STAGGERED HATCH

[nchls school]

Will turkeys do a staggered hatch of 2-3 days if the first poults are pulled soon after hatching?

 

[R2elk]

Will turkeys do a staggered hatch of 2-3 days if the first poults are pulled soon after hatching?

I pull newly hatched poults as soon as they are dry. The hens will stay on the nest since they have no poults to encourage them to leave.

I had one hen that hatched 8 of 11 eggs. She was off the nest with the poults. On her way to the pen, she hid them in the grass while she picked a fight with the dog through the fence. I used that time to grab all of the poults and put them in the brooder. When she got tired of fighting with the dog, she became frantic when she could not find her poults. After about 4 hours or more of searching for the poults, she returned to her nest and her 3 abandoned eggs. Two days later she came off the nest again with two more poults that she had hatched. I checked the last egg and it was infertile. I swiped the last two poults. She abandoned the nest when she did not find any eggs remaining in it.

 

[nchls school]

Thank you for your reply. I took eggs to put under broody chickens leaving just one egg thinking the hen would continue to lay. Today she has laid and remained on the nest. While not definite, it appears she has gone broody with just two eggs under her. If so I'll return her "stolen" eggs of a few days ago and give the chickens duck eggs to brood instead. Thanks again.