Update: Poults 2 days old -- Turkey eggs under broody chicken -- advice?

[SJensen]

It's hatch day! Of 6 eggs, 3 have hatched, one is emerging, one is pipped, and one shows no sign yet.

We briefly lifted the hen up to snap a photo...

 

[Bullitt]

Like clockwork! They are right on time.

In a couple of months they will be bigger than the mother hen.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Exactly. She's doing a great job. I hear the important thing is that she'll get up every few days to eat, drink, and take a dust bath -- which she does. I also feed her by hand from time to time. 

Has anyone else let a chicken be a mother to turkey poults? 

Yes, I have let any and every single bird at my place be the mother of any and every single bird at my place.

Chicken hatched and mother poults as well as hatched peafowl, duck and goose eggs
Turkeys hatched chickens, ducks, geese and mothered them
Toms hatched ducks
Ducks hatched turkeys, chickens
Geese hatched chickens, ducks, turkeys and ducks

You name it, I have tried it.

I do not do anything different. I don't treat for any "future" diseases that they may get. I have never had a blackhead problem with turkeys and chickens. I do not feed any babies medicated feed but that's just me.

Are you wanting to medicat so that they don't get blackhead?

TOMS hatch ducks?!?

You've had a TOM go broody?


If our turkeys eggs were fertile I'd let her, or the chickens, sit. No worry for blackhead here.
The thing with chickens is that they'll pretty much sit to the end of Dawn to hatch anything. So they make great mothers.


So basically around here, if they want to mother something, they get to. LOL. Even if they can't sit on the eggs, they get to mother them.



Best of luck to OP !

Yes, actually I had 2 toms go broody. If someone would have told me that would happen or had happened to them, I would NOT have believed it. Until I saw it myself. I had a duck that was setting on duck eggs and the tom moved in and ran the duck off and decided to sit on the eggs himself and he hatched them. I don't know what got into him but I guess he wanted babies.

 

[SJensen]

Well the poults are two days old -- I'm watching the mother (chicken) introduce them to the food and water. Some are getting it... I'm trying to help a bit by dipping their beaks in the water, etc. Will post photos soon.

 

[SJensen]

I put some sparkly jewelry in the food and water as was suggested in another thread. Seems to be working somewhat. They mainly want to eat food off the bricks next to the feeder at this point though. One problem on this first day of learning to feed is that they keep grabbing the mother hens comb. She ends up tossing them off. Does anyone know if this is normal?

 

[kuntrygirl]

So cute!! Good job!

 

[SJensen]

Thank you! One week update - the poults seem to be feeding fine. They've stopped biting the mother's comb from what I have observed.

 

[Macs farm]

I'm new to breading birds. I've got a clucky hen that went walk about into the rain forest and I can't find her. Another in pen's roosting box on al the eggs, not all hers. and a dozen turkey eggs in 13 days collected for an incubator. It's all happening. I'm going to put 1/2 the poults with the clucky chook to see how they go.

 

[Celie]

Yes, actually I had 2 toms go broody. If someone would have told me that would happen or had happened to them, I would NOT have believed it. Until I saw it myself. I had a duck that was setting on duck eggs and the tom moved in and ran the duck off and decided to sit on the eggs himself and he hatched them.

I don't know what got into him but I guess he wanted babies.

It is a sign of the times, nature is in an uproar right now and everything is turning upside down !

I put some sparkly jewelry in the food and water as was suggested in another thread. Seems to be working somewhat. They mainly want to eat food off the bricks next to the feeder at this point though. One problem on this first day of learning to feed is that they keep grabbing the mother hens comb. She ends up tossing them off. Does anyone know if this is normal?

Yes, turkeys are the most curious birds I know of and literally peck at anything and everything, also get into everything! LOL