hen brooding on ceramic egg - should I kick her off the nest?

[Eudy]

My turkey hen got really broody the last couple of days. She only turns out about two or three eggs a week but she’ll sit on the empty nest and wait for the next one to come out.

I gave her a ceramic egg to make her happy and she’s been very protective of it - this is promising to me because I’ve ordered more poults by post (she’s the only Turkey left after our neighbor’s dog tore through ). BUT she’s jumped the gun a bit - the poults won’t be here for another six weeks, and I’m worried if she sits there on her ceramic egg for a month and a half she might starve.

Should I kick her off the nest and not encourage the brooding? I thought it would be a convenient transition to taking care of the new poults…

 

[DotToDot]

If you don’t have a male, there’s no real point for her to be broody. Unless she’ll help new chicks.

 

[Eudy]

If you don’t have a male, there’s no real point for her to be broody. Unless she’ll help new chicks.

There’s definitely no male turkey around, though she has a special friendship with our male Guinea fowl

I hadn’t bought the babies expecting her to be motherly - I was planning to raise them in a brooder and introduce them to her gradually after a month or two. But this unexpected broodiness has me wondering if she might raise them herself.

 

[DotToDot]

Well, if you’re worried about her becoming unhealthy, it might be best to break the broodiness. Broodies *can* take care of themselves, but it does take a toll on their bodies. Hope that helps!