Hatching Turkey Eggs.. help I have no idea!

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

First of all.. I'm sure if I looked long enough I could find many other posts about hatching turkey eggs but I don't have that much time so please no complaints about posting a new thread when I could find older ones, those kind of comments are unnecessary- so why bother wasting your time?


Anyways. My uncle found some turkey eggs, so we're going to try and hatch them. We've only ever hatched chickens.. so I really have no idea about anything with turkeys. And I want a turkey! I've never had one and I don't want to kill the eggs, if there's even a chance one might hatch. I need help!

 

[bargain]

28 days generally for turkey eggs. We keep toward a moister climate with ours at 50% humidity and at lockdown around 70%. We also spray with warm water before incubating and also at lock down. Hope this helps and have a happy hatch.... I love to see our googly eyes poults!

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

Thank you! Hopefully some hatch.. there's a dozen exactly. We read that only half hatch and 30% of those don't live past two weeks.. how sad. We candled some and one looked like it had just been laid and another about half-grown. I wonder how turkey eggs do under broody hens?

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

And just to be clear, we had to take the eggs because they were in my uncle's hay field and would soon be crushed. That must happen to lots of turkey nests unfortunately.

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

I guess you would feed baby turkeys (what are they called?) differently than chicks?

 

[Glenmar]

I get medicated turkey starter from my feed store. Turkeys need higher protein then chickens.

 

[chicks and hens2]

28 days generally for turkey eggs. We keep toward a moister climate with ours at 50% humidity and at lockdown around 70%. We also spray with warm water before incubating and also at lock down. Hope this helps and have a happy hatch.... I love to see our googly eyes poults!

I have a question or 2,am also new to turkey's and I have one hen setting on a nest that 2 other hens keep laying their eggs in ( it's a long story, I've tried to get them to lay in their own nest but....)
The 28 days for the first eggs that have been with her the longest will be up next week, I know that the eggs are fertile (because I tried candling and didn't see what I thought I was suppose to see and cracked open some eggs that I had put in fridge for a couple days) Anyway, I assume when the hens hatches her initial eggs the newer ones she setting on will be abandoned when they don't hatch for after the others do. So am going to get an incubator for the remaining eggs, she has well over 20 eggs. Where do I start the incubation humidity if it'll be a staggered hatch and when would lock down be and if the are about one to two weeks along in the incubation I presume I wouldn't spray them at that point of incubation??? Thanks for all the help in advance

 

[R2elk]

And just to be clear, we had to take the eggs because they were in my uncle's hay field and would soon be crushed. That must happen to lots of turkey nests unfortunately.

I recommend that you check your state game and fish laws. Where I live, taking those eggs and hatching them is illegal. A game and fish permit is required to hatch and raise wild turkeys in my home state.

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

I recommend that you check your state game and fish laws. Where I live, taking those eggs and hatching them is illegal. A game and fish permit is required to hatch and raise wild turkeys in my home state.

Where I live, sadly, not very many people care. The farmers have to cut their hay and they're not going to mess with any laws or officials if they find some turkey eggs in their field. He also said the hen had been leaving them for very long periods and he hadn't seen her in a while. I doubt if any of them will hatch.

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

But thanks for the reminder I hadn't even thought of that and I'm going to check it out.