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.