Hatching and raising Heritage turkeys can be great fun for kids of all ages. If you have a little land and live in an area where they allow poultry, you can hatch and raise turkeys!
Heritage turkeys are unlike broad-breasted turkeys, in that they do not get as big and are not really meant for eating, so much as egg production and pets! Broad-breasted turkeys are meant to grow extremely fast and get too heavy to keep for a long time so unless you are thinking about Thanksgiving dinner, you want to stay with the Heritage breeds.
All you need is an incubator, and 28 days and you will have some beautiful poults! Once hatched, they will need to go into a brooder box with a heat lamp or heat plate, so that they stay warm. They need additional heat until they are completely feathered out. Turkeys can be very friendly, especially when you spend a lot of time with them. They will eat treats right out of your hand. They get broody when adults, and like to sit on a nest of their eggs, (or any other eggs they can find, chicken, duck, or goose!) They are a real treat to have around the homestead.
