Turkey Egg dilemma

[CMarshall14]

I have a couple questions:
First, my hens are laying their eggs outside along the woodline. They prefer this over a nesting box it seems. I've been collecting their eggs to incubate and leaving the oldest ones out there to keep them laying in the same spot because its hard to find their nests when they make a new one...but whenever it rains the eggs get wet. (I didn't wipe them though) Will they still be any good to incubate if they've gotten damp?

And I was hoping to wait until the end of next week to incubate, but im wondering if eggs collected two weeks prior are worth incubating?

(Also, I'm in the process of trying to get them to lay in something covered, it just hasn't worked out yet, lol)

 

[Molpet]

14days old is the usual recommended, but I have had older ones hatch.
Found a hidden nest one year when it had been raining. Marked and left them. 10 of the 12 marked hatched. 2 were early quiters .

 

[R2elk]

I have a couple questions:
First, my hens are laying their eggs outside along the woodline. They prefer this over a nesting box it seems. I've been collecting their eggs to incubate and leaving the oldest ones out there to keep them laying in the same spot because its hard to find their nests when they make a new one...but whenever it rains the eggs get wet. (I didn't wipe them though) Will they still be any good to incubate if they've gotten damp?

And I was hoping to wait until the end of next week to incubate, but im wondering if eggs collected two weeks prior are worth incubating?

(Also, I'm in the process of trying to get them to lay in something covered, it just hasn't worked out yet, lol)

I routinely set and hatch 14 day old eggs.

Think like a turkey not like a chicken or a person. Build a hidden looking nest site and seed it with fake eggs.

The easiest method is to lean a pallet or board against a wall and seed it with fake eggs. Some people have good success using the Igloo style dog boxes.

 

[CMarshall14]

The easiest method is to lean a pallet or board against a wall and seed it with fake eggs. Some people have good success using the Igloo style dog boxes.

The dog igloo was what the original breeder i bought from uses. I didnt have the funds for one but I found a cheap tote at Walmart and cut a hole in the side then wedged it in the raspberry bushes next to the nest they had made. I put in pine shavings and 3 old eggs and tried to cover with some brush, and sort of covered the path they were taking to the original nest to steer them to the tote. Praying it works! The things I had to do to get those eggs from under the raspberry bushes was not pleasant lol

 

[R2elk]

I spotted one of my hens looking for a nest today.

 

[CMarshall14]

I spotted one of my hens looking for a nest today.

I would have never found their nest if they didn't have the first egg out in the open.. After that they covered the eggs with leaves every time they laid one.

Random question but if you don't mind me veering off topic, my tom is a year old and has never been dewormed. But the past two days, mostly just in the evening hes been sitting a lot more, just slower, kind of acting lethargic (we also sold both his hatch mates two days ago so he may be depressed too). I mean he does strut all day around the hens still but I want to take precautions just in case. What I have is Cydectin oral drench sheep dewormer, valbazen oral or ivermectin horse paste. Which one would you suggest using?

 

[R2elk]

I would have never found their nest if they didn't have the first egg out in the open.. After that they covered the eggs with leaves every time they laid one.

Random question but if you don't mind me veering off topic, my tom is a year old and has never been dewormed. But the past two days, mostly just in the evening hes been sitting a lot more, just slower, kind of acting lethargic (we also sold both his hatch mates two days ago so he may be depressed too). I mean he does strut all day around the hens still but I want to take precautions just in case. What I have is Cydectin oral drench sheep dewormer, valbazen oral or ivermectin horse paste. Which one would you suggest using?

Can't help you with worming. I have never wormed any of my poultry.

Toms can get run down from their constant strutting and lack of eating.

 

[CMarshall14]

Can't help you with worming. I have never wormed any of my poultry.

Toms can get run down from their constant strutting and lack of eating.

Maybe thats what we're going through here then, seeing that he's acting that way in the evenings.

 

[R2elk]

Maybe thats what we're going through here then, seeing that he's acting that way in the evenings.

Before worming, collect his droppings and take them to a vet for a fecal float. If he has worms, worm him. If he doesn't have worms, don't worm him.

 

[CMarshall14]

Just a small update: the turkey eggs have been set in the incubator today. I found my other hens nest which had 10 eggs in it so I took them. Altogether 20 eggs. Among which I have marked the one that was rained on and the other clutch had set out during a night that had low 20 degree temps (plus some of those would have been rained on as well)... so we'll see how it goes!

Also I found the problem with my tom. He's getting so huge that he wasn't able to fly up to his normal roosting spot on top of the barn that he's used all year...instead he was only making it to roost on the 5 ft fence wire and had been roosting there a week or two until the other night he decided to not roost at all! So the next day i gave him a new roost set up he's been using and has been fine since. His feet were hurting him!