Introducing incubated chicks to their mother

Coopher

Chirping
10 Years
May 2, 2013
11
5
79
Ridge, NY
Hello everyone,
We have in the past allowed our Royal Palm turkey hen and tom to hatch and raise their own clutch of poults. But we have found in the past, the second clutch of eggs in the same year usually get ignored by the hen, especially during hot summer days and the hatch rate is either very low to none at all. She currently has three poults about 4 weeks old and has started laying again. So, as a preemptive action, I have removed her first five eggs, and plan on removing all others and use an incubator to hatch them. My question is will the hen recognize and accept her own poults, or will I have to keep them separate ( we have a separate shelter with a screen between in two areas) until she and her current family get use to them?
 
She will probably not recognize them as her own. To her, they will be no different than unrelated babies purchased from somewhere else.

Keeping them separate at first sounds like a good plan.
How long to separate? I don't know. Watch the birds and see, then try letting them be together while you keep watching, and adjust if needed.
 
She will probably not recognize them as her own. To her, they will be no different than unrelated babies purchased from somewhere else.

Keeping them separate at first sounds like a good plan.
How long to separate? I don't know. Watch the birds and see, then try letting them be together while you keep watching, and adjust if needed.
OK. Thanks for the reply. That's what I was afraid of. Alas, will have to do what needs to be done for a safe transition.
 

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