Ahh I have 6 turkey eggs in the incubator that got abandoned and I have NO idea when hatch date is! When I got them they wre cool so Im not holding out much hope. I love little turkeys!My turkey hen hatched out some babies yesterday. She was sitting on 7 turk eggs and 12 Cochin eggs that I *thought* were supposed to hatch on Wednesday. I went to the coop yesterday to check things, and there was a poult, so I was obviously way off on my hatch date. I'm positive the chicken eggs wont hatch until Wed. She's still sitting on them, but I'm worried she's going to keep on sitting and neglect the poults. So, are poults like chicks? Meaning, do they survive off the yolk sac for 2-3 days, or do they need to eat and drink sooner? I've caught up a few and dipped their little beaks in the water, and the level in the waterer has changed, so someones been drinking. I plan on taking the eggs and putting them in the incubator, but I'm at work all weekend and can't deal with them until tomorrow (or perhaps tonight- since I think she'd be less inclined to try and murder my hand in the dark). Will my babies be alright tonight or tomorrow around noon? They've got food and water in their cage, but another concern at this point is her defecating all over the chicken eggs that are SO close to being finished. Plus, if the poults are eating and drinking, I'm sure they're pooing all over them tooanyway, sorry for the novel, I'm just not sure what to do. Oh, P.S- I've got 3 broody chicken hens as well, so another opting is to shuffle some eggs around (they were all set and should hatch the same day) and let one of them hatch the turkeys eggs, and give her eggs to one of the other hens. Shew, I need to be better organized with this hatching business! Thanks for taking the time to read this. Here's a picture of the proud mama with a couple of her cute little babies!
Good thing she is so close in color to the other broody. Silly chicks just got lost in the woods - you could hear them peeping from the house (which is a looong way away). I tried unsuccessfully to catch them so finally I got the bright idea to go snag one of the moms and have her cluck them out.
