need suggestions for moving a turkey nest

[Bandera Grassland]

I have an 8 month-old Rio Grande hen that has laid 8 eggs on a shelf in my barn. She sets on the eggs during the day, but returns to my chicken house to sleep at night. I raised this hen with my chickens. She was supposed to be a "he" and I was quite surprised to find him setting a few days ago. I know these eggs are not fertile, but it occurred to me I should take advantage of her broody behavior and buy some fertile eggs. First, I need to move her nest into the chicken house and attempt to get her to set in there. The nest is not safe from predators in my barn and the nights are too cold for poults to incubate without the hen at night.

Any idea how successful I will be at getting her to set in the hen house? Since she isn't sleeping on the nest at night, moving her on the nest is problematic. Any suggestions?

 

[jasonm11]

put her in lock up in a large kennel, put it in with the chickens so she feels at home. Lock the kennel at night to keep her on the eggs thru the night. A couple days of lockdown and she should take the hint.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

It is possible she is not ready to set yet. She is laying her clutch. I would check nightly to see if she is in the henhouse or on the nest. The first night she stays on teh nest, move her to a safer location. Then order some eggs from someone ASAP. Check the BYC auctions, eBay, featherauction etc. You can wait up to about a week after she starts setting on the eggs at night before you switch the eggs with fertile ones. As long as she is returning to the coop at night, she is not setting. She may lay 30+ eggs before she actually goes broody. I would also consider replacing the eggs with nest eggs. Plastic easter eggs will work. You can eat the eggs until she starts setting.

It is possible a seller will wait till you are ready before they start saving your eggs. Just ask.

 

[Bandera Grassland]

Thank you Jason and Jim. You were right! She was sleeping on the nest last night when I went to check. During the day I had placed a large box top in her nest location and put all the eggs in it. She was off the nest but saw me do it. She went to investigate when I was finished and liked the box. I scooped her up last night, box and all, and carried her to the chicken house. She settled back down immediately. I will watch her a couple of days to see if she continues to set on the nest in the chicken house or returns to the old location to lay again. If she doesn't stay on the nest, I will try lock up in a dog kennel. McMurray Hatchery will have fertile eggs available the week of March 7. That is three whole weeks away. I haven't found anyone that will have any eggs sooner. I read incubation time is 28 days. If she is setting for 21+ days before I replace her eggs with fertile ones, will she be inclined to abandon the nest before incubation of the fertile eggs is complete? Also, I did not know how many eggs she could raise. McMurray sells them in quantities of a dozen, so could I buy 24 eggs and expect her to hatch them? If she only has eight of her own, how best do I introduce more numbers? Do I have to add one a day, or can I put in a whole bunch at once?

 

[jasonm11]

Quote:
I have fertile eggs, but they are mix boubon red and merriam (eastern wild) or pure wild. I assume by youre screen name you are in Bandera TX. i am in DFW. If you would like to try them I could send you some in the next few days.

 

[Bandera Grassland]

OH! Very kind offer. Yes, I'm near Bandera. I was looking at Heritage meat breeds: Bourbon Reds, maybe Black Spanish or Naragansett. Not really sure which breed has the best meat, if there is a difference. I would love to try a few of your eggs--maybe just 6 to get me started. Contact me at [email protected] and I will give you my mailing address and we can figure out how I can pay your for the eggs and shipping.

We may have time on our side. As soon as the automatic door to my chicken house opened this morning, the turkey left her box and went outside. She is hanging out in my barn. She has investigated the site where her nest had been and also looking around seemingly for a new nest site. I'll see if she goes back to her box this evening. If not, we will have the benefit of a week or more while she lays a new clutch of eggs. I will have to lock her in a kennel when it is time to swap out for fertile eggs, but the longer it takes her to get ready again to set, the closer we will be to the ship date from McMurray Hatchery. Ideally, I would like to introduce all the fertile eggs within a few days of each-other, so the chicks will all hatch around the same time.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

She may be able to handle 24 eggs. You need to switch the eggs at night. Remove all dud eggs and replace with the fertile ones. I would not leave her with the chickens, as the chickens may lay in her nest. You could add a few chicken eggs to her nest after a week. Since turkeys are 28 days and chickens 21, they would hatch together. If you want her to sit and can only find the mixed breed eggs, go ahead and set them. At least you will enjoy Thanksgiving this year. And Christmas.....lots of Sunday Turkey dinners!

 

[GMAksland]

Great advice everyone. We have a hen that has a nest out in the open area susceptible to bad weather. We have considered moving the nest but was worried about the hens reaction. Thanks.

 

[Bandera Grassland]

My hen abandoned the nest that I moved. She only stayed on it the first night when I moved her. Had I put her in lock-down that night, it might have made a difference. I've watched her for the last few days. I haven't seen evidence of her building a new nest. She is back to her regular behavior pecking around the ranch headquarters and spending quite a bit of time in the barn. She returns to the chicken house every evening to roost. I went out to check on everyone this evening and found a turkey egg on the floor of the house under where she roosts. It was not cracked, so she didn't drop it from her roost. She must have laid it on the ground around 6:00 this evening shortly before jumping up to roost. Just for grins, I placed the box with her other eggs on the ground in the spot where she left this most recent egg.