We have one hen who has begun laying one egg a day. My whole flock is still pretty young. One turkey has grown up right alongside of them. Sidenote: the chicken that I was suspicious was a rooster, did, in fact, turn out to be a rooster! Anyway, the one hen laid her egg yesterday. I actually caught it on video, pretty cool. She looked at it, cleaned her feathers a bit, sipped on some water, and proceeded to exit the coop back into the pen with the others. She stood at the door for a few seconds. Turkey stared at her with her tall neck extended. She was making her curious turkey noises.
I had seen her do this to any number of things, but mostly to something she wanted to eat. Lately, if I am holding a chicken, Turkey will come up and do those noises at the chicken in my arms as if I have brought it as her meal. Strange. She had been acting weird like that, doing her curious noises.
One time, I thought she was checking on the chicken, being protective and making sure the chicken was okay. So, I leaned down to show her the chicken was fine, and then she pecked it hard enough to make it bleed! This has had us irritated at Turkey.
So, when I saw Turkey staring at Sapphire, the hen who had just laid an egg, as she stood in the door of the coop, I was curious and concerned what was happening. Sapphire slid down her ramp and Turkey got her good! I grabbed Turkey out of the pen and separated her until this morning. We have been irritated and considering how good she would look in the oven! I couldn’t understand why this gentle, curious creature was turning mean.
Early this morning, I had done a little reading about turkeys becoming aggressive. She could be hungry, hormonal, resetting the pecking order, etc.
I was thinking maybe she wasn’t getting enough food because just recently, I had seen Jack the little rooster start getting onto Turkey for eating so much. He is such a good little rooster. I thought he was being thoughtful to make sure all the chickens get enough because Turkey does eat almost constantly! They need more food than chickens and extra protein. What was so surprising is that Turkey listened to him! Jack would just cock his neck at her, and she would look away slowly like a guilty dog, even though she is easily four times his size. Well, after having her food limited, my thinking is that she could possibly not be getting enough food. She could also be coming of age and the hormones getting to her like a teenager—especially with the one hen laying now. Pheromones in the air, you know.
It all began to make sense late this morning as I started to put things together. I kept thinking, I might want to check her laying spot and make sure she is not laying eggs down there with her acting hormonal. So, I looked under the coop where I keep a little extra hay for scattering the pen. That is where she decided to be during her separation from the pen. What did I find in her nest?
A BASEBALL!
She had been sitting on the baseball, making it all snug and safe. I do believe this gal is getting broody! I hear that a broody bird will lay on anyone’s eggs including objects that look like eggs! She is trying to hatch this baseball, apparently. And that makes perfect sense why she waited on Sapphire to exit the coop after laying an egg and attack her. She wanted the egg to add to her clutch, maybe!
Ezekiel is the one of my kids who is most interested in farming. We had already cooked the latest fresh eggs. But Ezekiel and I decided we could sacrifice two store-bought eggs and the next fresh egg to add to Turkey’s clutch and see what she does. He grabbed two eggs from the fridge and snuck off to the nest when she wasn’t looking and added them to her baseball. She laid on them for a while. The chickens are all staring through the fence at her and being very curious.
The kids ask me if the store eggs can really hatch. I have heard stories. I am doubtful, but I told them it is possible. Really, Ezekiel and I just wanted to experiment and learn about the turkey’s behavior. We will see what happens. Always learning, always observing, and always adventuring!



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