This is the second season I have hatched out Narragansett turkeys. In two years, I have yet to have a single poult that could hatch on its own. I use the same cabinet incubator for both chickens and turkeys with a temp setting of 100.4 and humidity 60-70%. Chickens have never had a problem hatching themselves, but poults pip and die if I don't break the membrane (which is like leather) and extract the head. Once I get this far, they manage the rest of the way. But both last year and this one I have lost the first few poults because they crack the shell and then die before they get any further.
Even the ones that live just seem to be much weaker than any chicks I have hatched out over the years. Does this sound typical for turkeys?
Even the ones that live just seem to be much weaker than any chicks I have hatched out over the years. Does this sound typical for turkeys?