Feeling down. Set 40 turkey eggs, 5 hatched

[whenchickensdream]

Let's see if I can get all the answers to the questions:

Yes, the eggs are all from my own birds. 1 Naragansett tom and 1 hen, 1 Black Spanish tom and 1 hen, and 1 Blue Slate and 2 hens. They are all almost a year old. We had set 24 eggs the last time (around March), gathering the eggs from the very first one laid and we had 13 hatch. It is a styrofoam incubator (still air) which has done pretty good since we purchased it last year (this is our 4th hatch with it). I turn the eggs myself and check the humidity and temperature first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I put in 40 eggs, candled on day 10 and threw out 9 eggs (they were clear or had already died) and marked a 10th one that I threw out before lockdown, leaving 30 eggs at lock down.

I stored the eggs at room temperature in egg boxes and turned them every day when I turned the eggs in the incubator. They were collected from the end of March till the middle of April when I put them in the incubator. I had the dates on the eggs and that didn't seem to matter on which ones hatched. 30 had all developed till about the 20th day or so before dying. There were a few that were really dirty and washed them (also marked them) but that didn't seem to have an effect either.

Yes, the 5 poults are really doing well. They are so much quieter than the last ones we hatched. They are eating and drinking well and one is already strutting his stuff. Just love the little puffballs.

I have scrubbed out the incubator and on Sunday am planning on putting in turkey eggs and guinneas (haven't hatched guinneas yet). We'll see how that turns out.

Thank you for trying to help - I just keep questioning what I did and just have to accept that something happened that I just didn't know about.

 

[bluesmom]

okay so i just signed up on this forum to help answer your problem
first of all, i am young but i love raising all sorts of critters!!!! here are my tips for you as i had my first hatch of royal palms this week, 6 hatched tues, 2 thurs, and 1 today!!!
i would first off use an auto turner!!! it helps with the humidity and less handling of eggs is better they are inexpensive and well worth the $$$
i also use a styrofoam bator, the hovebator----but mine is forced air not still air( i have 2 of those too) and i have a way better hatch rate with the forced air than still, jmo
* every time i open my bator, either to refill water or candle eggs, i *ALWAYS* spray eggs with room temperature mist bottle because when u open it allows humidity to escape, this has been tried and true with my hatch rates and it makes a big difference ( found this tip on another website several years ago..)
also, be aware that your thermometer may be wrong, mine is!!!! therefore i leave it where it read wrong but i have it set to where it achieves proper due date for hatching- meaning if eggs hatch early,temp too high-if late, not cool.....i learned this the hard way over many poor/failed hatches ( my first 3 quail hatches failed ALL of them....i had eggs upside down in turners, therefore i smothered then

also your humidity MUST be kept at least 55% at all times and u need a humidity meter inside bator, then up the humidity to 75% last 4 days before hatch
if u cant keep humidity that high in your bator try putting a sponge (wet) inside your bator to help out...i have to do this in mine to get humidity up and stay there!
also if your temp isnt holding high enough you may put rocks (yes they hold heat in) in to help hold the temperature

hope all this help, sorry so long
fyi...my guineas were horrible to hatch, no one out of the 13 that pipped hatched out of their shell...i had to pop all of them out of their shells....
turkeys hatched perfect tho....
o and be sure your hands are clean when handling eggs as they are poreous and can absorb oils and stuff from your hands when turning or candeling them
and also i dont like to hold eggs over a week (waiting to get a clutch togather) as the hate rate drops drastically each day after that!!