Incubating eggs to hatch about August 8th

[chickengeorgeto]

About our August hatch,,,

I know this sounds really silly and improbable, BUT my older turkey hen, Spring of 2013 hatch, has disappeared. We were gone for about 5 hours today, when we came home for beer and chicken time, (this is were we drink a bottle of beer, feed the chickens treats and enjoy them, Ethel, my turkey hen did not show.

This is odd, Ethel is usually one of the first ones there. She chases the chickens away from the best pile of seeds and keep them for herself. Today she was a no show, It appears all my other birds were there. ( I have 10 turkeys and about 85 chickens we feed treats too so it is hard to tell. BUT Ethel was not there.

She is a blue slate that has attempted to sit on eggs 2-3 times this summer, but fails to sit well or long. I did notice her chest was nearly bare yesterday but assumed it was just fall molt. My wife walked the homestead and could not find her, I walked it after her and found no sign of her and no sign of fowl play, feathers blood etc.


Do you think it is possible for her to go broody and half a clutch of eggs somewhere? We did see her and JJ mate about 3 weeks ago but have not found an egg since then. We assumed it was just JJ being bad.

I am open to ideas? How can a turkey hatch eggs in Sept?

I don't know very much about turkeys, but I do know that if a turkey hen mates just once she is still able to lay a whole clutch of fertile eggs. So yes it is possible that she is sitting. Reconnoiter the homestead one more time and pay especial attention to things like brush piles, fallen trees, or anything the hen can use to reduce or hide her silhouette and thus make it hard for a predator to stumble upon her, or slip up from behind. At least places like that is where I have found turkey nests in the past.

 

[TeaChick]

@Teachick

It is so hard to see! (Not because of your pictures, the photos were great)

It did look like most of the blood is out.

I would probably keep repeating "it is probably going to die anyway, since it is so late" and then try to take off a little more shell, all around the edge of the air cell, trying to find the beak.

Thanks, Alaskan. =) You're a good friend.
That's what I did. The chick was inverted. I guessed where the beak was and started picking away shell (being careful not to breach the inner membrane until I found the beak). It was such slow going that I eventually figured I must be looking for a black beak in all that wet black fluff on a black head with a black eye...and I stopped b/c I thought I should have gotten to the beak by then. I didn't "take a step back" (hold the egg away from my face to look at the whole thing really well) before I judged whether I should have gotten to the beak by then or not..... Sorry, I'm rambling incoherently now.
I didn't take a good look at the egg before I put it back in the bator last night. When I saw how little of the shell I had taken off, I picked a bit more shell off and there was the beak; I was less than half an inch away from it. But I think the chick died in my hand before I stopped anyway; it was already having a hard time keeping warm w/o the top of its shell.
I kept telling myself that I was giving it the only chance at life that it had anyway, so it didn't matter if what I did ended up costing its life b/c it wasn't going to have one if I didn't do anything....
Sorry. I'm just upset b/c I was half an inch away from its beak but it was probably already dead. I didn't get any chicks out of this hatch; I tossed the other two eggs that were left this morning. I candled when I got home from grocery shopping and they still looked like they had at day 14.

I'm very happy for everyone else who got chicks!!!!!

 

[duluthralphie]

I'm just upset b/c I was half an inch away from its beak but it was probably already dead. I didn't get any chicks out of this hatch; I tossed the other two eggs that were left this morning. I candled when I got home from grocery shopping and they still looked like they had at day 14.

I'm very happy for everyone else who got chicks!!!!!

Bumme, I feel for you, having just had my first hatch of the year, I know how you feel.

I wish I had just sold my first 82 eggs I tried and bought beer.

 

[TeaChick]

Bumme, I feel for you, having just had my first hatch of the year, I know how you feel.

I wish I had just sold my first 82 eggs I tried and bought beer.

Yeah, something like that.

 

[Alaskan]

 

Bumme, I feel for you, having just had my first hatch of the year, I know how you feel.

I wish I had just sold my first 82 eggs I tried and bought beer.

Yeah, something like that.

Poor Teachick! I find stuff like that makes me heart sick.

But truly, even if you had done everything right, it had a high chance of not making it anyway. Remember my leghorn hatch? I think four hatched, that died AFTER hatching and drying off. They just never pepped up all of the way. It was odd, and heart breaking. And also

So again, keep reminding yourself that it probably wouldn't have made it anyway, and a giant

 

[Puddin Fluff]

@ Teachick, so sorry.

Back to the earlier discussion on hatch rate. I figured an overall of 45%. Phoenix @ 75% and Spanish @ 17%, others in between.

 

[Alaskan]

@ Teachick, so sorry.

Back to the earlier discussion on hatch rate. I figured an overall of 45%. Phoenix @ 75% and Spanish @ 17%, others in between.

What breed are the striped ones??


So cute!

 

[duluthralphie]

@ Teachick, so sorry.

Back to the earlier discussion on hatch rate. I figured an overall of 45%. Phoenix @ 75% and Spanish @ 17%, others in between.

Let me do some chicken math on this...

45%
75%
17%
Totals.......157%


Wow you blew my 130% out of the water!

 

[Puddin Fluff]

What breed are the striped ones??


So cute!

The striped are phoenix, yellow with spotted heads buttercups, black are cochin or a spanish. If you look close there is a second duckling now.

Let me do some chicken math on this...

45%
75%
17%
Totals.......157%


Wow you blew my 130% out of the water!

I had two other breeds at 25% and 70%. Add that to your chicken math.

 

[calichicken]

Hi All!
Sorry I have been MIA and have missed a lot

back to working getting the classroom ready for kiddos on Tuesday

I did not have any more of my eggs hatched...so sad! There were only 3 more that I felt had a chance but didn't happen!

In the meantime been trying to deal with my sad broody that lost her only baby

Got her day old chicks to sneak under her at night...made sure it was dark, they didn't even peep when I placed them under her(chicks were on board with the"lay low...we are sneaking" in directions I Gave) but no luck! My girl was on high alter for the little intruders

YIKES!!!! So now I have 3 babies in the brooder(had for but didn't make it...pasty butt issues and think digestive wasn't working right...sigh) and my girl has finally returned to getting out and about

She peeks in on the babies and is tolerant of their presence...have to work on making friends later...LOL

Sooooo not the experience I was expecting

Lots of tears