young hen has just started to lay, when can I start hatching eggs?

[NY Coturnix]

Not to hijack a thread but I have 1 hen that seems to think it's spring and I've seen my Jake mating. No eggs yet nor do I want any this time of year in the Northeast. I was providing supplemental light for my own benefit in the coop as I don't get home before 5 and its dark out. I've stopped doing that but the mating as continued with just that one hen. Its only been a couple days. I expect them to go back to winter mode but I'm now wondering will this mess up this hen for the spring?

 

[R2elk]

I am more concerned about the age of turkey. I don't hatch pullets eggs and I am not familiar with turkeys. I did hatch a few turkey eggs in june but my bronze turkey hen started to lay in march.

I do not worry about the age of the turkey. I hatch pullet eggs just fine and do the same with young turkey eggs.

 

[R2elk]

Not to hijack a thread but I have 1 hen that seems to think it's spring and I've seen my Jake mating. No eggs yet nor do I want any this time of year in the Northeast. I was providing supplemental light for my own benefit in the coop as I don't get home before 5 and its dark out. I've stopped doing that but the mating as continued with just that one hen. Its only been a couple days. I expect them to go back to winter mode but I'm now wondering will this mess up this hen for the spring?

If you quit leaving the light on when you aren't in the coop, she will return to normal and should start laying in the spring when the daylight gets long enough.

 

[Huntmaster]

I am more concerned about the age of turkey. I don't hatch pullets eggs and I am not familiar with turkeys. I did hatch a few turkey eggs in june but my bronze turkey hen started to lay in march.

I also hatch eggs from first year hens, but I will let them lay for a week or so to let them work the bugs out of there systems if there is any before collecting their eggs for hatching. My young hens always seem to be the first to start laying, older hens start later.

 

[589205]

I am more concerned about the age of turkey. I don't hatch pullets eggs and I am not familiar with turkeys. I did hatch a few turkey eggs in june but my bronze turkey hen started to lay in march.

There’s nothing wrong with trying to hatch young poult eggs I just prefer to wait until mine are year olds because they usually don’t even start laying until 8+ months anyway and by that time it’s already winter here and too cold to put them outside.

 

[NatJ]

her first 5 eggs were small so he boiled them. the next 2 eggs are bigger than the first 5. would they be good for hatching? if not, how many eggs should a turkey hen lay before we start collecting them for hatching?

I would collect the eggs somewhere safe, and write the date on each egg so you know when they were laid. Every few days, compare the eggs: if her eggs are continuing to get bigger, I would eat the smaller (older) eggs, and keep the larger (newer) eggs to compare with the next ones. When she reaches a point of producing eggs that are fairly consistent in size, those are the ones I would try to hatch.

I don't know how many eggs it would take, which is why I would just watch the egg sizes until they even out.

 

[chickengr]

I do not have artificial light in my coops and my bourbon red turkey mated yesterday. I only have a pair of bronze turkeys and 1 bourbon red girl. I am not interested in hatching her eggs but I am surprised that she mated in december. in spring none of her eggs hatched.

 

[SarahGfa]

In the spring I collect all of the turkey eggs whether from first time layers or older hens and incubate all of them. It is normal for the first egg laid to not be fertile but any following eggs usually are.

Not to hijack a thread but when you colect turkey eggs, will the hens keep laying all season and never go broody? My chickens will hide their nests if I take their eggs and don't replace the eggs with golf balls.

 

[R2elk]

Not to hijack a thread but when you colect turkey eggs, will the hens keep laying all season and never go broody? My chickens will hide their nests if I take their eggs and don't replace the eggs with golf balls.

If I was to collect the eggs from a nest that is not seeded with fake eggs, the hen would abandon the nest and try to find a better hidden nest.

The urge to go broody is very strong in turkey hens. Mine have all eventually gone broody at some point. Towards the end of the season I have had them go broody on a single fake egg.

 

[SarahGfa]

If I was to collect the eggs from a nest that is not seeded with fake eggs, the hen would abandon the nest and try to find a better hidden nest.

The urge to go broody is very strong in turkey hens. Mine have all eventually gone broody at some point. Towards the end of the season I have had them go broody on a single fake egg.

If you took all the eggs from your turkey hens, what happens when they go broody? Do you give them any poults or just wait for them to get over it?