Brooding is one of the most difficult periods in the life of any naturally incubating bird. During the period the bird limits most of its life activities like roaming, eating, mating and sand-bathing. These activities all play vital role in the total development of any bird.

Turkeys have an incubation period of 28 days. At the start of the period, the hen takes time off the eggs about twice daily using 30 mins or more to explore and feed. However from the 7th day upwards, the broodiness become intense and the hen reduces the number of times it takes time off. In the last week of the brooding period, the hen further reduces the amount of time it stay off the eggs. Mostly the hen limits that to just 5 mins or below!

When the eggs finally start hatching on the 28th day, the hen totally abandons any form of leave and permanently stay on the eggs 24 hours. It is a crucial period because the eggs need the right temperature to hatch. The mother's brooding temperature is just what the poults need to emerge. After each egg's hatch, the mother provides the protection from the outside weather which would have rather killed it. Normally the last viable egg should hatch after 3 days from the hatch of the first egg. The body of the hen can survive three days on the egg without a break.

IT CAN TAKE LONGER!

For some reasons however, the hen may stay on the eggs for more days. At the intense brooding start, the hen virtually starves. It stays on the eggs the whole day. That means no water and regular food. It may eat some insects around the nest but the diet will be limited to just that! It is very important to take action if the intense period travels past the third day. Leaving the hen on the eggs after the third day without food and water may end in tragedy.

The ideal situation is to remove all the unhatched eggs and just move the mother and poults from the brooding area. Any attempt to feed the hen while in the intense brooding period will yield the same result because the mother will get the appetite back and abandon any unhatched egg.

Roseey0:
How then do you ensure all eggs are hatched and that you hen doesn't starve as well?

kunlesufyan:
Good afternoon, i have been trying to identify the difference between a male and female poult..can you help with any features I can look out for when I go to buy?

rastamouse:


A friend showed me a trick some time back. Will do a video and upload it later. When you hold up the poult, the female's legs will straighten up and that of the male will look downwards. I will do a video and post it

kunlesufyan:

Alryt ,I'll be expecting

rastamouse:


Hi Rose

How did the separation of the toms go?

Well any egg that is viable will hatch during the 3 days intense brooding period. If the egg fails, it is possible that it is not viable. However if the egg is viable then you may balance the risk of starving the hen and getting the egg hatched. Do you know how to assist-hatch an egg?

GorillaApp:


Do turkey naturally hatch their eggs? I have heard two persons complaining that their turkey refused to hatch eggs. Is that very frequent or rare.
What's the solution?

Raph82:
The best bet is to take the eggs to public hatchery for setting. Turkey hens are not too good at incubating eggs, they may eventually waste majority of the eggs. By preventing them to go broody on the eggs stimulates them to lay more eggs per clutch. So collecting the eggs and taking them to hatchery is recommended.

GorillaApp:

OK. Thsmks bro. The problem now is locating the hatchery. Haven't heard of anyone around my axis

Raph82:
Which city are u in?

GorillaApp:

Warri, Delta state