Narragansett Turkey Eggs

I was so excited when I figured out that my turkey hen was laying eggs! Unfortunately I didn’t figure it out at first and thought that one of my young chicken pullets had started to lay a somewhat odd looking egg. They were the same size as most of my chicken eggs, but a bit pointy and speckled. So the first 3 or 4 eggs were washed and popped into cartons in the fridge along with the rest of the eggs.

Then, one day while I was in the coop, I noticed one of the turkey hens acting like she was about to lay an egg. Awhile later I found the pointy, speckled specimen in that spot. Woo hoo! Turkey eggs! I searched for images online to see what turkey eggs look like (can’t believe I didn’t do that sooner) and yep, these are turkey eggs.

I bought a breeding trio of Narragansett turkeys about 6 weeks ago from a gentleman on Craigslist. Patiently, I waited for signs that they were breeding so I could save the eggs for the incubator. A little over a week ago one of the hens suffered a prolapsed vent. It was pretty bad and I processed her for dinner. The meat was delicious and my excitement over raising some heritage turkey poults went up 3 or 4 notches!

Now I’m saving all the turkey eggs to put in my incubator. I’ve got seven ready now and I hope that they are fertile and didn’t get chilled too much in our coop. The incubator will be turned on today and when the temperature is stable, all the eggs will go in. My plan is to continue saving them and incubating as many turkey eggs as I collect. Hopefully we’ll have lots of baby turkeys this year!

Incidentally, we tried the washed eggs and compared to chicken eggs. None of us could taste a difference. But I doubt that any more of the turkey eggs will go in our frying pan! I’d much rather have a turkey dinner. 🙂

Do you have heritage turkeys? Have you ever incubated their eggs? Do you have any hints or tips for a turkey hatching newbie?