Turkenstein25's Turkey Talk for 2015

[B J Hopkins]

Tonight I set 16 turkey eggs in an incubator. Here's Hoping some are fertile.

 

[feedman77]

Good luck.

I will be setting some more thurs.

 

[LuvnChickens]

I have 1 Royal palm tom that is beautiful, a slate blue tom and 6 hens,,Narragansetts & some mixed and a Red Bourbon. Narragansetts are my favorite.

Now my question is my hens are laying for the first time, I counted 17 in a nest at a tree. So far no hens have claimed them and are not setting. How long do I give them before I take them and incubate them? I live in WV and it is still cold here at night.

 

[racinchickins]

I have 1 Royal palm tom that is beautiful, a slate blue tom and 6 hens,,Narragansetts & some mixed and a Red Bourbon. Narragansetts are my favorite.

Now my question is my hens are laying for the first time, I counted 17 in a nest at a tree. So far no hens have claimed them and are not setting. How long do I give them before I take them and incubate them? I live in WV and it is still cold here at night.

You don't want them to freeze or go over a week before you start incubation. If it is cold at night, I'd grab them. Make sure you leave a fake egg or two on the nest, or the turkeys will wander off to find a different place to lay.

 

[jdduck]

I am looking at puting my easterns and my bourbons back in the same run. They where together during the winter And I did not have any problems. With them mating how much fighting will I have with two toms and three hens? They are all about a year old.

 

[R2elk]

I am looking at puting my easterns and my bourbons back in the same run. They where together during the winter And I did not have any problems. With them mating how much fighting will I have with two toms and three hens? They are all about a year old.

Personally I would not put 2 toms in with three hens. Even if they grew up together having them separated for any time at all will cause the need to re-establish the pecking order. With it being breeding season there will be battles between the toms. If they are evenly matched the fights will be fierce and constantl. They are very likely to not get any breeding done and the hens will be at risk of injury from one tom knocking the other tom off of a hen while a breeding attempt is made.

 

[SoProlix]

Personally I would not put 2 toms in with three hens. Even if they grew up together having them separated for any time at all will cause the need to re-establish the pecking order. With it being breeding season there will be battles between the toms. If they are evenly matched the fights will be fierce and constantl. They are very likely to not get any breeding done and the hens will be at risk of injury from one tom knocking the other tom off of a hen while a breeding attempt is made.

Agree with R2elk. We have 2 toms and 5 hens that were all raised together and the toms still fight some. (Will be going down to a quad soon.) Which reminds me of a funny story...

One weekend morning we woke up to hen sounds. Our coop is too far away to hear them. We went to investigate and found the louvers in the lower part of the coop door had been smashed in. Oh no! Our first predator intrusion! Count the birds! Couldn't find 2 chicken hens and 1 turkey hen. But didn't find any feathers either. Hm. Eventually all the hens did turn up. The only explanation we can come up with is that one of the tom's sleeps in the barn, outside the coop, and smashed his way in when we didn't let his ladies out early enough.

 

[jdduck]

Thanks for the info that is what I was afraid of so they will stay in there separate pens for now.

 

[SoProlix]

Yesterday afternoon 3 of our hens decided to start sitting on their nests. They sat all night, but in the morning left the nests and have spent the day so far with the flock. They must be getting broody, right? Are the eggs they sat on still viable or should I collect them all and let them start over?

Also has anybody had luck moving a broody turkey? One of them is nesting off our property and was thinking of trying to move her and her nest into the coop.

 

[feedman77]

Set 25 turkey eggs from my mixed flock on 4-3.

Was saving up for cinco de mayo hatch along.

But lost my mother due to stroke and funeral is the 7th. So not sure if would be there to set them.

So this batch is set in her memory.

Try and bring a little life in the world for the one that was taken too early.