My feathered friends

[laura29532]

thanks for the heads up..two more eggs today.. two out of six hens laying now..
everything I have read said they did not lay in fall/winter..they would lay in the spring..these guys were all
hatched in May and July this year..I figured they start laying about March or April.
The tom blue and three blue hens hatched in July..I bought them out of Arizona in August, 3 1/2 months old.
The ones laying are from my own I bought, 2 day old chicks on May 16th..
my oldest Blue Slate started laying yesterday, today one of my Midget whites laid one too..lol

 

[laura29532]

she's staying close to the nest box..every time I go in the coupe she jumps right in there..
when I pick up the egg she gives me a disgusted look and does a peep peep noise..lol
maybe its a hey mom look what I done thing...lol
shes so tame, she's the one that really loves it sitting in my lap and getting petted just like a cat.. she closes her eyes and nods
off while getting some loving...lol she will sit for hours if you let her..lol
I didn't want them that people friendly because I intended to breed them, wasn't sure how that
would work out with the tom..guess it doesn't make a difference, she jumped in my lap this morning
to get some loving after I picked up the egg...my grand daughter would hold her all day if I let her.. she's become quite spoiled over the summer..lol she's real good about me taking the eggs, I thought maybe she'd get ugly about that...
but she's okay with it as long as I have the time to cuddle with her..

 

[R2elk]

she's staying close to the nest box..every time I go in the coupe she jumps right in there..
when I pick up the egg she gives me a disgusted look and does a peep peep noise..lol
maybe its a hey mom look what I done thing...lol
shes so tame, she's the one that really loves it sitting in my lap and getting petted just like a cat.. she closes her eyes and nods
off while getting some loving...lol she will sit for hours if you let her..lol
I didn't want them that people friendly because I intended to breed them, wasn't sure how that
would work out with the tom..guess it doesn't make a difference, she jumped in my lap this morning
to get some loving after I picked up the egg...my grand daughter would hold her all day if I let her.. she's become quite spoiled over the summer..lol she's real good about me taking the eggs, I thought maybe she'd get ugly about that...
but she's okay with it as long as I have the time to cuddle with her..

I highly recommend that you place a fake egg in the nest. While your hen may be the exception to the rule, removing their eggs will often cause turkey hens to abandon a nest and try to find a "better" place to lay them.

"Better" in turkey lingo = more hidden and harder to find.

Good luck.

 

[laura29532]

An elderly man in the neighbourhood used to raise five or so for family every year for thanksgiving. He told me to take plastic golf balls and set one in each nesting box. He says they have two uses,to show the hens were to lay and if you have snake or rodents, they will steal the golf balls and leave the nest alone..I tried it, it sure worked..she's laying in her nest..I still have one blue slate refusing to use a nest, she lays ever egg on the bricks at my back kitchen door. I think that's my fault, I always use the back door to bring them goodies..when I don't stay to their time frames, they will actually sit and knock on the door with their beaks about lunch time...lol