the turkey did in fact hatch the chicken egg with no problem. When the chicken hatched, neither the turkey nor the chicken knew the difference . The chicken still hangs out with the baby turkeys and they all sleep together. No one knows any different, so in this case, it worked.