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- #41
freemotion
Food Guru
Both men in this household are very "proper" in all the wrong ways! You know....proud of their poop but wouldn't hear of pee'ing outside. Sheesh.
Broody turkey hen with chicken eggs! Sheesh! ***new ???? p 9***
- Thread starter freemotion
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- Thread starter
- #42
freemotion
Food Guru
Dad and I went into the turkey stall this afternoon (dh still can't find the battery charger with the camera batteries in it! Grrr!) to clean up and check out the situation. Ready for battle, armed with a pitchfork and a flake of fresh straw. Of course, I forgot the ziploc freezer bag for any bad eggs or dead chicks, as well as my heavy gloves for doing battle with a psycho turkey. Oh, well. Into the fray, bare-knuckled, literally.
I carefully pulled the hen off the nest, getting nailed with her hissing beak every few seconds. I finally realized that she must be a bit weak from about four weeks on the nest, as she is not bruising me like she did a few weeks ago. I handed her off to my father, who worked hard to keep her in a corner, away from me. She was pretty determined, and got around him several times, and even got back into the box once. I was more determined, though, to clean that stinky nest and make sure those chicks had an opportunity for food and water. It was right about the three day mark, so they would be pretty low on the yolk sack that they drew into their body just before hatching. That should be just about depleted, and they need nourishment.
I took the six mostly black chicks out one by one, peeping like crazy, and dipped their beaks in the water. Then I showed each the food I'd prepared. I ran some of the whole grains I use through my VitaMix, which I use to grind wheat into flour and corn into cornmeal. I made a course mix of barley and corn, then I used Pearson's square to calculate the proportion of soy meal to add. No bugs are out yet, or hardly any...the chickens are finding some, but the turkey hen is not free-ranging right now.
I put some scraps of meat near her this morning, bits of chicken left from making broth from chicken backs, and it was all gone by this afternoon. I was hoping she would share it with her chicks. Last summer, my broody Dominique fed her chicks almost exclusively on worms she dug for them in their pen. I would help by loosening the soil with a shovel, and I added all the grass clippings from our untreated lawn to the soil of her pen to encourage more worms to migrate into that area. Many months later, she still comes running when she sees me and gets up on my boot at times.
So I put the chicks to one side, and they were completely uninterested in the grain and water. Mama Turkey called them over, and started digging a hole and settling into it. I think she was creating another nest for them, since she didn't have access to her box. Meanwhile, I quickly moved her cache of eggs, pulled all the soiled bedding and one more incompletely hatched dead chick from her box, and re-bedded it with the flake of fresh straw. I pushed it into a nest shape for her, and put the best-looking, cleanest, and heaviest eggs back into it.
As soon as I stepped out of her path, she made a beeline for those eggs, abandoning her chickies....sort of. She anxiously called to them, and they ran over to her. We watched as they struggled to hop up onto the new wall of straw, and one by one they disappeared under her feathers. She got that introspective look as each one found its place under her body. The last little one hopped and hopped and finally scrambled up the straw and scooted right under her breast. One chick was exploring her back, and she lifted a wing slightly and it also disappeared underneath. She was obviously happy and relieved.
I have some ground pork scrap for tomorrow, from rendering pork fat for soapmaking, that I will offer her tomorrow. It is a close as I can get to earthworms!
I carefully pulled the hen off the nest, getting nailed with her hissing beak every few seconds. I finally realized that she must be a bit weak from about four weeks on the nest, as she is not bruising me like she did a few weeks ago. I handed her off to my father, who worked hard to keep her in a corner, away from me. She was pretty determined, and got around him several times, and even got back into the box once. I was more determined, though, to clean that stinky nest and make sure those chicks had an opportunity for food and water. It was right about the three day mark, so they would be pretty low on the yolk sack that they drew into their body just before hatching. That should be just about depleted, and they need nourishment.
I took the six mostly black chicks out one by one, peeping like crazy, and dipped their beaks in the water. Then I showed each the food I'd prepared. I ran some of the whole grains I use through my VitaMix, which I use to grind wheat into flour and corn into cornmeal. I made a course mix of barley and corn, then I used Pearson's square to calculate the proportion of soy meal to add. No bugs are out yet, or hardly any...the chickens are finding some, but the turkey hen is not free-ranging right now.
I put some scraps of meat near her this morning, bits of chicken left from making broth from chicken backs, and it was all gone by this afternoon. I was hoping she would share it with her chicks. Last summer, my broody Dominique fed her chicks almost exclusively on worms she dug for them in their pen. I would help by loosening the soil with a shovel, and I added all the grass clippings from our untreated lawn to the soil of her pen to encourage more worms to migrate into that area. Many months later, she still comes running when she sees me and gets up on my boot at times.
So I put the chicks to one side, and they were completely uninterested in the grain and water. Mama Turkey called them over, and started digging a hole and settling into it. I think she was creating another nest for them, since she didn't have access to her box. Meanwhile, I quickly moved her cache of eggs, pulled all the soiled bedding and one more incompletely hatched dead chick from her box, and re-bedded it with the flake of fresh straw. I pushed it into a nest shape for her, and put the best-looking, cleanest, and heaviest eggs back into it.
As soon as I stepped out of her path, she made a beeline for those eggs, abandoning her chickies....sort of. She anxiously called to them, and they ran over to her. We watched as they struggled to hop up onto the new wall of straw, and one by one they disappeared under her feathers. She got that introspective look as each one found its place under her body. The last little one hopped and hopped and finally scrambled up the straw and scooted right under her breast. One chick was exploring her back, and she lifted a wing slightly and it also disappeared underneath. She was obviously happy and relieved.
I have some ground pork scrap for tomorrow, from rendering pork fat for soapmaking, that I will offer her tomorrow. It is a close as I can get to earthworms!
Occamstazer
Almost Self-Reliant
Regarding pictures: MOAR!
gettinaclue
Almost Self-Reliant
I'm really enjoying reading about this. I'm sure you're not enjoying the fights with the turkey hen, but to me, it's a real adventure.
- Thread starter
- #45
freemotion
Food Guru
Actually, after dealing with George the rooster for two years and carrying permanent scars on my legs....he tore right through jeans with those ginormous spurs of his....she seems pretty tame. 
I was pretty nervous after that first session of bites that left beak-shaped dark red bruises on my hand, thinking she would only accelerate in her nastiness, but she hasn't, really, so I am getting a bit more relaxed about it. Not a good thing, probably, as I get flogged more when my guard is down. And I expect she will regain her strength pretty quickly once she is leaving the nest to keep up with her chicks. If she still holds a grudge against me, I will be in big trouble!
We will see....its always an adventure here, NatGeo in my back yard!
I was pretty nervous after that first session of bites that left beak-shaped dark red bruises on my hand, thinking she would only accelerate in her nastiness, but she hasn't, really, so I am getting a bit more relaxed about it. Not a good thing, probably, as I get flogged more when my guard is down. And I expect she will regain her strength pretty quickly once she is leaving the nest to keep up with her chicks. If she still holds a grudge against me, I will be in big trouble!We will see....its always an adventure here, NatGeo in my back yard!
gettinaclue
Almost Self-Reliant
freemotion said:
- Thread starter
- #48
freemotion
Food Guru
She is taking them out to eat and they are eating! We've been catching them out several times a day. Sometimes she sees us and squats on top of them, right where they happen to be. Most of the time, she hurries back to the nest and calls them in. If we are quiet and stay out of the stall, she nervously watches them and keeps a wary eye on us.
I tossed some of the fatty ground pork left over from rendering pork trim for soapmaking, and the chicks were right on it, pecking away happily. They scoot over to the waterer and drink like it's old hat. I removed her water bucket, since they will be able to hop into it soon and would drown. She will have to do the best she can for the next week or so with the chick waterer, then when they are about two weeks old, I will put a flat pan in with a brick in the middle for any chicks who accidentally go for an impromptu swim.
Here are some pictures taken today....so cute!
Come to bed, kids!
On the balcony:
Getting tucked in for the night:
I tossed some of the fatty ground pork left over from rendering pork trim for soapmaking, and the chicks were right on it, pecking away happily. They scoot over to the waterer and drink like it's old hat. I removed her water bucket, since they will be able to hop into it soon and would drown. She will have to do the best she can for the next week or so with the chick waterer, then when they are about two weeks old, I will put a flat pan in with a brick in the middle for any chicks who accidentally go for an impromptu swim.
Here are some pictures taken today....so cute!
Come to bed, kids!
On the balcony:
Getting tucked in for the night:
FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
Awww
And what a relief, that they are getting to eat
And what a relief, that they are getting to eat
framing fowl
On a mission
How cute! Glad everything ended up working out. So are all of the eggs gone from her nest now?
