Multiple turkey hens on nest, misc questions

[turkeyfarmercosplay]

Hey!

I am in my first year of turkey rearing and had a few questions:

1. A slate hen started a nest and went broody. Then a bronze hen laid a few eggs and they both are trying to sit on the same nest. They mostly get along except for a little bullying when one or the other is settling back in but is this concerning? Some have told me that one hen will kill the poults as they hatch to "defend" the nest. As of now, I shut out the bronze hen during the day and she free ranges with the others but I'm not sure if that will stop her broodiness.

2. I have all my turkeys in the same coop with the nest. Should I separate them? I have another coop but the roof leaks; I could at least temporarily house the others in there but then the mom is alone.

3. I also have an incubator so I could fire that up but have not hatched eggs before.

Not sure if some of these problems could be addressed closer to hatching. None of the eggs have been broken so I'm assuming the hens are not fighting a lot and the toms are not trying to mount. I appreciate any guidance!

Thanks!

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC. I haven't had much experience with broody turkey hens, but I have had tons of chickens & ducks co-nesting. The problems I have had are eggs being broken, and chicks/ducklings getting squished. Occasionally, they'll kill them too. I suspect turkeys are the same. @R2elk will know.

How many eggs are in the nest right now?
When did the slate hen start sitting?
When did the bronze start laying?

A problem I see is the slate's eggs will hatch around the same time, but bronze's eggs are going to hatch ~28 days after they were laid.

 

[FowlProtector]

1. Sharing a Nest: It’s not uncommon for broody hens to try to share a nest, but it can get tricky. The bullying when they’re settling back in could be a sign of competition. Typically, turkeys won’t kill poults outright, but they may get territorial or aggressive. Keeping the bronze hen out during the day is a good strategy to reduce the tension. The concern about killing poults is more likely if they both are trying to sit on eggs at the same time. You could try separating them temporarily but close enough to let them keep an eye on each other, and they may settle into a routine. If you see continued aggression or one of them clearly being more dominant, you might want to separate them for a while.
2. Separation: Since your current coop has the nest, you might want to separate the hens at least during the brooding period to avoid stress. If you do decide to separate the hens, try to keep the mom nearby, perhaps in a smaller pen within sight of the others, so she’s not isolated. The leaky roof issue can be tricky, but if it's just for a short period, it could work as long as it’s safe and dry for the turkeys. Just keep an eye on the conditions.
3. Incubator: If you're worried about things going awry with the hens, using an incubator is an excellent backup option. Hatching turkey eggs isn’t too different from hatching chicken eggs, but the key difference is the temperature and humidity settings, so make sure to do some research or refer to the incubator’s instructions for turkey eggs. Since this is your first time, it may be good to try a small batch of eggs to see how it goes.

It sounds like you’re taking a careful approach, which is great! You could reassess things closer to hatching, but keep an eye on the hens to ensure they don’t get too stressed and that all the eggs remain safe. Let me know if you need any more advice along the way!

 

[turkeyfarmercosplay]

Welcome to BYC. I haven't had much experience with broody turkey hens, but I have had tons of chickens & ducks co-nesting. The problems I have had are eggs being broken, and chicks/ducklings getting squished. Occasionally, they'll kill them too. I suspect turkeys are the same. @R2elk will know.

How many eggs are in the nest right now?
When did the slate hen start sitting?
When did the bronze start laying?

A problem I see is the slate's eggs will hatch around the same time, but bronze's eggs are going to hatch ~28 days after they were laid.

There are 7 eggs total. There were 3 from the slate, 2 from a bourbon red who doesn't want to be a mom and the bronze laid 2. The bronze laid about 3 or 4 days after the slate started brooding. I'm wondering if maybe I need to try to break the broodiness of the bronze but I'm not sure I'll have much luck.

 

[turkeyfarmercosplay]

1. Sharing a Nest: It’s not uncommon for broody hens to try to share a nest, but it can get tricky. The bullying when they’re settling back in could be a sign of competition. Typically, turkeys won’t kill poults outright, but they may get territorial or aggressive. Keeping the bronze hen out during the day is a good strategy to reduce the tension. The concern about killing poults is more likely if they both are trying to sit on eggs at the same time. You could try separating them temporarily but close enough to let them keep an eye on each other, and they may settle into a routine. If you see continued aggression or one of them clearly being more dominant, you might want to separate them for a while.
2. Separation: Since your current coop has the nest, you might want to separate the hens at least during the brooding period to avoid stress. If you do decide to separate the hens, try to keep the mom nearby, perhaps in a smaller pen within sight of the others, so she’s not isolated. The leaky roof issue can be tricky, but if it's just for a short period, it could work as long as it’s safe and dry for the turkeys. Just keep an eye on the conditions.
3. Incubator: If you're worried about things going awry with the hens, using an incubator is an excellent backup option. Hatching turkey eggs isn’t too different from hatching chicken eggs, but the key difference is the temperature and humidity settings, so make sure to do some research or refer to the incubator’s instructions for turkey eggs. Since this is your first time, it may be good to try a small batch of eggs to see how it goes.

It sounds like you’re taking a careful approach, which is great! You could reassess things closer to hatching, but keep an eye on the hens to ensure they don’t get too stressed and that all the eggs remain safe. Let me know if you need any more advice along the way!

I could try to carefully move the eggs into a dog crate that I have and then put the slate in there with food and water. Then the bronze wouldn't be able to get in there but I'm not sure how much luck I'd have. I'd hate to leave the mom in the coop by herself. THank you for the advise! I'm just nervous.

 

[casportpony]

I could try to carefully move the eggs into a dog crate that I have and then put the slate in there with food and water. Then the bronze wouldn't be able to get in there but I'm not sure how much luck I'd have. I'd hate to leave the mom in the coop by herself. THank you for the advise! I'm just nervous.

Nooooooooooo! If you want the eggs to hatch, don't move them. I've tried this before and found that turkey hens are not like chicken hens. My turkey hens will not continue sitting if I move the eggs.

 

[casportpony]

There are 7 eggs total. There were 3 from the slate, 2 from a bourbon red who doesn't want to be a mom and the bronze laid 2. The bronze laid about 3 or 4 days after the slate started brooding. I'm wondering if maybe I need to try to break the broodiness of the bronze but I'm not sure I'll have much luck.

I would mark the seven eggs and remove new eggs as they are laid. If you want, store them in a cool place, then incubate them when the bronze is done laying. Or Try to get her to make a nest elsewhere.

 

[R2elk]

1. A slate hen started a nest and went broody. Then a bronze hen laid a few eggs and they both are trying to sit on the same nest. They mostly get along except for a little bullying when one or the other is settling back in but is this concerning? Some have told me that one hen will kill the poults as they hatch to "defend" the nest. As of now, I shut out the bronze hen during the day and she free ranges with the others but I'm not sure if that will stop her broodiness.

Shared nests usually end up with broken eggs and squashed poults once they hatch. Just too many moving feet in too small of an area.

Each hen is an iindividual and will react according to her nature. Some hens will kill any poults that aren't theirs. More hens will adopt or even try to steal any poults they see.

2. I have all my turkeys in the same coop with the nest. Should I separate them? I have another coop but the roof leaks; I could at least temporarily house the others in there but then the mom is alone.

All of your turkeys including the tom?

Toms should not be allowed to have access to hen's nests. They take the hen laying down as an invitation to breed. This ends with broken eggs, a wounded hen or in the worst case a dead hen.

A leaky roof shouldn't bother turkeys. Mine roost outside in all kinds of weather.

3. I also have an incubator so I could fire that up but have not hatched eggs before.

Incubating can become addictive. I incubate the eggs from the first 2 weeks of laying. This eliminates the need to worry about the eggs freezing. After that I let the hens have the eggs.

It is really common for some of the hens to lay in the same nest. My hens get to have hidden nests outside of their coop and run. Once one of the hens goes broody the other hens pick new nests to lay in.

If they are confined, some of the hens will try to sit together. I had 3 sit on a communal nest that was only big enoough for one hen. Most of the eggs ended up broken, the few that hatched got trampled.