Thinking of calling it quits.

[retlaw]

My incubation abilities suck.

I' am having such back luck with my eggs that I thinking of calling it quits after this year.
First batch this year I have one bird survive out of 27 eggs.
Three more hatched with it but died a day or two after.

Second batch of 35 eggs I had five hatch.
Yesterday when the bedding was being changed my dog grabbed one out of the box we were holding them in and ran off with it.
I caught him and pried the poult out of his mouth.
I got four tooth punctures in my thumb and the poult died a little later.
Looks like some internal injuries on the neck.

This morning when I woke there was another one dead. I figured that one was going to, didn't look to healthy.
So three from 35.

That's right, I got 4 poults from 62 eggs.

I got 45 eggs still in the incubator so with my luck that's three more poults.

Its not worth my time and energy and the let down.
I even bought a special incubator thermometer this year.
Doesn't make a difference.

Its just so depressing.
I feeling like culling the whole flock.

 

[R2elk]

My incubation abilities suck.

I' am having such back luck with my eggs that I thinking of calling it quits after this year.
First batch this year I have one bird survive out of 27 eggs.
Three more hatched with it but died a day or two after.

Second batch of 35 eggs I had five hatch.
Yesterday when the bedding was being changed my dog grabbed one out of the box we were holding them in and ran off with it.
I caught him and pried the poult out of his mouth.
I got four tooth punctures in my thumb and the poult died a little later.
Looks like some internal injuries on the neck.

This morning when I woke there was another one dead. I figured that one was going to, didn't look to healthy.
So three from 35.

That's right, I got 4 poults from 62 eggs.

I got 45 eggs still in the incubator so with my luck that's three more poults.

Its not worth my time and energy and the let down.
I even bought a special incubator thermometer this year.
Doesn't make a difference.

Its just so depressing.
I feeling like culling the whole flock.

Sorry that you are having such poor luck.

There is far too much information lacking to give any kind of advice.

1. What is your elevation?
2. Are the majority of your eggs clear or are they quitting around lockdown?
3. What humidity are you incubating at and what humidity are you at for lockdown?
4. What kind of incubator are you using? Auto turner? Still air or forced air?
5. What is the status of your air vents during lockdown?
6. What is the procedure that you use for storing eggs prior to incubation?

I highly recommend that you spend a lot of time in the Incubating & Hatching Forum. Much of their information applies as much to hatching turkeys as it does to hatching chickens with just the incubation time being different.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/5/incubating-hatching-eggs

 

[feedman77]

My incubation abilities suck.

I' am having such back luck with my eggs that I thinking of calling it quits after this year.
First batch this year I have one bird survive out of 27 eggs.
Three more hatched with it but died a day or two after.

Second batch of 35 eggs I had five hatch.
Yesterday when the bedding was being changed my dog grabbed one out of the box we were holding them in and ran off with it.
I caught him and pried the poult out of his mouth.
I got four tooth punctures in my thumb and the poult died a little later.
Looks like some internal injuries on the neck.

This morning when I woke there was another one dead. I figured that one was going to, didn't look to healthy.
So three from 35.

That's right, I got 4 poults from 62 eggs.

I got 45 eggs still in the incubator so with my luck that's three more poults.

Its not worth my time and energy and the let down.
I even bought a special incubator thermometer this year.
Doesn't make a difference.

Its just so depressing.
I feeling like culling the whole flock.

Don't feel like your in that boat alone.

I have set over 100 eggs this year In incubators. Have hatched 33 poults. Out of those had to cull a few and several died on their own. I have 20 left.

Decided to let hens hatch some. Storm blew my pens over while I was working. Got pens fixed decide to leave birds out for night and get them in next morning my mistake.

Lost 4 hens that night due to coyotes all the poults they had with them. Lost another hen the next night due to an owl.

Both toms I bought to have some pure breed varieties died one got killed in a fight. The other was dead below roost in pen.

Most of the eggs I set showed good movement on day 20. And lockdown by day 28 most were dead in the shell.

I over did it with hens this spring for some expected losses. But what I have had so far about made me wanna do the same.

But I like my turks so I decided to give incubating one more try. Have 35 eggs cooking set last round last night.

Don't give up the ship just yet.

 

[co2002guardian]

I didn't have any luck incubating eggs, but I had a hen that would sit on them faithfully...she hatched three nest fulls. My hen was stolen in the middle of the night, but I have a duck that is feeling lucky

 

[Hardemans]

This is a very encouraging thread.....NOT!!!

freedman77 - i like your spunk. Never give up....

 

[waddles99]

Incubators are hard. No doubt about it. I never have used one and never will. I get my laying hens as chicks. Maybe you should get your turkeys as chicks or poults instead of raising them from eggs.

 

[feedman77]

Incubators are hard. No doubt about it. I never have used one and never will. I get my laying hens as chicks. Maybe you should get your turkeys as chicks or poults instead of raising them from eggs. 

If hatcherys would sex them I might consider that option.

By they are sold straight run.

This spring for heritage turkeys was almost 15 dollars a poult from a hatchery.

Craigslist in my area prices ranged from 8 - 12 dollars a poult if you could find the variety you wanted.

Eggs to buy for hatching were avg. Price 5 dollars an egg.

There a few on this site that love to incubate.

Whether its a good hobby for us. A stress reliever. Or just know where our birds came from and to have a total hand in raising the bird from egg to wherever it ends up. Pet, sale, or table.

There are lots of reasons some try incubate.

Personally its stress reliever for me even though it can be totally frustrating. But when the eggs hatch I can say I helped bring that fuzzy butt into the world. Just some personal satisfaction for me.

 

[Cody Walker]

i have been having a lot of trouble as well. but im thinking that the majority of my problems are mechanical error. set 74 eggs have 12 living still. set 20 more, then 3 days later set 7 or 8 more, thermometer was bad. didnt realize it until day 7 on the first batch. only 2 or 3 forming. all but one forming from second batch.
However, had a hen setting. she hatched all but one of her eggs yesterday. have another hen setting now, since im not doing well with the incubators im going to put all eggs that are forming in the incubators under the hen and as they hatch will be taking them from her until she hatches the latest batch. then i will let her raise those.

 

[R2elk]

Quote:
If you are set on heritage turkeys you are correct that they only sell them straight run. However there is a place that sells day old poults sexed but all they carry are Broad Breasted and what they call Medium Breasted and the prices are really good in my opinion.

Click on the Download PDF link and their price list is on the second page of the PDF.

http://www.valleyofthemoonpoults.com/products/4

 

[feedman77]

i have been having a lot of trouble as well. but im thinking that the majority of my problems are mechanical error. set 74 eggs have 12 living still. set 20 more, then 3 days later set 7 or 8 more, thermometer was bad. didnt realize it until day 7 on the first batch. only 2 or 3 forming. all but one forming from second batch.
However, had a hen setting. she hatched all but one of her eggs yesterday. have another hen setting now, since im not doing well with the incubators im going to put all eggs that are forming in the incubators under the hen and as they hatch will be taking them from her until she hatches the latest batch. then i will let her raise those. 

Hope all wo rks out for you.

I'm trying this time to have one batch 15 eggs on a turner. And another batch 20 eggs I'm gonna turn by hand. They are in different bators but I'm gonna see if one hatches better than the other.