A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[R2elk]

Morning, everyone. I have a question (surprise!)

My eggs arrived yesterday, very well packaged and 4-5 days from when they were actually laid. I set them aside to let the eggs "settle" from shipping.

My question is - when I candled prior to leaving them sit - I could not see any air cells. Is this normal? Yes, I have looked it up and MOST of what I find is how to work around with air cell issues that you can see (saddle, sideways, bubbles). Very little useful information on air cells otherwise. (even one article about how air cells can determine sex of chick!)

I only found 1 article that stated the absence of a visible air cell is that if the eggs are really fresh, the air cell may be extremely small. I do understand that the contents of the egg "dehydrate" and air then comes through the pores of the shell to create the air cell.

Am I worried over nothing at this point? I can go ahead and place them in the incubator after my 18-24 "settlement wait"?



Edited to add: I am assuming they were Not gathered just prior to shipping as the guy told my sister he had a few eggs just prior to her ordering them.

Really fresh eggs are difficult to see the air cells especially if the air cells are not detached. It is a good thing if you are not noticing the air cells rolling around.

I allow shipped hatching eggs to rest while they are warming up. If they are already good and warm, I put them directly in the incubator. Once they are in the incubator, I turn on the turner and let things run their course until it is time for lockdown.

I stopped candling shipped hatching eggs when they are received. Candling them at that time will not change anything for the positive but can be detrimental depending on how much they are turned and wiggled around trying to see what is going on in the egg.

I have done the wait game and all the other recommended methods for dealing with shipped hatching eggs and have not found any of the advised methods to do any better than just warming up the eggs and getting them into the incubator. I have not found any improvement by not turning the eggs for a period of time but have seen the studies which prove that the most important time for the eggs to be turned is the earliest stages of incubation.

 

[R2elk]

Sorry, I am very "needy" today! lol

Square footage question.

I am revamping my run area by adding approx 7-foot high hardware cloth fencing. Yet to be determined is what I will use for a "roof cover", and I plan on adding electric fencing top and bottom.

The run area will be approximately 50' by 40' and include my "chicken shed" which is approx 20' x 20'.

My current plans are to have approx 30 chickens of various breeds and approx 15 turkeys including hopefully a trio of midget whites.

Plus, they have a fenced area of approximately an acre to free range on.

This should be more than a sufficient amount of room for the flock?

I am trying to get this as right as I can and figure whatever I do will probably outlast me.

That should be fine. Mine have a 50'x100' run in addition to the coop. They also have an approximate 2 acre fenced area consisting of diverse grasses and trees along with a goldfish pond they get to free range in daily.

 

[Bantambird]

I just finished adding deer net fencing over the top of my run because it's time to separate the pullets so they can be taught where to lay and start getting layer mash along with the hens. Deer fence is 7 feet tall and pretty thick plastic, won't keep out climbers like coons or weasel or mink, but will keep girls in, and owls and Hawks and eagles out. Only really have coons, skunks, and neighborhood dogs here anyways, my weird location keeps most ground predators away due to being in between the interstates. Noisy and curiously private at the same time.

 

[memphis]

Flashpoint....your not needy, good questions! Mine have a 16x16 combo coop and run. The back one fourth has boards on two sides and the back. That's were their roosts are. It's for a wind block during the winter, or tornado! Its completely covered with a corrugated roof. But they free range all day and are only in there at night, or to lay an egg, or if I need to confine them for some reason. I have to lick up Daisy when I mow or am hosting an event involving food. They will steal food off people's plates.

 

[memphis]

I also hang box fans around the coop/run thing during the summer.

 

[R2elk]

I just finished adding deer net fencing over the top of my run because it's time to separate the pullets so they can be taught where to lay and start getting layer mash along with the hens. Deer fence is 7 feet tall and pretty thick plastic, won't keep out climbers like coons or weasel or mink, but will keep girls in, and owls and Hawks and eagles out. Only really have coons, skunks, and neighborhood dogs here anyways, my weird location keeps most ground predators away due to being in between the interstates. Noisy and curiously private at the same time.

You must have a much heavier version of deer fence available than what I can find here. I use the stuff to keep songbirds away from fruit I want to be able to harvest. I have seen a bunny go right through it as well as a turkey hen. The stuff that I have access to tears very easily. The only deterrent it would be to an owl is if the owl got entangled in it. It did work well as a snake trap. A bull snake crawled up into a twisted up section until it got stuck and could not go forward or back out.

 

[Bantambird]

You must have a much heavier version of deer fence available that what I can find here. I use the stuff to keep songbirds away from fruit I want to be able to harvest. I have seen a bunny go right through it as well as a turkey hen. The stuff that I have access to tears very easily. The only deterrent it would be to an owl is if the owl got entangled in it. It did work well as a snake trap. A bull snake crawled up into a twisted up section until it got stuck and could not go forward or back out.

Indeed, it was like construction fence only not construction orange.

 

[Flashpoint]

Really fresh eggs are difficult to see the air cells especially if the air cells are not detached. It is a good thing if you are not noticing the air cells rolling around.

I allow shipped hatching eggs to rest while they are warming up. If they are already good and warm, I put them directly in the incubator. Once they are in the incubator, I turn on the turner and let things run their course until it is time for lockdown.

I stopped candling shipped hatching eggs when they are received. Candling them at that time will not change anything for the positive but can be detrimental depending on how much they are turned and wiggled around trying to see what is going on in the egg.

I have done the wait game and all the other recommended methods for dealing with shipped hatching eggs and have not found any of the advised methods to do any better than just warming up the eggs and getting them into the incubator. I have not found any improvement by not turning the eggs for a period of time but have seen the studies which prove that the most important time for the eggs to be turned is the earliest stages of incubation.

Thank you, R2elk!

I think they have had sufficient time now to settle and certainly to warm up. Outside temp today is currently 85 plus and the room the eggs are in is probably about 79 (was cooler this morning on the East Coast). Since my "special" incubator has not yet arrived (by Thursday), I am going to just lay them on their sides in the still air incubator and take the time to turn them. The new one has an egg turner, but not sure if I will use it yet (comments welcomed!)

Part of the confusion for me is that I have never pre-candled eggs before incubation and had mostly Never candled eggs during the incubation period. Ever. Partly old school and maybe a tad bit of ignorance for that. lol. Still, I have had great hatches for the most part. Of course, most of those eggs were my own or very local - not shipped from PA, NC, or ME like I have done more recently.

When I did candle these yesterday evening, I only picked up each one once, used the candler, detected nothing outstanding, did so gently and put them back in the egg crate.

Your comments and advice are greatly appreciated!

 

[Flashpoint]

That should be fine. Mine have a 50'x100' run in addition to the coop. They also have an approximate 2 acre fenced area consisting of diverse grasses and trees along with a goldfish pond they get to free range in daily.

I think I have about an acre and a half total. I do not kill weeds other than by mowing when it gets close to a foot high (and this year with all the rain, it does not take long to have "hay fields"). Nor do I weed-whack the fence lines except where necessary (like needed to get out of the driveway).

Besides, the birds eat so much of it while foraging and I like the "free food" for them. I also have a 30 x 50 garden area fenced off, but they are allowed in there at appropriate times. My pond is a 15 x 15 x 5 foot deep goldfish pond, but it is and has been self-sustaining since 2000. I do not feed the fish, I clean it out periodically (esp in the fall), and have tons of American toads, tree frogs, and bullfrogs. One year, I even had freshwater jellyfish that were at max about an inch long. That was NICE! (and weird) It has "corners" where water iris and other plants grow - but I have seen the chickens out in the middle of it sitting on the lilypads. Yes, chickens can swim.

Btw, my run is parallel to a small woods area, part of which is mine - so there is ample shade from oak (acorns) and hickory (nuts), plus I have planted lilacs, yucca, and other plants. There is a smallish (10') mimosa and a mulberry tree on the inside run/yard fence line. There is also a separate old (my original) chicken house made out of wood and fenced with dog kennel panels and covered with a mix of chicken netting and hardware cloth. The roof of that one is hardware cloth totally covered in fox grapes. Completely shaded inside now. The area is approx 12 x 20 I guess.

 

[Flashpoint]

I just finished adding deer net fencing over the top of my run because it's time to separate the pullets so they can be taught where to lay and start getting layer mash along with the hens. Deer fence is 7 feet tall and pretty thick plastic, won't keep out climbers like coons or weasel or mink, but will keep girls in, and owls and Hawks and eagles out. Only really have coons, skunks, and neighborhood dogs here anyways, my weird location keeps most ground predators away due to being in between the interstates. Noisy and curiously private at the same time.

That's why I haven't decided on what my roof cover will be. Parts of my original run are covered in 1-inch chicken netting. I have been trying to decide whether to use that over this big run or to use some sort of netting. That said, I do want it to last as long as possible.

I know I have eagles, hawks, crows, ravens, owls, and assorted other birds. I also have possum, raccoons, fox, bobcat, cougars, bears - and apparently the fisher cat is back. I am trying to be as protective of the birds as I can, but I also realize there may not be any stopping of some of these critters if they are intent on making an entrance.