Royal Palms laying up a storm

[DaKid]

Why won't my turkey hens hatch there eggs -

Ok my 3 hens are with a tom and they been laying up a storm of eggs lately but only one hens as been sitting on the eggs but only for a half or so long a day they rest of the day she seems she just don’t care , these hens and tom are almost 3 yrs old now and every yrs they lay but won’t hatch there own I have hatch some of the egg in my bator, but it seems they will not hatch they there self , this yr I place a few eggs under a broody chicken hen we will see what happens ....

 

[KellyHM]

How many eggs are you leaving in the nest at a time? I couldn't keep mine from going broody this year. It's their first year laying and all 5 of them went broody within a month of each other.

 

[DaKid]

well each day I getting from 2 -3 days and as now - well friday -----they where at lease 12 eggs plus eggs in there nest , I have about 8 more in the bator due to hatch Apr. 29 and I just place 6 more under a broody chicken hen 4 days ago, but they are still laying up a storm

 

[KellyHM]

I've heard people say they'll wait until there are 20 eggs in the nest to go broody, so you might just keep leaving them in there for a while.

 

[DaKid]

Ok today I counted about 18 eggs plus ......... didn't want to get to close to the coop nest ......I did see about 4 -6 eggs more push over to the other side of the nesting box which they are not sitting on so Im guessing there no good ------but still as of late today the 4 hens are not sitting on the eggs all day long .
Hopefully out of the 4 hens one will start sitting on the eggs or I will end up losing the whole batch once again like last year - hopefully what I end up hatching in the bator and under the broody chicken hen will hatch this year .....guess my 3 yr old turkey hens are just stupid at sitting at there eggs .

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Some hens just never will get the idea of sitting on eggs. Most people have the other problem, you can't get them off the nest. We have 3 nests of geese going now and everytime you turn around a turkey hen has weasled into the nest.

Is your nest off by itself or in a high traffic area? Is it dark or well lit in the nest area? Having a nest by itself and nice and dark is a big help to sitting. Hens hatched by a mother hen will also be more likely to sit. They will have a stronger instinct to go broody. When we are letting a hen sit we mark the eggs each day as they are layed with sharpie. Just draw a line around the middle of the egg. Once the hen does decide to sit you can remove all the old eggs and replace them with a fresh batch of eggs. That way they will all be the same age.

Steve in NC

 

[KOTurkeyRanch]

Quote:
I have heard chemicals in sharpies can kill them? I marked my first 2 with them and was worried

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
I have heard chemicals in sharpies can kill them? I marked my first 2 with them and was worried

We use a pencil for incubated eggs but the ones outside are all sharpie marked. It would be interesting to see what is in a sharpie? I wouldn't think it would be anything to toxic but you never know.

Steve

 

[KOTurkeyRanch]

Quote:
I have heard chemicals in sharpies can kill them? I marked my first 2 with them and was worried

We use a pencil for incubated eggs but the ones outside are all sharpie marked. It would be interesting to see what is in a sharpie? I wouldn't think it would be anything to toxic but you never know.

Steve

There was a website, wikihow i believe that said the chemicals can kill it, but i candled and saw veins, so i guess im good. Watch them all come out the color of the sharpie! haha

 

[DaKid]

UpDate


Ok a while back I posted that my royal palms and red bourbons turkeys where laying up a storm but was not sitting on there eggs ....well as of today the total count of baby royals is 24 for 3 different hens that was sitting on them I did see that I endded up losting about 8 to 12 babys cuz the males where in the nest trying to do there thing a few days ago so I place them in a different pen the Red Buorbon hen is still sitting on her eggs , not sure as of yet as to how many . as far as the royals I check them twice a day and take out the hatchling and been placing them in the brooder - so now there safe and sound , but there the royals are still sitting on about 12 to 16 more eggs .

Alan