First Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatchathon- Join us! Set Day: Easter

[chick-among-us]

But they are chicken not turkey....its ok if I can't I can just watch yall

 

[karimw]

This is my first time posting and my first time incubating, I'm glad I stumbled across this hatchalong, thanks for having me.
I am using a friend's Brinsea Octo 20 for this hatch, I fit 24 turkey eggs in it! I am most proud of the cabinet incubator I just built for experimentation, I wanted to play around and tweak it this year so we wouldn't have to buy poults from the hatchery next year. I set 30 turkey and 3 guinea eggs in it on April 2, I had very low expectations since some of the eggs were 17 days old and it was my first attempt. I candled them on Sat (day 12) and 24/30 and 3/3 were developing! I can't believe it, I prepared myself to be happy if at least 1 hatched. My expectations were also low because my temps fluctuated more then I would have liked the first week, I still can't believe how well they're doing, I can't wait to candle this batch! I had no idea how addictive incubating would be, I'm glad I built a cabinet that could hold 15 doz eggs! As I write this I have another 18 turkey eggs sitting next to me on the table waiting to reach room temperature, then into the bator! I'm building the hatcher this week and I bought 2 more turkey hens last week, so that makes 5... I think my husband is starting to get concerned I attribute most of my success to the wealth of knowledge I've found on this site but I also blame it for my addiction

So true! It is a double edged sword for sure.

not to bad the mom will get off the eggs for a while to eat, drink, and defecate I would not worry too much one idea is to get one of these water wigglers and stick a thermometer in it it will mimic the eggs pretty well and you can judge the internal temp of the egg more accurately and not just the temp inside the bator. You can get them on eBay or at wal-mart

What are these for anyway? I saw you post to find them in the toy section but I'm still confused!

I'm charging $4 a dozen and that still doesn't cover the feed costs. THe prices keep going up, the fuel surcharge to deliver has tripled over 3 years.

I try to free range, because it's fun to watch them and they can get natural food and it entertains them as well.

I swear folks around here think $1 a dozen is too much. That doesn't even cover the cost of my time to wash them

So I kind of gave up trying to sell. I've got a few regulars but except for them forget it. The cats and chickens love the extras and they don't care if I washed before I boiled them.

 

[karimw]

Oh, I forgot to post I set 17 Iowa Blues this past weekend to nurture the turkey poults. I also pulled one cracked non developer and set 4 to the side that I think are clear. That still leaves me with 26 going strong!

 

[yinepu]

But they are chicken not turkey....its ok if I can't I can just watch yall

if it's in an egg... it works!

 

[karimw]

I don't know if this is my best one for the contest, but here's a turkey yoga picture:

 

[Wisher1000]

No one? Come on ya'll what do you think I should do? How about I bribe you with the first poultry yoga picture?

It is hard to tell in this pic, but the one in the center of the pic is twice as big as the one on the right. Look at the difference in the snoods. I have never had turkey poults before, is snood size, in any way, an indication of gender?
I have taken to calling them "Large Marge" and "Tiny Tim"!

 

[yinepu]

It is hard to tell in this pic, but the one in the center of the pic is twice as big as the one on the right. Look at the difference in the snoods. I have never had turkey poults before, is snood size, in any way, an indication of gender?
I have taken to calling them "Large Marge" and "Tiny Tim"!

lol.. at this age it's better to make a random guess based on leg thickness

i have had some young ladies with large snoods and some boys with rather short ones.. also had a poult that someone nipped the end of the snood off of... they change so much that right now the best thing you can do is sit back and enjoy their antics.. lol.. I leave the gender guessing for later!

 

[debs_flock]

One of my other hobbies is I raise poison dart frogs. We have periodic meets with the No. CA people, much like a chicken swap. People also usually bring along things to share (plant clippings, extra equip., etc). At the last meet I brought about ten half dozen cartons of eggs. Everyone was making sure they got a carton, these are mostly "city folk", so not a lot of chickens amongst them. I had offered to bring along chicks if anyone was looking to have BYC. The last meet was not too long after the NYD hatch.

Quote: Sorry, I don't have a lot of turkey experience. My son raised two in 4H as market pens, but I didn't really pay too much attention to them. They were being raised in a pen at the BOTTOM of the hill, not a place I hiked to too often.

Deb

 

[Wisher1000]

I know you're right! They are funny! The big one flys as well as a wild bird and easily goes over the partition that keeps the others in. It is usually sitting on top of the barrel that I keep the feed in when I come to check on them. I say, "What are you doing? Get back in there with the others!" and it casually flies back over the partition and waits to be fed!

 

[dsqard]

Quote:

X2 Chick-among-us there are a few people just hatching chicks I think. Just PM your name to Chooks so you are added to the list and we are requiring everyone to select a favorite color and tell us the size straight jacket you wear. Right now we have a contest running if you look back in the thread. I know Renee is busy right now so if you don't get "officially" added to the list this week, you are "officially" considered in for the contest

We have craptacular weather today for flying but need the rain.