AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

I am an absolutely wet behind the ears turkey keeper, so please be gentle!

Mrs Turkey had been very diligently sitting on her own eggs for a good two and a half weeks, I candled them and found they were yolkers with no development at all (confirmed by breaking one open). I removed all her eggs from the nest but she kept sitting, so I took pity on her and ordered some fertile eggs through the post.

On Monday just gone, they arrived (about three weeks after she first started sitting), so put seven of them under her and the remaining seven in my incubator (first time for both Mrs Turkey and me). Mrs Turkey is still sitting very well on her new eggs and in fact is so very diligent I am a little afraid for her health. I very, very rarely see her venture from the nest.

Anyway, the nest box that Mrs Turkey is sitting in is a chook nest box and is one of three all joined together (stainless steel contraption) which is inside the chook house. The chookies all go into the chook house at night to roost. She seems okay with the arrangement at the moment (she's pretty ferocious now she's roosting, so the chookies steer well clear), but obviously if/when the eggs hatch, this won't be a workable arrangement.

We have another shed we could move her to and one that we could pen off from the rest of the poultry - should I move her sooner rather than later or leave it until closer to hatch time? Also, being that she has already been sitting for 2 1/2 weeks on dud eggs, is she likely to abandon her new eggs after they don't hatch within her expected time frame, or is she likely to sit it out to the bitter end? I am concerned that moving her will cause her to abandon the eggs, but thought if I leave it closer to hatch time, she may be able to hear her chickies inside the eggs and be more inclined to see it through?

Finally, should I move her nestbox and all, or move her and the eggs into a new nest in the new shed setup? The nest box she's in could use a good clean and if it would be okay, would rather move her to a fresh, clean nest.

And yes, I realise that it is not recommended that chooks and turkeys be kept together, but everything kinda all happened at once so we are working on a new arrangement to be able to keep the chooks and turkeys separately.

Thanks so much for reading this ramble (asleep yet?) and looking forward to reading everyone's words of wisdom.

If I were you I would not move she because theres a good chance she will not sit in the eggs again in the new position I would wait and let the chicks hatch then move them

I agree. I wouldn't go near her but would move her once the poults hatch. It maybe simpler to move the hens!

Oh poo, I was hoping that wouldn't be the answer. Not an easy option to move the chookies, will have to see what I can work out.

You don't think she'd stay even if I moved her inside the nest box she's sitting in? i.e., same nest box, different house?

If i don't move her until the bubbas hatch, will she stay with them or is there a chance she will abandon them? Not such a big deal I guess if she abandons the poults, as I could just put them in the brooder with the other poults I am (hopefully!) going to be hatching out of my incubator. I don't have room in my little incubator to put the eggs in if she leaves them.

No even if you move her and the box there is a very good chance she will get off and stay off. Poults are usually good mums so I doubt she would leave them if you move her and the poults at the same time and quickly with little fuss she will not abandon them

Thanks Sheep, I will keep her put and try to figure out something else for the chooks.

I would not move the chooks just wait until they hatch and as soon as they do move the hen and chicks

Thanks again Sheep, I went out into the chookie yard today, turned around a couple of times, scratched my head, and walked back out again. Too, too hard to try and move the chookies at the moment, plus as that's "their" house I really don't want to move them and get them used to another spot, then try to "rehabiliatate" them back again after all this drama is over. We do have a spare chookie house, but it is currently housing Mr Frizzle the Rooster (betchya can't guess what he is? ) who has a bung eye at the moment, so can't turf him out.

What I ended up doing was waiting until the chookies had laid in the morning, then closing Mrs Turkey into the house, I gave her some food in the nest, which she very gratefully accepted (she seems to never, ever leave her nest, which worries me hugely, especially considering she has already been sitting 2 1/2 weeks on bung eggs), then left the food and water in with her. Opened the house again just on dusk when the chookies were ready to go to bed. At least that gives her most of the day in peace and quiet and of course all night when everyone's asleep (as long as they don't snore )

Will just have to get my act together before next time (do turkeys only breed once a year? gawd I hope so, I can feel the grey hairs growing as I type) so that everyone can be divided off right through the whole process.

I agree with the others - don't move your turkey till after the poults have hatched.
Turkeys on average lay 2 or 3 times per year. It depends where you live, as to how long the breeding season is. It's usually a bit longer in the tropics.

TWO OR THREE TIMES A YEAR?!
Oh my goodness, I don't know if I can go through this kind of stress so often!
2 x female turkeys x 3 times a year = THAT'S A LOT OF GREY HAIRS