Hey everyone!
I'm trying to hatch shipped eggs at about 8,500'. I already know the odds are against me, but I'm giving it a try, and I thought I'd share the challenge here with all of you for some moral support as well as some helpful information and tips (I hope!).
Here is the back story: I acquired a Bourbon Red tom from a local guy who was getting rid of his flock. He had only this one turkey, and he wanted it to go to a home that wasn't just going to slaughter him. I took him in, and have since grown incredibly fond of him. He gets along with my flock of hens (had to get rid of the rooster due to noise issues), but I know he wants some turkey companionship. He likes to have the chickens for company, but I think he tires of them. Whenever I let them out of the run to free range the turkey just follows me around, displaying and spitting and drumming. He wants so desperately to impress somebody, and so I want to get him a hen or two.
I live in a very small town in the mountains of Colorado, and my options are very limited in finding poults even semi-locally. I have had the feelers out for a while now, but have come up with nothing. I could get turkeys shipped to me, but I only want a couple/few hens. I don't have the room to raise a bunch of them, and it's hard to meet the minimum order. I found one hatchery (maybe Cackle?) that does small orders, and I could get some from them in July, but I was hoping to get more of a jump on things.
So here I am. I have hatched eggs in the past, but with very low hatch rates. I have learned a lot through the years, and this will be my fifth hatch. I've hatched chickens and quail in the incubator, but his is my first go at turkeys. I have made a lot of upgrades and changes, and I'm hoping if everything comes together I can accomplish my goal of getting a couple of hens for my lonely tom.
The new incubator is stabilizing. I have 3 thermometers and 2 hygrometers monitoring things. I ordered 2 batches of eggs. The first is 6 eggs from Florida. They arrived today. The packaging was really awesome, the package was labeled very clearly, I really couldn't have asked for better. All 6 eggs showed up in good shape. I candled them when they arrived, but due to the bright room I couldn't see much. I currently have them settling down in the incubation room, and will look at them again before they go in the incubator to see if I can glean any intelligence as to the state of the air sacks and anything else internal. I plan on getting them in the incubator tonight.
My new incubator is a Manna Pro Harris Farms Nurture Right Incubator. In the past I've always used a Styrofoam incubator. I've done it both without air circulation and with, and as I mentioned, I've never done great for hatch rates. I'm hoping the increased automation on the new incubator may help out. I've got it in a room that gets very little sunlight, and I have a space heater going to stabilize the room temperature in the mid-70's (most of my house is usually in the low 60's). I'm planning on trying to keep the temperature about 100* and the humidity about 40%. I like the idea of a dry hatch, but I am unsure about that at this altitude. Especially because these eggs came from Florida. I know, I know.... I already said I knew the odds were against me!
I'm trying to hatch shipped eggs at about 8,500'. I already know the odds are against me, but I'm giving it a try, and I thought I'd share the challenge here with all of you for some moral support as well as some helpful information and tips (I hope!).
Here is the back story: I acquired a Bourbon Red tom from a local guy who was getting rid of his flock. He had only this one turkey, and he wanted it to go to a home that wasn't just going to slaughter him. I took him in, and have since grown incredibly fond of him. He gets along with my flock of hens (had to get rid of the rooster due to noise issues), but I know he wants some turkey companionship. He likes to have the chickens for company, but I think he tires of them. Whenever I let them out of the run to free range the turkey just follows me around, displaying and spitting and drumming. He wants so desperately to impress somebody, and so I want to get him a hen or two.
I live in a very small town in the mountains of Colorado, and my options are very limited in finding poults even semi-locally. I have had the feelers out for a while now, but have come up with nothing. I could get turkeys shipped to me, but I only want a couple/few hens. I don't have the room to raise a bunch of them, and it's hard to meet the minimum order. I found one hatchery (maybe Cackle?) that does small orders, and I could get some from them in July, but I was hoping to get more of a jump on things.
So here I am. I have hatched eggs in the past, but with very low hatch rates. I have learned a lot through the years, and this will be my fifth hatch. I've hatched chickens and quail in the incubator, but his is my first go at turkeys. I have made a lot of upgrades and changes, and I'm hoping if everything comes together I can accomplish my goal of getting a couple of hens for my lonely tom.
The new incubator is stabilizing. I have 3 thermometers and 2 hygrometers monitoring things. I ordered 2 batches of eggs. The first is 6 eggs from Florida. They arrived today. The packaging was really awesome, the package was labeled very clearly, I really couldn't have asked for better. All 6 eggs showed up in good shape. I candled them when they arrived, but due to the bright room I couldn't see much. I currently have them settling down in the incubation room, and will look at them again before they go in the incubator to see if I can glean any intelligence as to the state of the air sacks and anything else internal. I plan on getting them in the incubator tonight.
My new incubator is a Manna Pro Harris Farms Nurture Right Incubator. In the past I've always used a Styrofoam incubator. I've done it both without air circulation and with, and as I mentioned, I've never done great for hatch rates. I'm hoping the increased automation on the new incubator may help out. I've got it in a room that gets very little sunlight, and I have a space heater going to stabilize the room temperature in the mid-70's (most of my house is usually in the low 60's). I'm planning on trying to keep the temperature about 100* and the humidity about 40%. I like the idea of a dry hatch, but I am unsure about that at this altitude. Especially because these eggs came from Florida. I know, I know.... I already said I knew the odds were against me!
