Hatching Turkey Eggs.. help I have no idea!

[marschicks]

Just wondering how your turkeys turned out. I just put 18 eggs in my own incubator and am trying to learn all I can.

 

[chicks and hens2]

So far 11 poults have hatched. A couple actually hatched in the incubator with the turner in it,with a lower humidity. I "helped" out a couple that pipped but didn't progress after 2 days. I have 41 eggs in the incubator that will still be staggered hatches because I have added new eggs to the batch. I have about a dozen eggs in the hatching incubator also that when candled, look about ready to hatch. So far I have lost only one that died after the pip. I may have some in the hatcher that have died, but I am giving them a few more days.
The rest in the hatcher all show signs of life.
Now to sell them!

 

[lizzybaxter]

Wow, lucky you!! Someone also gave me 5 turkey eggs that they ran across (literally) while cutting hay; in fact, there were more but only 5 were intact. I put them in the incubator and about 4 days later I could smell one of them. Down to 4. I've had them about 2 weeks now, with humidity around 40% and temp around 99.5 to 100. Tried candling multiple times, just don't know what to look for. Very frustrating, as I can't tell the age and therefore I'm not sure when to remove the turner and raise the humidity.

Any ideas as to what I should be seeing? One definitely looks fairly clear but the remaining 3 have dark spots. Any help would sure be appreciated....

 

[chicks and hens2]

Update. I had one pip on the small side of the egg I tried helping but it hatched too early and when it pushed out of the shell the yolk wasn't totally absorbed. it lasted a few days but never did get up to walk, it was too weak. Had another that pipped but never progressed. while I was helping the malformation one this one slipped past me. I candled the eggs that are due to hatch on staggered days between the 24th and 29 and several of those due to hatch on the 24 don't have much of anything in them but the rest of the 30 some show signs of life. I have about 6 eggs in lock down in the "hatching" incubator, no signs of pipping yet.

 

[chicks and hens2]

Wow, lucky you!! Someone also gave me 5 turkey eggs that they ran across (literally) while cutting hay; in fact, there were more but only 5 were intact. I put them in the incubator and about 4 days later I could smell one of them. Down to 4. I've had them about 2 weeks now, with humidity around 40% and temp around 99.5 to 100. Tried candling multiple times, just don't know what to look for. Very frustrating, as I can't tell the age and therefore I'm not sure when to remove the turner and raise the humidity.

Any ideas as to what I should be seeing? One definitely looks fairly clear but the remaining 3 have dark spots. Any help would sure be appreciated....

Forgot to add "what to look for" under the BYC "incubating and hatching eggs" title of thread"CHICKS are HERE* Egg candling pic's: progression through incubation"page 1 it shows you from beginning to end of day "0" to hatch day, but that is for chickens so you'll have to go to the chicken incubating hatching forum. Sorry I can't just put the direct link in this thread, but I don't know how. I'll try and repost, but wanted to get this out to you!

 

[chicks and hens2]

Forgot to add "what to look for" under the BYC "incubating and hatching eggs" title of thread"CHICKS are HERE* Egg candling pic's: progression through incubation"page 1 it shows you from beginning to end of day "0" to hatch day, but that is for chickens so you'll have to go to the chicken incubating hatching forum. Sorry I can't just put the direct link in this thread, but I don't know how. I'll try and repost, but wanted to get this out to you!

here's the thread:

• silkiechicken
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Thanks to ZooMummzy, I am doing a test run of my little plywood bator and her little rooster! And I'll be sharing pics! These images are all taken using a point and shoot Canon Powershot 710IS, and the light from an eagle tac set on high output. Photos are in real colors unless otherwise noted.

Click thumbnails for larger image!

The incubator:



It's got a clear top for hatch day viewing and two lightbulbs covered in foil because I was too cheap to buy ceramic heat lamps. The reason behind two bulbs is in case one light bulb burns out the incubator won't go cold. It has a salvaged computer fan and uses a salvaged GQF thermostat. There are about 8 layers of spar urethane coating the little beast so it's water tight. Started making it when I was about 13, so if I were to do it again, it would be much larger and have space planned for a fan/thermostat.

Temperature is measured with a Fluke digital multimeter with thermometer attachment, and humidity is measured via wet/dry bulb methodology.



0 hrs Note that with a bight enough light you can see though brown and green eggs easily. Shell thickness and egg size will impact image quality, so note these are bantam eggs.




This is a great example of a porous egg, not ideal for hatching.




28hrs Not much to see though the egg at this point. If you were to open the egg and look at it under a dissection microscope, you'd see that the head/neural fold has formed, and up to 4 pairs of somites. (Somites are mesodermal cells which migrate and give rise to tissues such as muscle, bone, and cartilage. Note the number on the egg, it serves as tracking and to know which side is "up" as I am hand turning 3x a day.




52 hrs If you look closely, you can see the start of the blood island in the middle of the egg. The heart is actively beating by this time and has started to turn; the heart starts out as a tube during development.

May be easier to see after photoshop, it's that darker ring on top of the yolk shadow





76 hrs At this point, limb buds have not only formed but are enlarging and the eye is beginning to become pigmented.


Some photo editing and you can really see the veins!


Schematic




100 hrs The limbs are now starting to look like limbs and the embryo starts to look like what a common person would say is an embryo.


Enhanced to see veins




Day5 On this day, the beak has just become viable and the chick's limb buds are no longer buds and instead will have identifiable digits! The black dot is the eye.



Edited to enhance veins



A day 3 or so quitter



Profile view and you can see the veins in my finger too.




Day6 It gets harder to take clear vein pics, as there is enough vascularization that it gets a bit washed out.


Enhanced image.


Embryo Movement Clip


Day 7 If you were to open them up, you'd see little specks where future feathers would emerge!




Day 8





Day 9






Day 10





Day 11




Video



Day 12




Day 13 If you opened them up, you'd see claws forming!








Day 14 It's so dark there is pretty much nothing really to see! Just a bit of space left





Day 15




Video


Day 16 You can see toes in the second one!



Toes video

Day 17





Day 18 Lock down!!!! Since there is plenty of space in the bator, I made little paper cups to put each egg in. Hopefully this will catch the majority of the hatch junk left over from popping out so clean up is a bit easier.





HATCH DAY Note, there is no plan to open the bator for the next 48 hours. The top is clear so all the action can be seen without compromising the hatch!
Pips



First to hatch: About 14 hours after the first pip at 4am. Note the clean hatch and absence of any blood in the shell. It was ready!


Hatch Video

Second to hatch: About 17 hours after the pip at 4am. Could have piped any time between 11pm and 4 am though. Another clean hatch.


Note the first vid is part of the zipping. The pip to zip can literally be hours to days, but usually, once it starts to zip and sets out to get out, the shifting and cracking process is about 20-30 mintues.
Zipping

This one gets to the point more.
Hatching


30 hours after the first pip, the hatch is now complete! This is about my average time to hatch. I've had some take even longer so there really is no rushing the little guys.
There were 7 fertile eggs that made it to day 3. All 7 hatched on their own without opening the bator between day 18 though post hatch and fluff.


Post hatch shell interior. Note that all the vessels are gone and it's just pink. Not a single drop of blood. The little blob in the bottom is the chick wastes from development; think of it as embryo poo.


And now the best part! The chicks!!!



The chicks have learned how to drink from a hamster water bottle.

Need egg candling reference pics? Click HERE!
2011 Coop build! Click Here!

I'm no expert, there is always something to learn, and my birds are livestock, so... yes, I may be quite blunt.

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10/29/09​

• speckledhen
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[lizzybaxter]

Wow this is so great! Thank you for posting it. I know that turkeys take about a week longer, so I'm still just going to have to "guess-timate" the age. I feel very unworthy of this whole turkey hatching project. Thanks again for the kind response.

 

[chicks and hens2]

I am in the same situation as you. This is also our first year and am learning a lot through this site. I have breeding stock Easter Wild's and because my 3 hens keep laying in the same nest box it's hard to let the hen incubate them since others kept adding to her pile. That's how we ended up with 2 incubators, one to incubate the eggs and one to transfer them to once they are ready to hatch, but had also had several that pipped and zipped in the incubator before they got transferred to the hatching incubator. I almost have better luck when I keep them in the incubator with the turner. Must have something to do with the humidity. Have a hard time regulating it and have staggered hatch dates so except for the newest eggs I put in with known hatch dates, it's all guess work for me too. Good luck with your poults!

 

[FowlLady44]

Interesting conversation about hens, eggs, nesting, laws, etc. Wow, who would have guessed? My question is once the egg is put in the incubator, what should the temperature be and what percent of humidity? Thank you!!

 

[FowlLady44]

I have another question, is there a problem with having 2 toms and 1 hen in a small pen? Another issue I have is that one of the toms is the hen's baby (grown up). Looking for info and ideas!!

Ok, well I haven't heard from anyone pertaining to humidity %, or temp in the incubator for turkey eggs. SO I went out to the turkey pen and brought one turkey egg in and put it in our incubator that is between 100-102 degrees. The eggs were layed 1 or 2 days ago. In my research it looks like the poults don't hatch for approx. 28 days......OK. Please if anyone knows about how often to turn them and what the humidity should be I would LOVE TO KNOW!!

Thank you for all of your help in this ADVENTURE!!