How to use a surrogate?

[Rena]

Hi experts,

Last month my mother (who has some turkeys on her farm) asked me to use my incubator to "test" a couple of eggs for fertility as she was trying to figure out if her tom turkey was doing his job. I put in three eggs; two were fertile, but one didn't last very long.

Fast forward, I kind of forgot about the 'experiment' and I now have a single turkey egg due to hatch in the next two days. I don't really have the time and energy to devote to raising a single baby, plus lonely birds make me sad. I have access to a couple of broody (chicken) hens and I'm thinking about trying to pass the baby off to one of them. What is the best way to do this? How do I pick which hen to use? One has been sitting longer (so it would be more.. realistic?) but the other has hatched babies before and did well. Also, would you recommend introducing the egg and letting it hatch under the hen, or is it safer to wait until it hatches and stick the chick under the mom overnight? Do I do it right away, or wait until it's dried off and stronger in case the mom decides to attack it? Do I need to worry about masking smells or anything like that? Will it be harder because it's a baby turkey and not a baby chicken?

Thanks for any help

 

[Ridgerunner]

Only two days to go for the egg. That puts a bit of a twist on it.

If it has not external pipped, put it under the one that has been broody the longest. I don’t know details of how long they have been broody but chickens can’t count. However, sometimes chickens just going broody don’t go into full broody mode immediately. They may be sort of broody. The longer one has been broody and devoted to the nest, the more likely she has kicked into full broody mode. I think that’s why some people have trouble getting a hen that has just gone broody to accept new chicks while other in the same position have no trouble at all. It does not matter what time of day you give her the egg though this late I’d tend to doing that after dark.

If the egg has external pipped, you could have a problem with it shrink-wrapping while you transfer it. Plus the hen may reject a pipped egg, especially if you try that during the day. Or maybe the hen will leave the nest when you slip it under her and another hen may try to eat that opened egg. Usually at pipped stage the broody does not leave the nest. I’d suggest you hatch an external pipped egg and, after it has dried off and it is full dark, slip the poult under the broody. She will feel it and hear it all night and by the next morning will probably accept it.

Your goal was to find out if the eggs are fertile. You’ve successfully done that. Any poult will be a bonus.

There are no guarantees with any of his but a hen should accept a just-hatched turkey, guinea, or duck same as a chicken. Good luck!

 

[Rena]

Thank you! Yes, I think I have two days left to go.. a bit confusing because they are Midget White turkeys and some websites are telling me that these incubate for less time than other turkeys, but others say they are the same. Either way, we're about there. When I last candled the egg a couple of days ago and threw out the other eggs, this one was moving and looked close to hatch. No pip yet that I can see.

I'll sneak eggy under the mom tonight if it hasn't pipped yet and I will update when/if anything happens. Thanks for your help