And Then There Were Just Two...

It started out all so promising. I had managed to get six Beltsville Small White Turkey eggs. I had wanted at least a dozen but the woman I got them from had turkey hens not quite co-operating with her and she only managed to collect five over ten days. Then she called the next day and said she found another egg after we left. So we went back and got the last egg and popped them all into the incubator. We were surprised to see that these eggs were not much bigger than our chicken eggs. They were a lot pointier, though and were a creamy off-white colour with speckles.

After two weeks in the incubator, I decided to candle them. Candling is simply shining a bright light in a dark room at the egg to see what is happening inside. The light can't be too big, usually just an inch or two. A high powered flashlight works well. I used a spotlight with a box over it. I cut a small hole in the box for the light. Out of the six eggs, five certainly looked like there was something in there. I could see veins floating and a really big black spot which I hoped was the turkey itself.

Turkeys take a lot longer to hatch than chickens in two ways. Chickens generally hatch in 21 days, turkeys take 28. A chicken will pip a hole in the egg. After that, cracks start appearing and when the cracks get wide, I know a chicken will be breaking out shortly. Turkeys, not so much. They pip a hole and crack the egg and then wait all day before doing anything more. Drove me crazy. I worried they had died or were too weak to get out. But since I didn't have any experience with turkey hatches, I decided to wait and see. Five of the eggs hatched, they took their sweet time, but they hatched. Seems like I'm getting the hang of this candling thing. One had an issue with his bottom, it was bloody. I left him in the incubator for a longer period of time, hoping the issue would resolve itself. When it looked like there was no new blood, I took him out and carefully washed his bottom with warm water. He was as right as rain. The last turkey hatched was over a day late and it was clear he wasn't very well. He couldn't walk even after a few hours. Turkey poults lurch and wobble a lot at first. They take one step then stumble for two or three steps and fall on their little chins. After a couple of hours, they gain their feet and manage to walk a lot better. This guy just couldn't get his feet under him, saying he had a drunken gait is being very kind. So I separated him until he got a little strength. I hand fed and watered him. Unfortunately, he died two days later.

So I had four strong, happy little poults (turkey talk for babies). I kept them by themselves for a few days and then put them with the baby chicks and all was well...for a while. As recommended by the woman, I fed everybody turkey starter. Four days later I found one of the turkey poults dead. He hadn't seemed sick. Two days later, I noticed another poult not doing well. He didn't seem ill, he just wasn't holding his own very well. So I gave him his own little brooder. He was quiet the first day and mostly slept. P, teenage son, started calling him Yoda. The next day he was perkier. He ate, drank and sang. I was very encouraged! And then that night he died.

I asked and googled and referred to my books and I couldn't find out what on earth I was doing wrong. One thing that repeatedly showed up in my search was the comment that while turkey eggs are fairly easy to hatch, raising young turkeys is difficult and high losses are not unusual.

Since then, I have had no more deaths. The two surviving ones are doing famously. They are growing, they are bright and alert. I like turkeys. These two guys are so friendly. When chicks are young, they tend to run away from me screaming in terror. You know those old cartoons where when some character is frightened out of their mind, all you see is a mouth with the tonsils vibrating as they scream? That's what I'm reminded of with chicks. Their little stubby wings flap uselessly, they trip over their own feet in an effort to get away and then they all huddle in a corner, quaking. Not turkey poults. They see me coming and look at me curiously. I talk and whistle and they answer in bright little chirps. When I put my hand in the brooder, they mosey over to say hi while the chicks huddle in the corners. Poults love being picked up and will even settle down for a nap in my open palm. Really nice little birds from the start, not like chicks who take a few weeks to figure out I'm not Freddie Kruger. Poults are also different looking. They have day-glo orange, over-sized feet and their eyes are buggy at first. As they grow, they tend to be leggy and they have a little bump right above their beaks. But they are sweet.

These two hatched on June 11 and are two weeks old now. I have no idea if they are hens or toms (turkey talk for male). Best case scenario is that I have a pair. But I'm not going to worry about that right now, I'm just going to enjoy these two charming creatures and hope they continue to do well.