Turkey laying

[HastingsMich]

My Bronze turkey hen has laid 22 eggs so far in her nest. Only once did i see her sitting on nest for a period of time but now she isn't sitting on nest that i catch her at but her eggs aren't cold so I'm assuming she is at some time. How long before she decides to sit on eggs to hatch them out? She is still laying a egg a day. They should be fertile cause I've seen my tom on her many many times. Should i wait n see if she will sit on them to hatch or should i pull them n put in a incubation machine? I don't want to have to deal with heat lamp when they hatch but i will if i have to pull the eggs n put in machine. How long should i wait to see if she will sit on eggs to hatch them. I should say that this is her first time laying eggs.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I'd start marking them with dates, for starters. She's unlikely to be successful with eggs that're a month old and not well-stored. I'd also crack one or two open and check for the bullseye, to make sure that they are fertile.

@R2elk should be able to describe how a hen changes behaviour when she's thinking about going broody.

In the meantime, how many poults would you like to hatch? How badly do you want them?

 

[HastingsMich]

Well she is finally sitting n not getting up plus i don't believe now that all the eggs are hers. As my other turkey laid eggs up there too n they both are sitting on them. So I'm just going to do the waiting game n see if hatch by end of month first week of May.

 

[R2elk]

Well she is finally sitting n not getting up plus i don't believe now that all the eggs are hers. As my other turkey laid eggs up there too n they both are sitting on them. So I'm just going to do the waiting game n see if hatch by end of month first week of May.

It is not uncommon for multiple turkey hens to lay eggs in the same nest. It is however not a good idea to allow multiple hens to go broody on the same nest. It usually does not work out well as eggs can get broken and newly hatched poults can get stepped on and killed.

Good luck.