Kaye's free range turkey thread

[oldhenlikesdogs]

SO MUCH SNOW. HELP ME, I NEED SPRING.

That's too much snow.

 

[BantamTurkey]

I love the turkey pics.
And I am so sorry for your snow predicament. lol
I have 6 more turkey eggs now and I already have 32 eggs in the incubator. Maybe I will try to let them go broody and try to hatch some from them. I'm over running with turkey eggs

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I just crack mine than splat them on the ground for the turkeys to eat. There's no way I'm hatching them all and I already get too many chicken eggs to worry about collecting turkey eggs except to make sure no one reproducing without my permission.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I finally got my first turkey egg today. It was frozen on the ground.

 

[BantamTurkey]

At least you have gotten an egg now... what did it look like?? That sounds crazy, but all three of mine lay different eggs. One is almost completely bright white, one is kinda 'pink' with brown specks, and the other looks like your every day version of a turkey egg, tan with reddish brown specks

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Mine was the normal off white, almost tan, with speckles. I do get a whiter one from my black hen with very little to no speckles. I haven't gotten any more eggs from them since because we got more snow and we are back to cold and miserable again. Another few weeks we should be in business, spring eventually will arrive.

 

[BantamTurkey]

Also I have one hen setting (is it sitting or setting?) and another trying to go broody right in front of her. There's also the issue of the last hen laying right behind her. I have no clue what to do. I'm thinking that when the middle hen hatches the others will be stupid and try to get off their nests. What do I need to do

 

[BantamTurkey]

Mine was the normal off white, almost tan, with speckles. I do get a whiter one from my black hen with very little to no speckles. I haven't gotten any more eggs from them since because we got more snow and we are back to cold and miserable again. Another few weeks we should be in business, spring eventually will arrive here. It has to.

Here was last years poults.

And the year before. Just as a reminder to myself that it does eventually warm up enough for poults.

I love them. Beautiful babies

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Also I have one hen setting (is it sitting or setting?) and another trying to go broody right in front of her. There's also the issue of the last hen laying right behind her. I have no clue what to do. I'm thinking that when the middle hen hatches the others will be stupid and try to get off their nests. What do I need to do

block them off from each other, dog crates or temporary walls

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I ended up with a big mess when I let more than one hen set within sight of each other. The poults hatched and started wandering and before I knew it both hens were attacking them and tossing them around. I pulled them and raised them myself.

I believe if you want a hen to successfully hatch and raise the poults the hens needs to be separated from the rest. I don't have the room to do so. I now have my bantam hens hatch them and than I brood and raise mine myself.

I also end up with friendlier birds this way too.