Hatching eggs from a turkey that died.....don't know the age...help!

[shaun14]

One of our turkey hens was killed by a tractor while sitting on her clutch in the hayfield. We were able to get the eggs and have them in the incubator. The problem is, we don't know exactly how old they are as she was gone and sitting...we know in about a 4-5 day frame. By my figuring, we should quit turning them somewhere between May 17 and 20th. I have candled them and did the water test and it appears the eggs are viable (3 I am not sure about).

My question is this....if I don't know the exact date...how do I do "lockdown"? Is it better to err on doing it earlier or later?

Shaun

 

[MeepBeep]

Lockdown had grown well beyond it's purpose into some enigma of rules that for the most part are hogwash and hyperbole...

Lockdown has two main purposes, one to be a mental minder to turn off or remove automatic egg turners, and two to be a mental minder to potentially increase humidity for an easy hatch with less risk of shrink wrap, beyond that almost everything else is made up rules with little to no substance...

If you are turning them by hand just keep turning until you see them pipping, no harm will come by doing this as this is exactly what the hen would have been doing as birds can't count, they don't know day 1 from day 21 from day 28, they turn and rotate eggs the same every day and don't even have a clue about this lockdown silliness... They only know the hatching day because the birds are physically coming out of the eggs, beyond that they do nothing different from start to end...

So as I said continue turning them by hand just like any other day, when you see one or more pip, stop turning them and enjoy the hatch... Heck even when they pip I have a tendency to turn them pip side up so I can better monitor the zipping progress...

If you are concerned about humidity when you open the incubator to turn just get a spray bottle and fill it with warm water, give the inside of the incubator a few mistings before you close it back up, this will more than compensate for any lost humidity from opening it...

 

[R2elk]

One of our turkey hens was killed by a tractor while sitting on her clutch in the hayfield. We were able to get the eggs and have them in the incubator. The problem is, we don't know exactly how old they are as she was gone and sitting...we know in about a 4-5 day frame. By my figuring, we should quit turning them somewhere between May 17 and 20th. I have candled them and did the water test and it appears the eggs are viable (3 I am not sure about).

My question is this....if I don't know the exact date...how do I do "lockdown"? Is it better to err on doing it earlier or later?

Shaun

I have placed eggs of an unknown age in my cabinet incubator. Once the first one hatched, I switched off the turner and placed the remaining eggs in lockdown. The one that hatched while the turner was running simply fell out of the tray and was happily running around on the bottom of the incubator.

If you are one of those who candle regularly, you can place the eggs into lockdown once you see that they are internally pipped.

Good luck.

 

[shaun14]

Both of you thanks, great responses and I feel a lot better about the situation now. Thanks for the help.