First eggs didn't hatch, did I do something wrong?

[PekinBantam]

I know that the eggs were fertilized because I saw the tom mate with our hen, but I was curious to know if I might have done a mistake by moving the eggs. I do it with the irresponsible chicken hens we have that were orphaned and don't seem to know how to hatch eggs, I'll put them in the nest of another hen who is more responsible but I don't know if turkey eggs are more sensitive. I had to move the eggs and the turkey hen because the Alpha hen (chicken) started laying eggs in the same nest that the turkey hen was sitting in and I didn't want to see a clash between a passive turkey and an aggressive chicken, so I moved the turkey. Could that have done it?

 

[KrisH]

I know that the eggs were fertilized because I saw the tom mate with our hen, but I was curious to know if I might have done a mistake by moving the eggs. I do it with the irresponsible chicken hens we have that were orphaned and don't seem to know how to hatch eggs, I'll put them in the nest of another hen who is more responsible but I don't know if turkey eggs are more sensitive. I had to move the eggs and the turkey hen because the Alpha hen (chicken) started laying eggs in the same nest that the turkey hen was sitting in and I didn't want to see a clash between a passive turkey and an aggressive chicken, so I moved the turkey. Could that have done it?

wow, so many things left unsaid. 1st, a couple basic general questions/comments not to offend, but ...

i presume you know turkey eggs take 28 days, not 21 as in chickens.

did you candle them for development? just because they mate does not mean all of or even any of the eggs were fertilized, but it does increase the odds.

crack them open and check a few.

We need more info on the situation basically.


RobertH

 

[kangababy]

I agree with KrisH

To throw my two cents in I have never had any luck with Turkeys hatchign their own eggs. They go Brooder but those never seem to hatch

 

[kuntrygirl]

 

[PekinBantam]

Yes, I do know know that turkey eggs take longer, but I didn't know how long. I didn't candle them... These two are my first turkeys and I wasn't sure if the hen would be reliable to hatch the eggs... I did crack the eggs, that's how I know something went wrong... It smelled horrible, I nearly puked, the yoke was GREEN

, I think I left it in for a month and 2 weeks because I wasn't sure how long it would take.
My basic question is, can moving the eggs disturb the chick's development?

 

[KrisH]

Yes, I do know know that turkey eggs take longer, but I didn't know how long. I didn't candle them... These two are my first turkeys and I wasn't sure if the hen would be reliable to hatch the eggs... I did crack the eggs, that's how I know something went wrong... It smelled horrible, I nearly puked, the yoke was GREEN

, I think I left it in for a month and 2 weeks because I wasn't sure how long it would take.
My basic question is, can moving the eggs disturb the chick's development?

moving gently should be no problem as the hen would move them arond under her regularly anyway. have to turn them in the incubator anyway. our turkey hatched guiney eggs, as has 2 of our winedot eggs. we are still working out turkey hatching.

RobertH

 

[njduck]

i hatched out a couple hundred turkeys this summer. When I was done hatching I let the turkeys sit on their eggs. 1 turkey hatched out 3 poults out of 18. 2nd turkey is still sitting and she is down to 6 eggs out of 20. 3rd turkey is trying to sit on about 40 eggs because the 2 other hens in the same pen layed their eggs with her and left her to do the work. I don't for see anymore hatching, the eggs are at least 5 weeks old now. but the 2 hens are not giving up

 

[FarmerGilland]

Just to throw my two cents in also. Just because you saw them mate doesn't mean the egg is fertile. The hen can hold his sperm for up to 14 days before letting it fertilize the egg. However, if it smelled that bad it was fertile.Only the fertile ones will smell like that then explode. Make sure if you incubate the eggs that you turn them 3 times a day and that the humidity is close to 60%.

 

[frank53061]

I have Incubated a few Chicken eggs but no Turkey eggs but I will when my Turkeys begin to lay I will probably do the same for my Turkey eggs as I did for my Chicken eggs other than them being in the Incubator longer than the Chicken eggs would be.

I always candle my eggs to check for development and after so many days they go in the trash if there not progressing as they should.
The biggies I have found is TEMP- HUMIDITY -TURNING- CANDLING the less change in temp the better hatch rate I get.
I made my Incubator and this last year I bought a digital thermostat off eBay and have no more than 1 degree change in temp that increased my hatch rate from 50% to 90% this last go around.
Made my own egg turner and set the timer to turn them 7 times in a 24 hour period .
There also needs to be fresh air getting to the eggs and keeping the humidity at the right level.

It has always been a learning exsperience for me and I am always open to new ideas.

 

[PekinBantam]

Well it is humid here (Philippines=tropics) so maybe that could be affecting it.