Savagery!!!!

[MamaLynn23]

What would possess a turkey hen to EAT an egg she just layed? I have been finding shells that looks like maybe she had been clumsy and poked them with her claw as she got out of her nest. That is what I assumed was happening. That is until I spotted her from across the yard carrying something with the tip of her beak. I ran over and sure enough it was her fresh egg! I was shocked. But then I thought to myself I shouldn't have since all the evidence upon consideration pointed to that. I am very disappointed. I have no idea what to do about it. Is it something she will grow out of, like a phase?

 

[Rcornerranch]

Well…Truthfully I wouldn’t mind if they don’t hatch! We already have like 25 turkey poults we need to sell here. It would be very cute, though! I love watching Pearl with hers. I don’t have any pics right now of her out with it, but here’s a cute one. This little guy’s been catching flies since two days old!

 

[R2elk]

I didn’t know that! The hatchery we bought turkeys from this year had Spanish Black turkeys for sale that looked like my two. That’s why I called them Spanish black. I saw sometimes people call their black blue slates black turkeys. I assume that is incorrect and they are black slates?

I know that Cackle at least claims they are selling Black Spanish turkeys but then they also claim they are breeds when there is only the breed Turkey and they are broken down into Varieties. If they can't be trusted to get the breed information right there are other things that they cannot be trusted about.

Black turkeys that are the product of mating Blue Slates together are Black turkeys. Some places try to pass them off as Spanish Blacks. They are just a Black turkey because they do not have a Slate gene. I do suspect that many of the Blacks produced by Blue Slates have something else going on because all of mine would develop a band of bluish gray feathers near the base of their tails while all of their other plumage is black.

There is no such thing as a Black Slate even though I have used the term myself to refer to blacks produced by Blue Slates.

 

[R2elk]

What would possess a turkey hen to EAT an egg she just layed? I have been finding shells that looks like maybe she had been clumsy and poked them with her claw as she got out of her nest. That is what I assumed was happening. That is until I spotted her from across the yard carrying something with the tip of her beak. I ran over and sure enough it was her fresh egg! I was shocked. But then I thought to myself I shouldn't have since all the evidence upon consideration pointed to that. I am very disappointed. I have no idea what to do about it. Is it something she will grow out of, like a phase?

In my experience, egg eaters just keep right on eating eggs.

 

[Rcornerranch]

She could have broken it and is trying to dispose of it somewhere else to try to keep her nest clean and deter predators. She might be eating only the eggs she breaks to clean things up and get the nutrition back, but if she’s laying eggs then immediately turning around and eating them…that’s not good.

 

[MamaLynn23]

She could have broken it and is trying to dispose of it somewhere else to try to keep her nest clean and deter predators. She might be eating only the eggs she breaks to clean things up and get the nutrition back, but if she’s laying eggs then immediately turning around and eating them…that’s not good.

I hadn't thought about that...

 

[Rcornerranch]

I hadn't thought about that...

I’m surprised no one else told you this! I’ve only had turkeys for a year. Both my hens carry broken eggs off somewhere and leave them or eat them. They don’t want rotting egg in their nest either. If an egg rots and explodes, they will eat what they can and carry off soiled hay/feathers/bedding to try to clean up the nest. Pearl disposed of broken or dud eggs and still hatched a few poults. If your hen is a first time momma, I’d give her some leeway to learn. Sadie broke almost all her eggs because she is very clumsy with her feet. But in her case, I don’t think she was breaking them on purpose…just bad at hatching eggs. She’s started a new nest now. She was attacked her 2nd night sitting on the eggs in a field next to my house. We lost 10 of the 13 eggs, and she is bruised with missing feathers. So, we moved her into a coop. Now she has 8 eggs and hasn’t broken a single one yet.

 

[R2elk]

The Spanish black coloring seems to be VERY dominant. Only a few birds have some white feathers here and there and whiter legs.

The black color gene is a dominant gene and only needs one black gene for it to be expressed. It can hide other color genes but in the case of a single black gene and a bronze gene it will be barred black instead of just black.

I know people for some reason like to refer to their black turkeys as Spanish Blacks but the APA only recognizes Black turkeys. Originally a particular group of Black turkeys were referred to as Spanish Blacks because they were raised in Spain. There is no difference in them from the black turkeys that were raised in Norfolk and were known as Norfolk Blacks.

 

[MamaLynn23]

In my experience, egg eaters just keep right on eating eggs.

That's what I thought.

 

[SarahGfa]

Eggs are delicious. New layers sometimes peck at an egg to see what it is, they accidentally break it, and discover nutritious yolky goodness inside. From now on, they eat every egg they find.