Clutch number #2 struggling

[Deep Roots]

We are on our 2nd clutch of turkey eggs. At day 28 nada. But we could have written down the wrong date. So we gave them two more days. 4 hatched within 20hrs. All eggs pipped. Now we are two full day past the first lil guys. Number 5 poult really struggled to get out of the shell. The membrane right under the shell seems way more tough than our last clutch. Troubleshooting for the last three clutches which are right behind these guys... and how long should we wait after pip? Ive heard from other turkey folks the range of early to late eggs can be 5 days! That seems long. Tks

 

[Deep Roots]

Could use some input from y'all.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

I've never hatched poults but I believe after you wait the 28 days it's the same as chicks (vs waterfowl which hatch slower). So 24 hours from pip to zip usually. I've waited up to 36 hours before if the chick looked healthy just slow. If you assist any sooner than that it's to the detriment of the chick. They're using this time to finish developing their lungs and absorb their yolk and blood. It's critical you don't disturb this process prematurely. However at 48 hours post external pip you're fine to assist. Have you read the assisted hatching thread?

Are these eggs in an incubator? What's the humidity?

On a side note we have some poults coming from Porter's next month. It'll be our 3rd year growing out turkeys. They're so much fun and add a lot to a farm.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

You might have speedier and turkey specific responses posting to the turkey section of the forum. Tons of knowledgeable people hanging out there usually.

 

[Deep Roots]

I've never hatched poults but I believe after you wait the 28 days it's the same as chicks (vs waterfowl which hatch slower). So 24 hours from pip to zip usually. I've waited up to 36 hours before if the chick looked healthy just slow. If you assist any sooner than that it's to the detriment of the chick. They're using this time to finish developing their lungs and absorb their yolk and blood. It's critical you don't disturb this process prematurely. However at 48 hours post external pip you're fine to assist. Have you read the assisted hatching thread?

Are these eggs in an incubator? What's the humidity?

On a side note we have some poults coming from Porter's next month. It'll be our 3rd year growing out turkeys. They're so much fun and add a lot to a farm.

Two diff incubators. Still air one for 3 weeks then lockdown and hatch in a normal one. Humidity is 85 for hatch and the still air is somewhere between 50 and 65 depending on which humidistat. I also posted on turkey thread and have been reading everything I could get my hands on. tks

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

50-65 is pretty high. It's possible that works for your area but ff your hatches are struggling high humidity is a good place start. Humidity is a tool to control weight loss of the eggs. Have you considered weighing your eggs? Or watched air cells growth (marked at the start and weekly)?

85 is high for hatching. It can spike like that when they're actively zipping and immediately after hatch but should drop back down as they dry. You might very well be dealing with "sticky chicks" or poults in your case.

How was the first hatch? You pretty happy with your numbers and the quality of poults being produced?

 

[Deep Roots]

Okay. I vented the one in lockdown and reduced water. The still air one has two humidistat. One says 50 one says 70... thoughts on that? What is sticky chick? Symptoms?

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Ideally hygrometers are calibrated. Then you know which one is correct.

At 70% you'll start to see small amount of condensation on the corners of the window. But it depends on how warm your room temperature is so it's not really a reliable way to gauge humidity. But it'll point you in the right direction.

Did you check out the assisted hatching threads?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/


A sticks chicks is a chick who gets cemented in the shell by the egg solids. Because humidity was too high during incubation and hatch. It was low enough the didn't drown when pipped but they get stuck and are unable to hatch on their own. Low incubating temp can also be a cause. But at this point it's just a guess since I can't see the chick. What's your plan for it?

 

[Deep Roots]

This is really helpful. Just spoke with a lady near us that doesn't even use water in the incubators because our humidity is already so high. Just adds a bit for lockdown. Thats really helpful. I'm going to start weighing this next clutch and draw the air cells. We were not that great on recording everything but as big as we've gotten this year we need to do better on documentation and consistency. Thanks a ton for the leads.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

That's wonderful news! Dry hatching (what the local lady is doing) is pretty popular and works great. Just depends on your area (ambient humidity). I'm so happy to hear you're figuring it out.

Hatching takes a bit to dial in but you're well on your way to having some fantastic hatch rates.