GOT EGGS! and a few ?'s now.

[Jmiller429]

FINALLY! found the sneaky turkeys nest in between a couple round bales today, collected 5 eggs so far. dropped a chicken egg back in there so as to not arouse the suspicions

Soo now i need to know some things. Alot of people say hand turning the eggs has a better success rate that auto chicken turners, is this true? Im going to go get another little giant here in a bit as the others are full of quail and chicken, and not really feeling like buying a turner i dont necessarily need. And does anyone know how many eggs a little giant will hold approx without the turners? with turners? thanks in advance. never hatched turkeys before, but hopefully everything goes smoothly.

 

[Dogfish]

I can't answer success rates using a hand turner vs automatic, but my turkey eggs fit nicely in my LG chicken egg racks. The rack I talking about is the newer one piece white plastic rack, not the old one with metal rails and clear plastic "finger cups". I'm 5 days into my experiment.

BTW, congrats on finding the eggs!

 

[caral07]

I hand turned mine and I had a beter hatch then with the automatic turnors turning them. Good luck. My hen just recently died when she was setting on her onself. Good move by incabating.

 

[ColbyNTX]

I have never had the joy or the time to hand turn eggs but I get 99-100% hatches in my chicken and guinea eggs and 90-95% in my turkeys with an auto turner in my Dickey's and GQF Sportsman. I don't think it could get better by opening my bators 2X-3X a day. I also travel a lot so hand turning is out of the question. I have a LG that I use from time to time for quail eggs but I think you could put 25-30 turkey eggs. The newer style LG turner does hold turkey eggs well. I use it on the laundry room counter to store eggs all week before a hatch.(again, not home all the time to turn, the best $45.00 I have ever spent.) I am actually about to get a second LG turner because I am getting more eggs a week than a 42 egg turner will hold!

 

[Jmiller429]

wish i was. I had a marauding dog kill my flock of 30 last year in my barn one night. After solving that problem, im down to 2 toms and 4 hens, one of which was a super late hatch from last year. Hopefully they keep churning them out. If i take all the eggs from the nest location will they stop laying there? I stashed a banty egg there cause that was all i had at the moment.

 

[ColbyNTX]

My turkeys may be dumb but I have found 3 nests this year used by turkeys and guineas and I take the eggs every night and they keep going back to the same spot.