I didn't expect the turkey hens to brood much less have fertile eggs. (If you'd seen the toms in action you'd understand my skepticism 🤔) So, I took the chance and placed a turkey egg under a broody uhh chicken hen. After her eggs hatched I moved it to the next hen due to hatch. A turkey's gestation is 28 days versus a chicken's 21. Well, this morning we welcomed our first turkey poult to hatch at Lazy Dog Ranch! It's a slate.
All of our turkeys are heritage breeds, meaning the breeds have been around a long time and aren't hybrids. We have toms of three breeds - slate, royal palm, and red bourbon. Our hens are slate and royal palm. We're very fortunate that our toms get along (for the most part) since the ratio is NOT good. Because of them roaming together none of our offspring will be a particular color, but crosses.
Appalonia, the turkey from the last post, isn't the strongest of girls but she's taking her brooding job very seriously. Presley is working on her clutch in an igloo dog house and I expect her to start laying within a week. She may be a bit confused but it's better than nesting out beyond the yard.
Now that I know our girls are laying fertile eggs and brooding I'm hoping to have more hens and maybe we'll have turkeys available for Thanksgiving 2018! Oh, don't worry, I always keep the sweet ones and only cook up the meanies 😉
