I have a heritage turkey hen, 2 buff orpingtons hens, and 2 Cochin bantam hens that have all been raised together since we got them last spring. I also have an EE hen and a RIR rooster that are housed separately as they were my first and the EE likes to pick on the other hens. They are however allowed to free range together during the day. The rooster has definitely been doing his job when it comes to my orpingtons. My turkey and one of my bantams became broody a few weeks ago. Having never hatched eggs, I decided to let nature take its course just to see if they would hatch before trying my hand at incubating. Both having been brooding for a couple of weeks now. I have candled all of the eggs to assure that they were fertilized. They were all laid and fertilized at different times.
The problem I'm having is I keep finding crushed eggs under my turkey. Wasn't sure if this was intentional or not. I know they can cull out the bad eggs and that they can also crush them on accident when turning them. I candledall if the eggs yesterday and marked their aircells and removed a couple that were nonviable. My question is would it be ok to move some of my more developed eggs to my bantams brooding box in hopes of them hatching? From candling them, they appear to range from day 12-16.
The problem I'm having is I keep finding crushed eggs under my turkey. Wasn't sure if this was intentional or not. I know they can cull out the bad eggs and that they can also crush them on accident when turning them. I candledall if the eggs yesterday and marked their aircells and removed a couple that were nonviable. My question is would it be ok to move some of my more developed eggs to my bantams brooding box in hopes of them hatching? From candling them, they appear to range from day 12-16.