When do turkeys start laying eggs at home: at how many months, reproduction

Turkeys are kept to produce tender dietary meat. Today, many breeds and crosses have been developed that grow rapidly and produce a carcass weighing 10–14 kg in just a few months. But the egg production of a bird is no less important. The more the female lays full-fledged eggs suitable for incubation, the more young animals can be obtained for raising for meat. The egg production of turkeys depends not only on the breed, but also on the conditions of keeping and feeding.

At what month do turkeys start laying eggs?

Turkeys at home begin to lay eggs at the age of 8–10 months. The onset of oviposition is influenced by:

• female breed - light turkeys are introduced earlier than heavy varieties;
• conditions of detention - air temperature, daylight hours;
• diet.

If the flock is kept in natural light and in a cold barn during the winter, the onset of egg production will be delayed until spring.

Some poultry farmers, trying to get eggs from young birds as soon as possible, artificially increase daylight hours. This is an effective method, but it can only be used provided that the birds are already 8 months old.

How many eggs does one turkey lay in a year?

Every farmer knows about the usefulness of turkey eggs; they are high-calorie, nutritious and much larger than chicken eggs.

Turkey eggs are among the largest among poultry

The weight of one egg ranges from 70 to 80 grams. The shell has a beautiful characteristic pockmarked color (the egg itself is light beige with brown splashes).

Diet of turkey poults from day one

How many eggs a hen can lay in a year depends on many indicators:

• Quantity and quality of feed consumed;
• The number of daylight hours must be at least 10 per day;
• Conditions of keeping: the house should always be warm and dry, but cold and dampness have a bad effect on how many eggs there will be in the clutch;
• Peace and quiet so as not to frighten the hen;
• Season, in the period from March to April the egg production is higher, and in the fall it is lower;
• The breed and weight of the individual also affects how many eggs will be laid.

Collecting turkey eggs

On average, one turkey brings from 120 to 150 pieces per year. But there are also record-breaking mothers who can lay and hatch up to 220 pieces. Turkeys have one peculiarity. The younger the individual, the smaller the egg, although in larger quantities per season. The molting period has a bad effect on how many eggs the female carries.

The turkey produces the very first egg at the beginning of laying in the early morning until 8 a.m., and on subsequent days in the afternoon (approximately 12-15 o’clock).

How turkeys fly

A female turkey begins laying eggs when she reaches sexual maturity. It is important that environmental conditions are favorable for this. The egg production indicated in the description of the breed may change downward if the standards and requirements for maintenance and feeding are not met.

How many eggs does a turkey lay per year?

Depending on the variety, a female turkey lays from 60 to 140 eggs per year. The most egg-laying breeds bred in our country are:

• North Caucasian bronze - up to 140 pieces per year;
• white broad-breasted - 120 eggs;
• white Moscow - 110–120 pieces;
• Virginia, or Dutch white - 110 eggs;
• Tikhoretskaya black - about a hundred eggs.

These breeds belong to the light or medium type of turkeys, reaching a live weight of 9–15 kg.

Heavy turkeys, gaining a mass of 20–25 kg, lay only 50–80 eggs per year.

How often do turkeys lay eggs?

When a turkey lays eggs for the first time, she lays eggs every 2-3 days. As they grow older, the frequency of egg laying increases to daily or every other day.

Each egg weighs from 70 to 95 g, it is of the correct “egg” shape - with a blunt and sharp end. The shell is dense, colored a light coffee shade with reddish-brown small spots.

In mid to late summer, when the breeding season is winding down, the turkey lays eggs in 2-4 day intervals.

How many years does it take to lay eggs?

Female turkeys lay eggs for up to 8 years, but turkeys are used on the farm for up to 5 years. After 5 years of age, egg production drops and is 50% of normal. Peak productivity occurs at the age of 2–3 years.

How to tell if a bird is about to lay eggs

A turkey usually lays an egg early in the morning. Coming to the barn for morning feeding, the poultry farmer already finds a warm egg in the nest.

You can determine that a young turkey is preparing to lay eggs by the following signs:

• the bird sits on the nest and sits on it for some time;
• the female begins to “nest” - she pulls fluff and twigs into a secluded corner;
• does not go out for walks, hides from the herd;
• if you take the turkey in your hands and feel the belly and pubic bones, the distance between them will be 3-4 fingers.

One of the signs of the imminent start of egg laying is the mating of turkeys. Experienced poultry farmers believe that covering a female with a turkey stimulates the start of laying.

Hatching eggs

Turkeys are meat birds, so their eggs are used mainly for breeding. When a turkey lays about twenty eggs, her maternal instinct begins to shine brightly. After brooding begins, egg production continues for about a week. During this time, the female lays another 3-5 eggs. It is interesting that in this species of birds not only turkeys show a tendency to hatch chicks, but also turkeys. Before placing the testicles under the female, they can be stored for up to 10 days, at a temperature of 13 to 18 degrees. The eggs that the turkey laid after the start of hatching are removed.

For normal fertilization, one mating per season is sufficient, although 2-3 matings are carried out to be sure. Heavy breeds of turkeys are not allowed for mating. They have a large body mass and powerful claws; during mating, the male can seriously injure the female. This will affect both the productivity and health of the bird. That is why heavy and medium crosses are advised to be bred through artificial insemination. To breed turkeys with good egg production, they are selected 40-50 days after the start of laying. The one that lays eggs better is suitable for procreation. The rest go to slaughter.

To increase egg production and product quality, birds should be fed and maintained properly. During the productive period, it is necessary to feed turkeys with vitamins and mineral supplements. If birds do not have enough calcium, they peck at the egg or lay it without the shell. When food is poor and living conditions are poor, turkey poults are hatched weak and their survival rate is low. Turkeys, when hatching chicks, often do not go to feeders, so they need to be equipped near the nest.

At what age turkeys begin to lay eggs also depends on the lighting. If the young are provided with 13-17 hours of daylight, the female can lay an egg several weeks earlier. Some farmers achieve egg production as early as 5-6 months. This technique should not be abused; if the egg ripens early, the turkey lays a small egg, and the turkey poults are born weak. The optimal lighting time is 12-14 hours a day. If it is less, the clutch stops and the birds begin to moult. Turkeys also respond to daylight. With sufficient lighting, spermatogenesis is activated, which affects the fertilization of eggs.

The influence of health status on egg production

Turkeys lay well only if they are in good health. In addition to obvious diseases that affect the behavior and appearance of the bird, there are hidden problems that affect egg production. These are vitamin deficiency, external and internal parasites.

Avitaminosis

Lack of vitamins in winter and early spring directly affects egg laying, delaying it until the bird begins to graze. Most often, a turkey locked in a barn suffers from a lack of vitamin C and D.

Vitamin C is found in greens and fresh vegetables; it is not found in grains and animal feed. To replenish the vitamin deficiency in the body, turkeys are fed hay in the form of grass meal or cuttings. The most vitamin C is found in legume and nettle hay.

Turkeys are also given sprouted grain (oats, wheat, barley), 15–20 g per head per day. Cereal sprouts are rich not only in vitamins, but also in microelements. Giving fresh vegetables helps maintain the supply of vitamins in the body: white cabbage, carrots, pumpkin. Sometimes the bird is given a rosehip decoction.

Vitamin D is produced in the sun; if it is deficient, the body does not absorb calcium well, which affects the strength of bones and egg shells. In addition to organizing winter walks, turkeys are given an oil solution of vitamin D in their food.

In addition to introducing beneficial substances into the diet in natural form, turkeys are given a premix or liquid water-soluble complex vitamins.

Parasites

Poultry can be bothered by mites, lice, fleas and worms. With a weak infection, the appearance of turkeys remains almost unchanged, but the bird will not lay eggs. Hens especially suffer from lice and mites, since a turkey sitting on eggs cannot get up from the nest and go for a swim in the sand.

To prevent infection by parasites, the poultry house and the birds themselves are treated a month before the start of the breeding season. Antihelmintic drugs are given against worms (Alben, Panacur). The livestock is treated against lice with a special powder containing pyrethrum. The barn is being whitewashed and cleaned.

General state

Before the start of the breeding season, turkeys are examined for body condition. If the bird's weight exceeds the norm, and fat deposits on the body are clearly palpable, it is put on a diet, reducing the amount of grain feed and increasing the proportion of vegetables and roughage.

If the turkey is emaciated, the diet should be revised to increase its nutritional value, ideally switching to feed for adult turkeys.

Hatching eggs

During incubation, the hen warms the clutch with her own body heat (41-42°C). At the same time, she is not able to provide simultaneous uniform heating of all eggs, as a result of which the turkey periodically independently mixes and turns the eggs in the nest, thereby ensuring heating of the entire clutch.

Often, a hen can turn one egg up to fifty times in a day. As the hatching approaches, the need to maintain high temperature partially disappears, the hen begins to stand up to ensure natural thermoregulation of the clutch.

During hatching, it is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the hen - in some cases, the turkey may stop eating and drinking. In such situations, you should independently remove the hen from the nest and place her next to the feeder and drinker. In addition, the turkey requires daily short walks - up to three times a day.

At the end of the fourth week of incubation, pecking begins, after which the turkey poults hatch. Due to the fact that the chicks do not hatch at the same time, they should be placed in a wooden box separate from the hen. This measure will eliminate the risk of injury to newborn turkey chicks by the hen when the next chicks appear.

Using a turkey as a hen

In addition to turkeys, turkeys are also capable of hatching eggs. A similar need may arise if there is a shortage of hens in the flock. In order to force a turkey to hatch eggs, you will need to put it in a well-equipped nest with masonry and cover it with a basket or box on top so that it cannot stand up to its full height.

After some time (on average one or two days), you should remove the basket. Turkeys often refuse to hatch their offspring, however, in some cases the male remains in the nest and is able to completely replace the turkey as a hen.

It should be borne in mind that turkeys weigh significantly more than turkeys, which makes hatching chicken or duck eggs impossible. In addition, the brood hen should be kept isolated from other males, as turkeys are more aggressive than turkeys and can damage the clutch or injure the chicks.

Also, due to the increased aggressiveness of males, the following precautions should be taken when checking clutches:

• when approaching the nest, do not make sudden movements;
• to lift the turkey you need to quickly grab it by the wings;
• After checking the clutch (or other procedures), you should put the turkey in place and quickly move away.

Domestic turkeys are relatively unpretentious in maintenance and care. However, their reproduction requires compliance with a number of necessary conditions, among which the most prominent are: cleanliness and a comfortable microclimate in the poultry house, a balanced diet, as well as timely examinations of the livestock by a veterinarian. Also, when planning offspring, one should not forget about the laying period - the strongest and most productive individuals are hatched in the spring-summer period.

In addition, in order to breed strong and healthy offspring, it is also necessary to maintain the proportion of males and females of reproductive age in the flock - there must be at least one turkey for every 10 turkeys. Fulfillment of all the above conditions will ensure stable annual population growth.

How to get a turkey to lay eggs in the nest

Often young females begin to lay eggs in different parts of the barn, right on the floor. Because of this, the egg gets dirty and the bird can crush it.

A nest for turkeys is made of wood, in the form of a spacious box measuring 40 by 60 cm. The height of the side should not be lower than 10 cm. The floor is lined with clean straw, hay or sawdust. The nest is placed on the floor, in a darkened corner of the barn. For 2-3 laying hens you will need 1 nest. If you plan to place turkeys on eggs, then each individual needs a separate nesting box.

You can attract a female to the nest using a lining - an artificial egg. It is made from plaster or wood, painting the workpiece white, or filling a white plastic container of the appropriate shape and size with sand.

What to consider when hatching offspring

The demands of the turkey when reproducing offspring are known. As soon as the bird has stopped laying eggs, the nest should be cleaned and the hay bedding replaced. The eggs are removed from the nest from the container and placed in a cool place. Straw is laid on the bottom of the nest, then hay, and eggs are placed on the side.

Everything necessary for the bird: a feeder, a drinking bowl is located near the laying site. The turkey must be able to eat and drink in the immediate vicinity of the nest site, which she does once every 2 days. It is advisable to place sand nearby; the bird loves to swim in it. Typically, a turkey hatches its offspring for a month, and in the last days it almost does not leave its place for walks.

How to put a turkey on eggs

As a rule, having laid one and a half to two dozen eggs, the female herself prepares to sit on the nest. The signal that the turkey is ready for the brooding process will be plucking the fluff from the chest. The bird covers the bottom of the nest with down.

While the turkey is laying eggs, eggs are collected daily and stored in a cool place in egg cassettes in an upright position (blunt end up).

When the hen has prepared the nest and sat on the bed, real eggs are placed on her at nightfall. From 13 to 18 pieces are placed under one hen.

When the females sit down to incubate, the turkey becomes bored. So that he does not lure his friends from the nest, he can also be offered to hatch a dozen chicks. Very often, turkeys turn out to be excellent hens. Do not place eggs only under birds of heavy breeds; with their weight they crush the clutch.

If the turkey does not want to incubate, it is better to place it in another room for the duration of incubation so that it does not interfere with the females.

Can a male hatch offspring?

There is a turkey sitting in the second nest. The eggs are about to hatch!

The turkey has all the qualities to hatch its offspring. It has a strong protective instinct and has a thick feather covering. Turkeys, when there are not enough females, or when there are too many eggs, are able to hatch a clutch.

In order to force the male to act as a hen, several eggs are placed in the nest, the turkey is seated and covered with a basket so that he cannot stand up to his full height. If after several days the turkey remains on the nest without a basket, then it is able to sit on the clutch. If the bird leaves the nest, then he is not suitable for the role of a hen.

Video about mother hen turkey

Males who sit on the nest have their own distinctive characteristics from females:

• Since they are larger and weigh more, eggs of other poultry are not placed in the nest, and stronger turkey eggs are chosen.
• They have a more aggressive character, so they do not like the actions of the bird in relation to it and the nest. To check a turkey's nest, hold the turkey tightly by grasping its wings, quickly adjust the nest, and then sit the bird down while it is confused. Next, you need to quickly leave the premises.
• Turkeys can also carefully look after hatched chicks while other males do not see them.

Possible problems

Sometimes the hen abandons the nest mid-cycle. There may be several reasons for this:

• a female is lured for a walk by a turkey;
• the bird is uncomfortable in the nest - the litter is damp, parasites are pestering, it’s too hot;
• food and water were not provided to the turkey near the nest, which is why the female is forced to leave the nest for a long time;
• individual characteristics of the bird.

As a rule, most turkeys are good brooders, but caring mothers are highly valued. A good hen, even when she stops laying eggs herself, can hatch chicks not only of turkeys, but also of chickens, guinea fowl and even ducks.

Often turkeys do not lay eggs at the height of the season, the reasons for this may be the following:

• too hot or cold (above +30 degrees or below +10);
• the duration of daylight hours in the poultry house is less than 12 hours;
• the bird is infected with parasites;
• the room is damp, poor ventilation;
• There are too many males in the herd and they tire the turkeys with courtship.

With a high level of stress and crowding (there is more than 1 bird per square meter), turkeys also stop laying eggs.

Enterprise planning

Any business begins with planning, including a farm. To begin with, it is better to start raising turkeys at home as a business in rural areas. If you have your own plot of land and outbuildings, then the plan will look something like this:

1. Purchase of one-day turkey poults in the amount of 20 birds in the spring. Their cost will be, for example, 2000 rubles.
2. With proper care and temperature control, at the beginning of autumn the weight of one bird will be on average 15 kg.
3. Half of them, that is, 10 heads, can be slaughtered for meat for sale. Selling dietary poultry meat is not difficult; it is always in great demand.
4. The remaining birds must be left to form a flock. By the way, if you have the opportunity to walk turkeys outside, then the cost of feed and vitamins will be noticeably lower.
5. Turkeys, unlike most birds, are very sensitive to their offspring, so you won’t need an incubator to breed them. Females will hatch the chicks and care for them.
6. If you organize production and carefully care for the herd, one turkey in 5 years can produce offspring, from which you can get a total of 600 kg of meat.

The main task is to organize normal living conditions for turkeys. Adult birds can easily tolerate lower temperatures, so rearing can be organized even in the northern regions.

Expense and income

The main expense is premises. Turkey is a large bird, so one unit requires at least two square meters of space. For 20 turkeys you need at least 40 square meters. m. premises. The premises must be insulated and equipped. If you do this from scratch, then:

1. The construction of outbuildings will cost no less than 200,000 rubles.
2. Equipment and insulation – no less than 50,000 rubles.

In total, the minimum investment for furnishing the premises will be about 250,000 rubles.

Here's an example:

1. Purchase plus feeding for 4 months will require approximately 12,000 rubles, profit from the first sale – 45,000.
2. There is no need to buy chicks the next time. One turkey at a time hatches up to 16 chicks, which after 4 months can be sold for 72,000 rubles, and only 8,000 will be spent on rearing for the entire period.
3. If not one turkey, but three at once produce offspring of 16 units, the income from them will already be equal to 192,000 rubles in 4 months.

The only negative is that it is necessary to expand the space and build new premises. Therefore, to start this type of business, you should take care of a large plot of land.

As you can see, turkey breeding as a business is a very difficult but profitable business. To the question whether it is profitable to raise turkeys for selling meat, the answer can be yes. After all, turkey meat can be found in almost every major store. The only negative is that with increased competition, product prices may begin to decline. In this case, the cost of maintaining the poultry will remain the same, and the profit will be noticeably lower.

Useful tips

Turkeys should be kept in spacious, bright, warm and dry poultry houses. Adult birds tolerate the cold well and can walk outside in winter if there is no wind and the temperature is not lower than -10 degrees. But dampness is harmful to these birds; turkeys get colds from damp bedding and may die.

Near the nest you need to place a feeder, a drinking bowl and a container with sand for “bathing”. A caring hen will not want to stray far from the eggs, so food and water should be in her field of vision. If the bird has stopped leaving the house, it is recommended to take it out of the barn for a walk at least once a day.

To obtain a fertilized egg from super-heavy crosses, they resort to artificial insemination.

Turkeys weighing 22–25 kg injure females, tearing their backs into blood. At home, in order to obtain large and fast-growing turkey poults, a light male is selected for females of heavy breeds. Before mating, its claws are filed so that they are not sharp, and females are sometimes given blankets made of thick fabric.

Turkeys produce large, tasty eggs, from which young animals can be obtained for further breeding for meat. In order for a bird to start laying eggs, you need to provide it with suitable conditions, arrange a nest and organize a nutritious, fortified diet.

Using an incubator

To get the maximum benefit from breeding, you need to strive to get as many offspring as possible, and this directly depends on the egg production of turkeys and on when turkeys start laying eggs at home. You can, of course, use a home incubator by purchasing the required number of fertilized turkey eggs from a farmer.

Before you start laying turkey eggs in the incubator, it is advisable to carry out ovoscopy in order to be sure to produce high-quality offspring. Eggs with even tiny cracks are not suitable for laying; bacteria can penetrate them and infect the rest of the eggs. An ovoscope will help detect the slightest deviations. After hatching, the turkey chicks must dry off before they can be removed from the incubator and placed in a box with a light bulb.

Gallery: turkey breeds (25 photos)

Determining the sex of a bird in the egg stage

Beginning poultry keepers are wondering: how to determine who will hatch from an egg - a turkey or a turkey? And poultry farmers with experience know the folk method: if the egg is round, there will be a turkey; if pointed - turkey. When using an incubator, you can independently regulate the number of females and males

This is especially important when raising poultry at home for slaughter, since males weigh much more than females

Tips for inexperienced poultry farmers

For those who are just starting to raise turkeys, here are some tips on how to handle turkey poults:

1. In the first five days, the temperature regime is very important - not lower than +33°C, in the next five days - not lower than +27°C, in the future - not lower than +23°C.
2. At the age of two days, on the third day, you need to do the following manipulation: set fire to the shells of the eggs from which the turkey chicks hatched, put them in a sieve and fumigate them with smoke. This will serve as good protection against parasites and will help strengthen the chicks’ immune system.
3. Drafts and sudden changes in temperature are unacceptable.
4. Small chicks cannot use the feeder due to the fragility of their beaks, so the food should be laid out on thick cloth or paper, which helps rid the food of excess moisture that is harmful to the turkeys.
5. The food is made like this: clover, burdock, nettle, silverweed, thyme - chop everything with a sharp knife, add wheat bran or barley flour, allow the juice from the grass to be absorbed, add yogurt and mix well.

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