How many turkey eggs in nest before they begin setting?

[ibpboo]

Are you putting the eggs in the bator? How long does it take for turkey eggs to hatch?

 

[southernsibe]

I'm glad I caught this thread. My RP has decided to go broody. She is mostly free range except at night she is in the coop with the chickens. I have a dog igloo in the inside of the coop that the chickens love to lay in, I have taken the bottom off of it. They also like to lay behind it, so she has followed suit. It amazed me that she could fit her body into the igloo! But she did, and laid an egg! Then she decided to lay behind it, and now that is where she wants to be broody, with a silky hen that likes to set on top of her. Which is hilarious to look at. The biggest problem with her setting is that I highly doubt the eggs are fertile. The tom just has not been able to get the whole process down correctly.
Rachel

 

[chickenannie]

Yeah, I'm a newbie at this and learning a lot every day.

Turkey eggs take 28 days to hatch. Now that two of my five hens have definitely gone broody, I have no idea how viable their eggs are because they've been up and down quite a bit. I want to leave them alone to do their thing so I just peek in on them once a day and make sure they're still setting. Personally I'm not about to go poking around under them to candle eggs or do egg switcheroos. I fear my intrusions will only make them leave the nests and seriously what can I do better than they?

I'm stealing hen #5's eggs because she chose such an awful, exposed place to lay. I fear for her life if she starts setting there. and the temps at night are still below freezing, so I figure to have any viability, I'll bring them inside. One guy in another of my posts said best eggs are no more than 10 days old, so I may start up the incubator once I get 10 eggs and then let her lay more to set on herself later. (I'm hoping she can lay more). I've only seen the turkey mating thing happen twice several weeks ago, but I'm figuring with all the strutting my tom does, he's probably had a few more chances. I'll know in another month!

I'd love to hear your'all stories too -- I figure we can all learn from each other.

 

[chickenannie]

Hey, how are other's turkey broodiness going?

Update on my 5 hens: Hen #2 and #3 are sharing a massive nest of eggs, and they sit next to each other. Will that work? I'm afraid they will fight.

Today a sad thing happened. One of the two setting broody hens came running squawking out of their building looking really distressed with egg shell stuck to her beak. We went in and there was a HUGE turkey egg on the ground (the nest is 3 feet up) cracked open. At first I thought she ate it, but now I think she was trying to roll it around and it fell down (the nests are like 18 inches away from the edge, so not sure how it moved that far). Now I'm sure of it -- my turkeys have feelings. She was so upset at what had happened, it was obvious. She went running off crying. I hope she gets over it and goes back to the nest and the other hen forgives her. this waiting for hatching is tough! (tougher on the mommas I'm sure, than on me).

 

[ibpboo]

Oh, that is sooooooooo sad

I hope your turkey is feeling better

 

[chickenannie]

Thanks. I've decided I should candle the huge amount of eggs in turkey hen #2 and #3's nest (about 35 between the two hens) and take the ones that aren't good so they rest have a chance (unless they're all good). A bit nervous since I have no idea what I'm doing and I don't want to disturb her. I will look up candling on the index...

 

[ibpboo]

Good luck and keep us posted on the egg candling and progress

Do you know how many more days?

 

[chickenannie]

They're at almost 2 weeks. However, I just looked up candling techniques and pics and realize I'm never going to be able to figure out which ones are good and bad. The differences are too subtle for a newbie like me. I'm not sure the hen will stand for me taking her eggs away from her and then bringing them back without freaking out either. argh.

 

[ibpboo]

I've never candled either. I wonder if you could practice with some fresh eggs first, then try some of the ones in the nest. Do the turkeys get real upset when you try and take the eggs?

 

[chickenannie]

Yes, they are always *talking* to the eggs and turning them over and they seem very alarmed if I'm nearby. they've been skittish as this is their first setting and they're only 10-11 months old. 3 hens are setting in the same building, so I fear if I disturb one, I disturb all 3. I'm a nervous momma too!