freemotion
Food Guru
I am posting this "journal" on my broody turkey hen because I can't bring myself to waste a good broody, even though it is February in New England and it is not the best idea to have any bird raising a brood right now! Double-sheesh!
My turkey hen went broody after laying a grand total of 5 eggs, almost a week apart. We ate those eggs, expecting the floodgates to open as spring approaches. Last year, she laid about 40 eggs, but didn't go broody consistantly enough to hatch any. She is older and wiser this year, except.....too early!
So she went broody on a hen's egg that Little Blue laid in turkey's favorite corner. I kept taking the eggs (a barred rock joined Little Blue in laying eggs for the turkey) hoping she'd un-broody and go back to laying her own eggs. No success. She is determined.
I can't "break her up" by dunking her in cold water to cool her jets because it is still winter and it would kill her. I do this with hens in the summer and it works after a few dunks, more or less.
So I gave her a week to be sure she was going to remain broody this time. A few days ago I moved her and put a nice big nest box in her spot, loaded it with fresh straw, and put her in it after dark. In the morning I found her next to it, brooding nothing but her imaginary eggs. I moved her into the box again that night, and she has stayed there ever since.
I went in every night after dark and stole the eggs the hens laid in there. Made no difference. She has a very vivid imagination, apparently. In her mind, she is sitting on a mountain of turkey eggs.
Yesterday, I stuffed 12 chicken eggs under her and got a nice bite from her as a thank-you. Vicious little thing! I had to distract her with one hand while stuffing eggs with the other, and she still nailed me a few times. She even got my hand that was underneath her body a few times! While under her, I found two more eggs that someone had snuck into her nest, and checked to see what species they were.....Little Blue and the barred rock again, it looked like. They must be going into the nest with her, as she doesn't get up much at all.
On my way out of the barn, I found another fresh barred rock egg in the goat's stall, so I went back and stuffed that one under her, too. So she is on a total of 15 eggs.
I marked the original 12 eggs I saved to put under her, but not the additonal three. I was hoping to go in every night and remove any freshly-laid chicken eggs....but I think she will ultimately draw blood if I continue to harrass her nest. I will just deal with the loss of two hen's eggs while they continue to get into the box with her....Sigh.....two hens times 21 days....a lot of eggs! Two to three dozen will be lost....she'd better raise me a dozen nice chickens to add to my flock!
And hopefully, she will be ready to start laying eggs again when the two months of raising chickens is over. That will bring us to more appropriate weather for brooding the more valuable turkeys I am hoping to get this year.
My turkey hen went broody after laying a grand total of 5 eggs, almost a week apart. We ate those eggs, expecting the floodgates to open as spring approaches. Last year, she laid about 40 eggs, but didn't go broody consistantly enough to hatch any. She is older and wiser this year, except.....too early!
So she went broody on a hen's egg that Little Blue laid in turkey's favorite corner. I kept taking the eggs (a barred rock joined Little Blue in laying eggs for the turkey) hoping she'd un-broody and go back to laying her own eggs. No success. She is determined.
I can't "break her up" by dunking her in cold water to cool her jets because it is still winter and it would kill her. I do this with hens in the summer and it works after a few dunks, more or less.
So I gave her a week to be sure she was going to remain broody this time. A few days ago I moved her and put a nice big nest box in her spot, loaded it with fresh straw, and put her in it after dark. In the morning I found her next to it, brooding nothing but her imaginary eggs. I moved her into the box again that night, and she has stayed there ever since.
I went in every night after dark and stole the eggs the hens laid in there. Made no difference. She has a very vivid imagination, apparently. In her mind, she is sitting on a mountain of turkey eggs.
Yesterday, I stuffed 12 chicken eggs under her and got a nice bite from her as a thank-you. Vicious little thing! I had to distract her with one hand while stuffing eggs with the other, and she still nailed me a few times. She even got my hand that was underneath her body a few times! While under her, I found two more eggs that someone had snuck into her nest, and checked to see what species they were.....Little Blue and the barred rock again, it looked like. They must be going into the nest with her, as she doesn't get up much at all.
On my way out of the barn, I found another fresh barred rock egg in the goat's stall, so I went back and stuffed that one under her, too. So she is on a total of 15 eggs.
I marked the original 12 eggs I saved to put under her, but not the additonal three. I was hoping to go in every night and remove any freshly-laid chicken eggs....but I think she will ultimately draw blood if I continue to harrass her nest. I will just deal with the loss of two hen's eggs while they continue to get into the box with her....Sigh.....two hens times 21 days....a lot of eggs! Two to three dozen will be lost....she'd better raise me a dozen nice chickens to add to my flock!
And hopefully, she will be ready to start laying eggs again when the two months of raising chickens is over. That will bring us to more appropriate weather for brooding the more valuable turkeys I am hoping to get this year.
) so she couldn't return to the nest. It took several days of this, but she finally gave up. She was looking so ragged by then, I am sure she would have died on that empty nest if I didn't succeed in breaking her up.
