Turkeys

We have had a lot of turkey eggs which have hatched this year, but the baby birds are very hard to keep alive. The turkeys are very good at laying eggs, however, so we have put turkey eggs under the chicken hens who have gone broody. A few weeks ago 3 eggs we put under a setting hen (chicken) hatched. About a week later 6 more hatched that were under another setting hen. Shortly after that the turkey actually hatched 7 of her own. We checked on them daily and counted to be sure they were all there. At the end of the week, all were present and accounted for. The momma turkey lost a couple of hers. She took them out to the field and didn't bring them in at night, just hid them under the sagebrush and weeds. I was concerned about that, but last time I interfered and made her bring them back to the barn they all died. So we let her do what nature told her she should do. We thought it would be interesting to compare the personalities of the birds that were raised by chickens to those raised by the turkey. Some time yesterday or the night before a predator (probably coyote) came and took away the momma turkey leaving only a couple large piles of feathers. We searched and found 3 babies. We rescued those and took a chance that the momma chickens would adopt them. They didn't pick on them and let them join their flock. They didn't understand "henspeak" so they didn't follow the hens out of the chicken house the next morning. Finally they decided the other baby turkeys must be the same as them and came out to partake of the leaves, bugs and grasshoppers. We were happy as it looked like they would be able to survive. This evening Evelyne found another one out in the field and brought it in. It has some good lungs. All of its squawking brought over the Tom and the other hen turkey. I have been taking all her eggs from her because she made her nest in the bottom of the creek bed, not very far from the path the predators have worn in the same area and I knew she would be dinner if she decided to incubate the eggs there. The hen started calling to the babies and they understood that language. She and the Tom led 3 little ones away with them. We can only assume they are 3 of the 4 we brought in from the field. She wanted to lead them over to the creek bed but we intercepted them. She is staying in the garden now which has fencing on 3 sides so we are hoping it will be a safe place for her and them. Keep your fingers crossed and your thoughts positive!