Hen wont sit on eggs, when should I intervene?

[sweeterdeeter42]

My turkey hen has been laying in a nest I made her for the last week or so. She has 5 eggs in there, but she has not started sitting on them. She is outside all day and the eggs are inside the coop. She has no signs of becoming broody. The viability of the eggs go down after one week, so when should I intervene and put them in the incubator? I know they are fertile, I have 8 set right now with at least 4 developing. I am already doing a staggered hatch with a hatcher, so adding a few more wont be a problem if I mark them. What do you all suggest?

 

[MissTurkey4]

Date the eggs as they are layed. Many hens sit on 20 eggs. None of my hens have ever sat on less than 15 before going broody. If the eggs go more then 20 then toss the older ones, or any dirty ones.

Warm weather might effect the eggs. But hens have the ability to make the eggs last way longer than one week. Every time the hen sit on the eggs to lay the next egg, cell division replaces any dead cells in the egg. The one week rule is where egg hatchability starts to decine for eggs that we store. This does not apply to the eggs in a nest in the same way.

 

[Sumatra55]

eggs dont start loosing "viability" till around 2 weeks I would give her a another week, also the stimulation for broodiness come from eggs or something similar rubbing the "broody" patch on the hen, which then causes an increase in prolactin which then causes a semi complex process involving an increase and decrease in a variety of hormones. It has sometimes been effective to put "dummy" eggs in the next to try and increase the amount of stimulation of the broody patch when the hen is on the nest laying.

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

she isn't broody yet. I would either collect them and set them in incubator or under broody hen. I take rocks and put in plastic easter eggs and wrap some tape around them and put in a nest so turkey or chicken thinks there is eggs there so I am not leaving good eggs out for predators or waste them if they don't set on them if they get to cold or too hot to be good and then I can store them in safe environment till they set.