Despite the excellent quality of dietary turkey meat, this bird is not as popular in private households as chicken. This article will be useful to those who decided to start breeding turkeys at home. We will tell you how to choose a good hen and bring out little turkey poults.
Choosing a good hen
When choosing a hen, you should focus on the size and age of the bird. The larger the turkey, the greater the number of eggs she can sit. At the age of 5-6 months, the birds are ready for egg-laying.
You should not worry that a large turkey will crush the incubation material. These layers gently incubate the eggs and turn them themselves for more uniform heating. Therefore, for the hen turkeys, first of all, it is necessary to create the necessary conditions, and they will take care of the rest.
Did you know? It is believed that from the eggs with a sharp end turkeys appear, and if the tip is more blunt - turkeys. It was found that this statement is true in approximately 9 out of 10 cases.
Nest preparation
In the nest, the turkey will spend a significant part of its time during the hatching of the chicks, so it should be comfortable, warm and be away from the entrance to the house. 
What and how to make
The nest is made of wood or plywood, sifted earth, sawdust and dry hay should be used as bedding. As an option, you can use a soft cloth or old clothes. The approximate dimensions of the turkey nest are 60x60 cm.
Learn how to improve turkey egg production.
Where to place
Find a separate place for the nest where the hen will not be distracted from its duties, with a suitable air temperature (at least + 10 ° C) and slightly shaded. If in such an incubation compartment there are nests of other hens, it is better to isolate them from each other. Otherwise, birds can confuse their places, which will lead to clarification of the relationship.
Video: How to make a nest for a turkey and put it on the eggs
How to plant a turkey on eggs
Forcing a bird to its eggs is almost impossible. Pay attention to this detail: when a turkey lasts longer than the others in a nest, it is a sign of its readiness for hatching. Such a potential hen is worth testing: put a couple of eggs under it, watch the bird. If she sits well, does not leave the nest for a long time, she can be trusted with more incubation material.
Important! To increase the productivity of turkeys and change the timing of molting poultry farmers use this technique: using artificial light, they increase the length of daylight hours to 13-15 hours. This method can not be applied to birds, not reaching the age of 8-9 months.
The best time of the year
The turkey begins laying at the end of winter - early spring. Autumn eggs are not used for incubation, since the hatchlings hatching from them are usually rather weak and do not survive well in the coming winter frosts. 
Selection and preparation of eggs
The first egg in a clutch is usually brought in the morning, at 6-8 hours. In the following days, the turkey will sail in the afternoon.
The demolished items are removed to the storage room. The temperature at which they should be stored for subsequent incubation should be + 13-18 ° C. Shelf life - up to 10 days.
When the laying of 10-18 pieces is collected, they are gradually placed under the turkey, marking each one, and the newly demolished one is taken away.
How many eggs can you put
The number of eggs that the turkey hen is capable of sitting depends primarily on its size. The norm is from 10 to 20 pieces, the average value is 15-16.
Care for the hen during incubation
The hypertrophied maternal sense of these birds sometimes goes to extremes. The hen may not get up from the nest for days, refusing food and drink. In this case, the poultry farmer needs to place the caring mommy himself next to the feeding bowl and feed. 
In the feeder should always be fresh vegetables. In the diet, the presence of yogurt, cottage cheese, germinated cereals. You should constantly change the water in the drinking bowl, as well as equip the sandbox-bath.
In order for the turkey to be in good shape, and the exhausting round-the-clock incubation does not affect her health, the bird needs walks every day.
How to identify a fertilized turkey egg
To determine the fertilization of eggs used ovoskop. This is a simple device, which is a light source with holes for eggs, in fact - a simple lamp that shines through them. It is also used for rejection of incubation material before laying.
We recommend to learn how to properly ovoskopirovat eggs and how to make an ovoscope with your own hands.
Before the incubation material is laid under the hen, it is impossible to know whether it was fertilized. Only after 96-100 hours of incubation can you try to figure out whether to wait for offspring from it. 
Fertilized egg Dietary eggs, that is, those that have not been fertilized, are completely transparent, with a subtle yolk and air cavity.
When the specimen is examined through which the offspring are to be expected, a small clot can be seen, with the circulatory system barely beginning to form around it.
In the event that there is a spot, and there are no rudiments of the circulatory system, it is highly likely that for some reason the embryo has stopped developing.
Take care of the comfort of the birds and build a turkey hen for your birds.
2 days before the expected date of chick appearance, an ovoscope examination is performed for the last time. At this time, the egg should not appear through at all, only the air chamber. If only the central part is shaded, and the light layer under the shell, the embryo has died. 
How many days does a turkey egg hatch
Chicks of turkeys are born on the 27-28 day of incubation.
Important! Turkey meat contains more protein than meat of any other animal, bird or fish. The cholesterol content in meat is so low that only chicken breast is ahead in this indicator. Turkey contains all the essential amino acids.
Is it possible to lay eggs of chickens or geese under the turkey
Thanks to a well-developed maternal instinct, turkeys are quite often used for incubation instead of other types of poultry. This is especially true for chickens. Many hybrids do not differ developed parental instincts. Often the chickens are quite restless, they are easily distracted and can not sit on the spot for a long time. But turkeys in this regard - the ideal hens. 
Turkey sat on eggs in winter: what to do, how to scare away
Sometimes poultry farmers face such a problem: a turkey sits on its eggs in the winter when it is freezing outside, which is why it is unlikely that it will be possible to get poults. The turkey is being driven from the nest, but it still sits on the floor.
You can grow turkey poults out of eggs using an incubator. Learn how to incubate turkey eggs at home.
In this case, there are several ways to prevent the bird from hatching:
- immediately take the eggs laid;
- remove nests;
- do not turn on the house light, reduce the temperature;
- more often chase the turkey out;
- to isolate a feathered bird for several days, by planting alone or with a chicken (duck) - this kind of stress can help the bird to forget for a while about an obsessive instinct.
As you can see, there is nothing difficult in planting a turkey on eggs. All you have to do is choose the appropriate incubation material, place it under the future mommy and provide her with the proper conditions for incubating chicks.
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