Candling Turkey Eggs Day 3

The journey keeps getting interesting! Here is a video of the third day of candling turkey egg. The egg seems to be developing very fast. The chick already visible in the egg at this stage!

Most people believe that candling produces results from 10 days upwards but we seem to be having some result at just 3 days.

Let's continue the journey and don't forget to share your thought in the comments section.

Day 3

Taking Poults from Hen

A day-old poult

The incubation period for the turkey is 28 days. Turkeys are pretty good natural incubators meaning they can pretty well take care of their eggs until it hatches. However they are not as good mothers. When it comes to mothering their young, I am tempted to believe that turkeys and guinea fowls are the lamest!

Turkey eggs are pretty precious and expensive. Well needless to say the poults are much expensive and precious. Day-old poults are very much a delight to watch. They are quite bigger than chicken at birth. They look fluffy and all but they are also very fragile. They are not as strong like the chicken. A poult can virtually die for no apparent reason at all!

After the hatch, most farmers are left with the question of whether to allow the turkey hen take care of the poults or take them away. Taking the poults from the hen is a crucial decision because it can be the difference between having a horrible poult mortality and raising a lovely flock.

As a rule, I always take my poults away from the mother. At the start of the hatch, the poults usually hatch out after three days. When the last poult come out, the hen indicates the readiness to move out. At that, time, I take the hen out gently to the 'recovery room'. In that room, I have high energy meal consisting of glucose powder and grains. After two days, the hen seems fine and is allowed back to the flocks.

The poults are however taken to the 'nursery'. In the nursery, I have a setup of lamps for heating the area. The poults are immediately fed on mashed nuts. The extra cholesterol is good for them. After a week, they are fed their normal feed. I ensure that the poults also get as much leaves as possible. After about three weeks, the poults are again moved to another area called the growing room where they integrate with the other flock gradually until they become adults.

Encouraging Turkeys To Lay in Nest

Getting turkey hens to lay in the nest sounds easy. In fact I never considered it as an important subject during my early years of raising these wonderful creatures. When I finally realized that my hens are laying, each had laid about 8 eggs by then. I was lucky the foxes did not see the eggs first.

Turkeys are very gentle creatures. They are highly intelligent creatures, aspect of the turkey's life which many people get wrong. They are pretty good learners. Ironically, that can be the problem with raising turkeys. They virtually have to be taught EVERYTHING!

To get your turkeys to lay at the right place, you first need to teach them how to do it. Getting a nice nest available is no guarantee either. Through my years, I have identified ways to teach the turkeys exactly where to lay the eggs.

1. Get the sex right: This may sound trivial but you will be surprised how many people get this wrong. Sexting turkeys is not a trivial topic. It is covered extensively in the post here. You need to determine that the turkey is a hen. It will start laying between 6 to 9 months depending on the breed. With that done, you are ready to go!
2. Look out for the signs: Laying is the final result of several signs of a matured hen. The signs are discussed in this post. If the hen is positive on all the signs, then it is time to start your own preparation!
3. Location is vital: Like many other birds, turkeys absolutely love their privacy when they are laying eggs. They prefer a bushy area with moderate temperature. In preparing the nest this must be considered. The nest should be away from the general population to give the hen the privacy it needs.
4. Observe the laying time: Turkey hens generally lay every other day when they start laying. They may break once every week from the cycle. Observe the creature and notice the time that it will lay. It is important not to disturb the hen a this stage. With the laying time determined, move the turkey to the prepared nest the next day.
5. Confirm acceptance of nest: It is sometimes possible that the hen may not accept the nest. If this happens, repeat steps 2 to 4. If the hen however lays in the nest then that is it. 

Congratulations! You just successfully coached your turkey to lay in the nest.