Turkey Egg questions

[ohiofarmgirl]

i have 3 hens who are all laying - everywhere. i havent counted yet but will run right out tomorrow am and see how many are in the 'main' nest. the other girls are laying randomly. i found two beside the house this evening.

should i be taking the eggs in if they are going to set them? i dont have an incubator.

on a side note - none of my hens have started to brood yet so might be the weather? or not enough daylight??

thanks!

 

[Struttn1]

They are not going to sit as long as the are laying eggs all over your yard. If all your hens are sharing a main nest you have a problem. When one of the hens decides it is time to brood you are probably going to have some nest fighting. You may have to seperate your hens.

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
I agree, if they are just dropping eggs everywhere they either don't know where the nest is, what it's for, or somebody is already there laying. We have nest boxes in the chicken houses 18 inch square for the turkeys to lay in. Even then each hen has a box they like - usually a corner box (they are the darkest and most out of the way) Do you have any laying in a nest box? You can let those add up and see if somebody will sit there. Just mark them so you can tell the age of the eggs.

Steve in NC

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

thanks Steve (hi again!)

yep i need to get another nest box going... i shoulda listened! most of the eggs are in the main nest box. i was just surprised to find the ones beside the house. for a while one was laying in another shed and i figured she would just go and set there but she isnt laying there anymore.

after looking at some of the posts i went out and determined i have a way to separate their main coop so each one can have her own space. but they all still want to roost together so i was thinking i can wait until someone sets then separate her?

i'll date the eggs as well. the hens are all less than a year so i didnt know if this was my bad planning or if it was their young age.

 

[sandspoultry]

With them being first layers they just don't know what to do. They were probably incubated themselves yes? Sometimes some will show a good sitter instinct, some not, some will never get it. It seems like some are looking for a nest - the one that was laying in the shed, did you gather the eggs or let them go? or did something eat them?

Steve

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

thanks steve,

yep they were incubated themselves so have not been around mature turks. our poor Tom had a steep learning curve for figuring out 'what to do' with the hens.

i took the eggs up that were in the shed.. but if i follow your logic i think all i did was take her nesting site?? if i think about it this might be the same girl that laid by the house. am i following you?

i took up some of the eggs thinking that i might need to put them under a broody chicken. but it sounds like i need to make more enticing nest sites - in corners, the right size, able to have their own and be separated so there is no fighting??

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
Exactly! When you took the eggs from the shed the hen thought something got them. "my nest isn't safe so I'm not going to lay eggs there". That's a method people use to break a broody hen - take the eggs and crush up some egg shells so it looks like something got the nest

The nests really don't have to be anything fancy, something safe and to protect them from the weather if possible. We have one that likes to lay in the vee of a fallen tree, I have no idea how she turns around once she gets in there but I just put a scrap piece of plywood over the nest and put some other logs over top to hold it down, works great.

One thing to think about now, once you get them sitting and they hatch the poults they will need a safe place to raise them - since they are new mothers away from the rest of the "pack" will be best. Also, if you can time it right and you have experienced chicken hens time the turkey hatch with a chicken hatch, incase the turkey hens don't work out you have the chicken to fall back on.

Steve

 

[misty_1]

I have a bronze hen that is laying eggs. She has laid 7 eggs so far and has never set on them. I started picking them up and putting in the incubator because she wasn't setting. So, should I leave them and see if she sets or what? This is the first year I have had a hen, so I am not sure what to do. I have 2 toms so how do I know if the eggs are fertile?

Misty

 

[Struttn1]

When you remove a turkey egg from a nest replace it with a chicken egg from your fridge. They do not know the difference and will continue to lay.

 

[chickenannie]

Steve,
Last year, my RB turkey hens would set, but only gradually. Like they'd have a nest of 20 eggs and would finally set on it, but only for 1 or 2 hours. The next day it would be 3 hours, the next 4 or 5. So it sometimes took a week or two until they would stay on the nest around the clock. Is that normal? I was worried that by warming the eggs for several hours, then leaving them alone for 24 hours, over and over, that they were reducing hatchability. Do yours do this?