Turkey Mommas

[small farm in texas]

I have 3 BR hens and 1 BR Tom, one hen sitting on 18 or so eggs. the other 2 have now started their own clutch. as of now they have 3 eggs and have stopped harassing Miss Blue {sitting Momma} Miss Blue because her leg band is blue, each have a different color so I can tell them apart.I found some size 14 bands big enough for hens but not Tom aka Mr. Gobbles. I hope both clutches have a good hatch rate. I love my turkey babies. Any thoughts?

 

[R2elk]

I have 3 BR hens and 1 BR Tom, one hen sitting on 18 or so eggs. the other 2 have now started their own clutch. as of now they have 3 eggs and have stopped harassing Miss Blue {sitting Momma} Miss Blue because her leg band is blue, each have a different color so I can tell them apart.I found some size 14 bands big enough for hens but not Tom aka Mr. Gobbles. I hope both clutches have a good hatch rate. I love my turkey babies. Any thoughts?

If possible make sure that the tom does not have access to the hen that is sitting. Toms will take the sitting as an invitation to breed. The unwanted breeding attempt can result in broken eggs, an injured hen or at the worst a dead hen.

One method to protect the hen is to build a small enclosure around the nest area with an entrance big enough for the hen to pass through and small enough that the tom can't pass through.

I just use colored wire ties as leg bands when I need to mark any of my poultry for identification.

 

[small farm in texas]

he has investigated her lying there, but she is tight in a corner so he just walks way. we are due to hatch in about 14 days. should i move her and the babies once they hatch?

 

[R2elk]

he has investigated her lying there, but she is tight in a corner so he just walks way. we are due to hatch in about 14 days. should i move her and the babies once they hatch?

My preference is to keep newly hatched poults out of the general population until they are at least 2 weeks old. If possible keeping them out of the general population until they are at least 4 weeks old is even better.