A couple weeks ago my neighbor called early in the morning. He was clipping a pasture and had partially run over a turkey nest. :( The hen flew off at the last minute and that's the only reason he stopped the tractor and saw the nest. Thankfully many of the eggs were still intact. Knowing the hen would not come back to her destroyed nest, he asked me if I wanted to try and incubate them. Of course I took on the task and have had the eggs in the incubator for two weeks now.

I had no idea how long the hen had been setting the eggs so I didn't know how long they had to go before hatching. I candled them but turkey eggs are more difficult than chicken eggs to see through and I couldn't get any real idea as to how far along they were. This morning in a half sleep state I heard loud peeping. I instantly sat up and ran into the laundry room. There in the incubator were two chicks flopping around and carrying on. I don't think I really expected any to hatch so I was very excited.

As of right now I have four that have hatched and three more in the process of pecking out of their shells. My fingers are crossed for as many to make it as possible. I'm hoping to raise them up and turn them loose outside once they've matured. What they do from there will be interesting. (I've read they're likely to hang around where they were hatched and raised. I don't really want a group of wild turkeys as my yard pets. :shock: But I think they're likely to wander off with the other wild turkeys around us here.)

How cute! Congrats your a mom! What a great thing you have done.

Very cool Rachel! I hope your kids are enjoying watching them. :thumbup:

Looks like fun to me! So cute! How many eggs all together did you have?

The kids are excited beyond belief! My oldest has asked about the eggs about 20 times a day since we got them. He has his stool next to the counter and has peaked in on them steadily. :) He's so curious about all aspects of life. Last year I hatched out a batch of chickens and he remembers that, but it's amazing what a difference a year can make on his learning and grasp of information. I guess the same could be said for me. :D

How exciting - little ones for Easter. What a great experience for the children.

so sweet.

So sweet. They're so tiny and fragile. Best of luck in raising them. Please keep us posted.

We are incubating eggs at our preschool and the kids can hardly wait, The turkeys are great. the one we had last year was so noisy, Peep Peeep Peeeeeeep. Louder and louder. He hatched with 6 ducks so he thought he was a duck. Was very sad when they were in the water. Have fun.

Rachel, that sounds like such fun!!! You just made my day.........life is beautiful in so many ways!!!!!!!!!!
Let us know what you name your "pet turkeys" when they get bigger lol :D:D