Our First Hatch!

[ivan3]

As long as the poults can easily reach the food/water (poult ht.), then the mother can probably show them (I'd be tempted to tutor a couple of the poults myself, just to be sure).

 

[thaiturkey]

Thanks Ivan. I'll get in there later and do that.

The volunteer has resigned and moved back to share with the other broody. I managed to move over two eggs but it was getting rather fraught and one egg was pecked in the process. The abandoned eggs are now back with mother and the babies in the hope the she will sit on them again. Perhaps I should have though of that earlier.

This is a great learning curve and I am a single dad today while my wife is away on her trip. The commotion of rearranging things has set off all of the turkeys who seem upset by it all. I suppose that I shall be regarded as the bad guy for quite some time, especially as a hen and 5 chicks have vanished from the view of the others.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
Have it close by the nest and they will find it.

Thai - I have to pick on you for just a minute. Everytime you mention "outhouse" I have to chuckle. Here an outhouse is an outdoor bathroom. AKA, one holer, stink house etc etc. lol Your are being a fine turkey daddy.

Relax and just keep an eye on them and they will do fine.

Steve

 

[thaiturkey]

Ah, the Transatlantic language problem!

Let's call it a store room, which we do here anyway. It's a steel and concrete building used for storing garden tools and the like. It's dry and the walls even out air temperature fluctuations somewhat. The lack of free floor space has me crawling around to get under the net umbrella with food and straw!

Thanks for your reassurance.

 

[thaiturkey]

It seems that mother had to decide between sitting on four eggs and showing the babies how to feed. She wisely chose the latter so the eggs were given to the other two broodies in the coop with a lot of swearing and threats of violence from them. The babies seem to be doing well. The tip about boiled egg yolk worked wonders.

The two bad girls now have three chicks, all hatched today. Tomorrow we shall risk life and limb to remove the chicks and put them in the storeroom with others.

As ever, any advice in the best way to do this would be helpful.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

They do love the egg yokes don't they. Since there is just a few days age difference you should have any problems mixing the poults.

Steve

 

[thaiturkey]

Funny, isn't it, how a problem often solves itself if left for a while.

We had to make a trip into town early this morning so we checked that all was OK with the little ones and agreed to move the coop chicks to the storeroom when we returned. Each of us was wondering how to avoid the task of grabbing the chicks from the mothers. When we returned one hen, the most violent and 'fowl' mouthed of the lot, was parading two chicks around the land. I was amazed at how fast they could run. In the coop there were now five others with the dog fighting hen. The hens seem to have divided the roles of sitting and teaching between them. Mrs. Nasty lunged at me several times and had my wife running away. The camera is never there at those choice moments, is it? There seems to be no way to get both hens away from the chicks or the nest at the same time without stirring up a commotion that scares the chicks and gets the other turkeys into a tizz.

So, we decided to leave well alone. Mrs. Quiet is quite happy with her five in the storeroom. At least, we are calling them 'her five'. The eggs were mixed up long ago. The others seem to be doing quite a good job on their own with their seven. Provided that the mothers keep them under their wings at night time for a while when the kamikaze mozzies are about they should be fine, I think. The only other possible problem seems to be the risk of trampling by the other turkeys but they are hardly on the floor of the coop. We'll see.

Tomorrow is probably the last day that we are likely to see any of the remaining eggs hatch, from what I have read.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Congrats "Thai turkey master"

Steve

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
Ta!!

I can't believe how lively the little things are. Both groups have driven their mums crazy by running off and then peeping for mum to come to get them. A completely new set of calls to be learned. I have seen two fascinated by the caruncles on mum's throat. They grab hold and hang on when she lifts her head. I have also seen how she gently leads them to food and water and encourages them to feed. Amazing stuff!

The original five, perhaps learning for the future, constantly visit the two nurseries to look. The old man is somewhat detached from it but does keep an eye on things and makes an appearance if there is too much commotion.

Is this just a one time experience for us? I guess that future hatches won't be as fascinating as the first.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I guess if you ever loose your awe of raising them it's time to switch to a less stressfull hobby. Crocodile wrestler, cobra wranger. You know something safe. lol

Steve