I have a trio of Narries. The tom and one of the girls just turned a year old, the other lady will be one in July.
The girls just started laying in mid-April. On one day I got two eggs, so I know they're both laying. Egg production has been terrible. I suspected an egg eater when one day last week I saw an egg in the coop during an afternoon welfare check but could find no egg when i made my evening collection rounds.
The night before last there was white/yolk in the bottom of the nest box; egg eater confirmed. Last night the mess was larger, like two eggs had been eaten
So I got fresh hay, lots of it, padded the nest and put the ceramic egg they'd kicked across the coop back in the nest and decided I would stalk them for all I was worth to try to gather eggs before they could eat them.
At 7:30 this a.m. I checked feed/water and found a girl in the nest. A ha! You won't get this egg girls, it is mine! I went back at 8, she was still on the nest, 8:15 and 8:30 same thing. Now this is the girl whom I'd watched pace the coop and lay an egg right in the middle of the coop floor with only a pause in her pacing to drop the egg.... I should have known something was up. I tried to lift her off the nest before I left for work and she growled at me. Yikes, left her alone, thought maybe she really liked the new fluffy hay.
When I got home at 1:30 she was still on the nest. No, no, no, no, no, no!!! My plan was to gather all the eggs I could to incubate then let the girls eventually have a clutch each to set . If I let her stay broody she'll a)stop laying and b) only have like 3 eggs to hatch because they've been eating them up to this point
So, what is the best way to break a broody turkey? This is not going at all the way I planned
The girls just started laying in mid-April. On one day I got two eggs, so I know they're both laying. Egg production has been terrible. I suspected an egg eater when one day last week I saw an egg in the coop during an afternoon welfare check but could find no egg when i made my evening collection rounds.
The night before last there was white/yolk in the bottom of the nest box; egg eater confirmed. Last night the mess was larger, like two eggs had been eaten
At 7:30 this a.m. I checked feed/water and found a girl in the nest. A ha! You won't get this egg girls, it is mine! I went back at 8, she was still on the nest, 8:15 and 8:30 same thing. Now this is the girl whom I'd watched pace the coop and lay an egg right in the middle of the coop floor with only a pause in her pacing to drop the egg.... I should have known something was up. I tried to lift her off the nest before I left for work and she growled at me. Yikes, left her alone, thought maybe she really liked the new fluffy hay.
When I got home at 1:30 she was still on the nest. No, no, no, no, no, no!!! My plan was to gather all the eggs I could to incubate then let the girls eventually have a clutch each to set . If I let her stay broody she'll a)stop laying and b) only have like 3 eggs to hatch because they've been eating them up to this point
So, what is the best way to break a broody turkey? This is not going at all the way I planned
