just set 12 turkey eggs

[jimmythechicken]

my daughter had a bluefor slate turkey last year that was her best friend but he got sick an did not make it had kidney or liver problems we think.she cried and we burried him under our big bean tree.so this spring she asked me if she could get another little blue sense we already had a pen built for him he died durning the building of his pen.so i told her sure so we found a great women about 40 mins from us with blue slate an blue slate miget white cross hatching egg so she bought a dozen an put them in her sportsman.she is so excited they are due to hatch on mothers day she want to be a new mommy.will we be able to tell the blue slate an the blue slate wm crosses at hatch? she wants to keep a few to breed are they good as trio's or can she do 3 hens an a tom

 

[greeneggsandham]

The only way you might be able to tell is if any hatch out white. I'm not sure how the color gene's work in turkeys. She could end up with all blues if the blue gene dominates the white. A tom and three or even five hens will work with no problems.

 

[jimmythechicken]

cool she wants to keep them all till she finds the ones that pick her.

 

[BAMACK2]

Good Luck with them

 

[Jocasta]

I've just ordered some Norfolk Bronze hatching eggs myself so will be setting some soon too

I've ordered 8. I've always assumed roughly a 50% hatch rate for artificial incubation - is that about right do you think? More would be better, obviously. Fertility should be high as it's two hens running with two stags/toms. Fingers crossed anyway - I'll be happy with two tbh, it's my first time incubating eggs. One of my broody hens hatched a clutch of chicks last year but the turkey season is too short in the UK (not sure if that's true everywhere) to wait for a hen to go broody.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on!

I'll certainly share your excitement

 

[jimmythechicken]

Quote:
what kind of bator do you use my daughter gets around 80-85% hatch with her lg she is doing the turkey eggs in her sportsman she just brought so we will see how she does with it she is going to incubate with the sportsman an then hatch with 2 lg

 

[Jocasta]

I've ordered this:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Brinsea-Octag...502651717&po=&ps=63&clkid=8430734370503469070

Fingers crossed I do so well

 

[MissTurkey4]

Quote:
What is a Norfork Bronze? Is that a cross of a Norfork Black on a Bronze?

 

[Jocasta]

I'm not entirely sure tbh lol, I'm in the UK and they just call them "Norfolk Bronze" I think they are sometimes refer to them as Cambridge Bronze too... When reading up on the difference between Norfolk Black and Norfolk Bronze (the two most popular table birds over here), the difference seems to be that the blacks are taller and can sometimes get a little bigger but the bronze's have more breast tissue. Not sure if that's any help at all... I'll post pics if and when I get some birds to photograph!

I'm not sure if I'm inserting the image correctly but if it does work, this is what I got when doing a google image search for a "Norfolk Bronze" Wikipedia says that the Norfolk Black and Norfolk Bronze turkeys often just get referred to as "Black" and "Bronze" so maybe it's the same... Don't really know an awful lot about turkeys though - does it show?

 

[greeneggsandham]

How are the eggs doing?