April 5, 2023

First Turkey Egg

In Around the Homestead post, I mentioned that our turkeys hadn't started laying yet. Today, only a couple of days later, I'm excited to announce. . . 

Our very first turkey egg.

Our turkey hens are ten months old, so it's about time!

From the left: duck egg, chicken egg, and turkey egg.

The next day, we got our second. We have three turkey hens, so I'm assuming they'll all be laying soon. After we get a few more, we'll give them a try.

That's it for today. Such a small thing to be news I want to share. As I give this draft a last minute check as a preview, I stop at the word I chose to describe this event - exciting. I wonder how many people would see this word as an actual description? Or see it as simply filler for the sentence. I wonder, in a world now filled with non-stop controversial events, how many people see something as ordinary as a bird laying a first egg as exciting? Maybe it would be exciting if it was the world's first cloned egg. Certainly, there are few like myself, who aren't obsessed with a fascination for technology and its hoped for potential to change the evolution of our planet. I wonder, why that doesn't interest me? Why is my way of listening to the news more interesting to me than theirs? Then I shrug and decide I don't mind being left behind. 

Turkeys are seasonal layers and this is the season for nesting. So, of course we're wondering if any of our hens will go broody. Time will tell.

First Turkey Egg © April 2023 by Leigh

23 comments:

Rosalea said...

YES Leigh! It is exciting!...as is the first shoot poking up in my seed trays!

Leigh said...

Rosalea, you're my kind of people!

SmartAlex said...

I get EXCITED when my seeds come up. You put them in dirt, add water, and again the miracle happens! Right before your very eyes.

Leigh said...

Alex, miracle is exactly what it is!

Kaelin said...

I get excited every time I check on a tray of seedlings under the grow lights- what sprouted next? Or visit the sheep to see if lambs have dropped. Or check on the incubator, or look at the orchard’s developing blooms. Excitement abounds on the farm!

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

Well, I for one have never seen a Turkey Egg, so I am super excited. Looking forward to the after-cooking report.

Ed said...

It is definitely one of those eye of the beholder events. I know I was excited when we got our first bluebird egg. Now, it is a less celebrated event in our household.

I can't wait to see how the turkey eggs tastes. I've had a few different eggs over the years and they all taste a bit different, but I've never had a turkey egg. My favorite is still a quail egg and a duck egg is close behind, the fresh and unfertilized ones found here and not the thousand year old fertilized ones found in my wife's native country.

Boud said...

I'd certainly be excited! I find that life's very good when you don't need planets colliding in order to be excited. This is good news, in a world that needs it.

Mama Pea said...

My husband and I have been referred to as "dinosaurs" more than once for the lifestyle we've chosen to live. And ya know what? We don't mind in the least "being left behind." Seems like a better place to be to me.

P.S. My first look at a turkey egg, too. I'm surprised it's not bigger compared to the duck egg.

Leigh said...

Kaelin, so true! Always something interesting going on. It's a wonderful life, isn't it?

TB, many years ago I used to read a blog (which is no longer around) and the gal said her kids would fight over eating turkey eggs. They were their favorite! I figure if kids like them, they've got to be good. :)

Ed, when we lived far from here, we knew some folks who raised emus. The daughter did a 4-H presentation about them and how to hard boil them! We never got to try one though.

Boud, I agree!

Mama Pea, ha! Gotta love the dinosaur life. :)

I wondered about the size as well, and whether they'll get larger as more are laid. Like chickens sometimes do.

Michelle said...

It would certainly be exciting for me, just like new lambs last night! How many will you eat and how many will you hope to hatch?

Nina said...

I get excited when my new chooks start laying. But also get excited when seeds start to sprout, the crocuses start blooming, when I see the first signs of the daffodils, when it's time to trudge through the snow to tap the first maple trees, or finding a blue robin egg shell on the ground. I think finding joy and excitement in small things is probably better than only getting those feelings in big experiences. I find it lovely when small things have a way of making my day better.

Leigh said...

Michelle, more lambs last night? Congratulations!

I reckon it depends on whether any of them go broody. So far, none of them are showing that inclination, but then, their season has just started.

Nina, isn't it interesting that the people who appreciate such things choose to live with them in their lives. It's a blessing to find joy in such simple things.

WolfSong said...

Turkey eggs are exciting!
And really tasty!
Better than chicken eggs, imo. I only get a few a year to eat tho, since most go into the incubator.

Seeking Serenity said...

well I'll be, I have never seen one of those or even considered them!
Oh believe me, when the big solar flare happens and everyone loses their internet & power you are going to be golden.
I quit blogging but i'm still here sometimes.
just nothing good

Ann said...

I agree with all of the comments here. I love this "backward" life we live. We don't even own smart phones although I succumbed to having a cell phone when my kids were young just so the school could reach me if necessary. We get excited about the Welsummer chicken eggs having giant yolks compared to the others. I send photos of our seedlings to my Dad. I only wish I had more energy to do more. Age is catching up with me.

Leigh said...

Wolfsong, you must raise a lot of turkeys! It's interesting that so many people think turkey eggs are better than chicken eggs.

SS, I'm sorry you quit blogging! But I understand, and am glad you pop in to comment every now and then.

And yes, about preparedness! I'd probably miss the little bit of electricity we do use, but we'd adjust.

Ann, that's great! We don't have smart phones either. I tried them a couple of times but really had problems with them. And I hear you about age. We're slowing down here too. :)

PioneerPreppy said...

gratz I always wanted a turkey or four around but there was this one at the sale barn that was so nice.... Until he wasn't :) kinda made me think twice about it.

hope to see your baby turkey pictures soon!!!

Someday I will tell about my great Guinea experiment. Did you know three guineas will live together in perfect peaceful harmony for years until 1 female shows up.... I didn't I figured since they all got along so well they must all be hens... Boy was I wrong.

Leigh said...

PP, I would love to hear your Guinea story! I had Guinea fowl a number of years ago and loved them, except they wouldn't stay put and were constantly invading the neighbors' yards.

Our tom turkey is the one we're cautious about. He came here as an adult, and we've yet to figure him out. He loves to follow Dan around and seems to think he should be in on any conversation we have. He's quite intimidating when he's all puffed up and on display. For as friendly as he seems, neither of us will turn our back on him.

Anonymous said...

Super exciting heck better than a new phone!

When my children were little’s and I think Geoff was about in first or second grade, he’s gone to school since kindergarten with a little girl whose parents and grandparents owned a fruit vegetable egg stand way back in the day. And they sold turkey eggs I was so thrilled first of all you could kill somebody with them if you need a self-defense because the structure of their eggs is so much tighter than any chicken egg I’ve ever seen and I haven’t dealt with too many duck eggs, and they’re bigger. I’m sure that varies from variety to variety but where were they were getting those eggs you to make a whole omelette for a family of four out of it and to die for to use in baking absolutely I am so happy for you. Enjoy. !

Leigh said...

Goatldi, thank you! As soon as I get a couple more, we're going to try them! Thanks for the heads up about how hard they are (my Muscovy eggs are hard too.)

Quinn said...

Leigh, yesterday I visited friends I haven't seen in ages, and one of the first things they told me was that they had just found their very first turkey egg :)

Leigh said...

Quinn, how fun. We've been on pins and needles waiting for that first egg. Now, we're hoping at least one of the turkeys will go broody.