Turkey Egg Question

[Cacklin" Hens]

I got my first egg yesterday from a royal palm hen. Today i did not get one?!?

I keep a light on in their coop 24/7. Can anyone explain why I didn't get an egg today???

Thanks!

 

[purelypoultry]

Turkeys ovulation cycle is longer than 24 hrs. I am not sure exactly how long it is but...

I wouldn't expect an egg a day. Maybe a few eggs every week.

 

[chickenannie]

You're going to drive yourself nuts if you expect hens to produce like clockwork. Relax... another egg will show up. And don't scare miss hen or she'll think it's not 'safe' to lay her eggs.

Mine usually lay a couple of eggs to "test" out a spot. If the eggs are disturbed or removed, they start laying somewhere else they perceive as "safer."

Also, I'm not sure it's a good idea to keep a light on 24/7. They need to sleep sometime, and she may be all out of whack because she doesn't know when it's day or night. Just a thought.

 

[ChanceRider]

I hatched out my MW turks last April. The hens began laying in December; I get an egg every 2 - 3 days. I don't use supplemental light, I just let nature take it's course. Heck, I wasn't expecting eggs until spring anyway so I consider these early eggs a bonus!

 

[chicks4kids]

I have a turkey girl that started laying a few weeks ago, and at first she was an egg every other day kinda girl...now it's every day except on the6 or 7th day. Be patient, she'll get more regular! Sometimes I'll go out to let them out and she'll be in the nest box early in the morning, other days it'll be late afternoon and she's laying.....

 

[Cacklin" Hens]

Since it is so cold, I took the egg out of where she laid it (a dog box with hay) because I want to hatch them in my incubator and I don't want that cold weather to mess them up (its get to about 20*F everynight). Should I have taken it out?

 

[jenjscott]

Try leaving a big chicken egg in her nest. But don't worry, even chickens can be sporadic when first getting started. I have one turkey youngster that has been laying an egg every other day all winter. She just ain't right. But yesterday I got my first two Bourbon Red eggs of the season. They weren't fertile. But I won't be surprised if I don't get any more for a few days.

 

[chickenannie]

My turkey hens were sooooo much smarter about their eggs than the chickens. No matter how close my "fake eggs" resembled their turkey eggs, they would ALWAYS cast it out of their nest. It just never fooled them.

 

[Cacklin" Hens]

Thanks for your help! Like I said I got the first Tuesday none yesterday AND I got one this morning sometime before 8am. I didn't have no egg in her nest since tuesday but she layed there again today anyway. I put a brown chicken egg in there after I got her egg out this morning though just to be safe. Thanks again!

 

[pdpatch]

When they start laying eggs it may be every day, or every other day or every third day for the first few eggs, they then will settle down to a regular cycle. The cycle varies somewhat for each hen, Normally the cycle is like 50 to 55 hours or so. The eggs should not get below 60 degrees for very long or they most likely won't hatch, it's better if you can store them up to two week at around 70 degrees, i think, before you put them in a incubator. Eggs can be store for about 14 days before fertility starts to drop off.

Some commercial hatcheries store there eggs at a lower temperature but they don't store them for very long.

Another problem with having only one or two hens is that they won't go broody until they get there magic number of eggs in the nest. This magic number cab any where form 8 to 16 eggs. If you have more then one hen there will use community nest to lay there eggs in, there may be more then one nesting site. You also may have one hen do her own nest while other use a community nest. They will also move the eggs around after they lay them, I have seen eggs move across out indoor pen in a matter of a couple of hours.

It does take a little while for new Males and Females to get the hang of mating. The most common reason are that the male does not mount the female correctly, or the females does not move here tail to the side. The females will store the sperm for about 14 to 15 days before they need to mate again. Also the Female will choose here mate, There is a possibility that if there is only one male she may not want to mate with him. Having two males is not always a good idea, but it can be worked around by moving the subordinate Male out of the pen. Or in the case of our Spanish Black the number 2 male has decided that I am the number 3 and tries to put me in my place when I go out to feed and water them.

Hens will start to lay when the light is available for more then a certain number of hours in a day. So you can add artificial light to have the to start laying early. But you must collect the eggs or they will freeze or get to cold this time of year in most places. Different varieties of Turkeys have different amount of light then go by to start laying eggs.
Our Red Bourbon Female has been laying for a few weeks, but there is a clear heat lamp in here pen. Our 5 Spanish Black females have not started yet and are in an outside pen with no artificial light.

The main problem with forcing a hen to start laying early is that the Tom may not be ready. So you really need to check the fertility of the eggs.

The first 8 eggs our Red Bourbon layed this year were not fertile. But she is due to lay one today so I will check that one to see.

To check fertility you can candle the egg, crack one open and look for the spot., or put then in a incubator and wait for 28 days.

Tom

PS: Don't worry about putting any other eggs in, because they know and you aren't fooling them. You can put some infertility eggs back in if you really want. But they usually can figure out after a bit it not fertile.