Hatching turkeys.

[Moosehaven farm]

This year is my first year hatching turkey eggs laid here on our hobby farm. We have two hens laying a combined 10 or 12 eggs a week and I’m getting 4 to 7 that hatch each week. We are storing our eggs in a wine fridge and setting in my homemade incubator once per week. The date laid doesn’t seem to be matter. With chickens I get around 80 to 90 percent hatch rate but I can’t seem to get the same with turkeys. I’m getting about a 12% weight loss at lockdown. Is this hatch rate normal? Furthermore, I get about 1 out of those hatched that dies at around the 1 week point. Any suggestions on what to watch for?

 

[R2elk]

This year is my first year hatching turkey eggs laid here on our hobby farm. We have two hens laying a combined 10 or 12 eggs a week and I’m getting 4 to 7 that hatch each week. We are storing our eggs in a wine fridge and setting in my homemade incubator once per week. The date laid doesn’t seem to be matter. With chickens I get around 80 to 90 percent hatch rate but I can’t seem to get the same with turkeys. I’m getting about a 12% weight loss at lockdown. Is this hatch rate normal? Furthermore, I get about 1 out of those hatched that dies at around the 1 week point. Any suggestions on what to watch for?

You will need to supply much more information in order for people to try to figure out what may be the cause of your problems.

I cannot say whether 12% weight loss is the right amount to shoot for because I don't weigh my eggs. I only candle at lockdown to eliminate any non fertile or early quitters being moved to the hatcher for lockdown. I would candle more frequently if I had not already established the incubation conditions (incubation temperature and humidity) that will get the proper air cell draw down for me going into lockdown. The conditions that are right for me may not be the correct conditions for you.

Poor hatching for turkey eggs can be due to a number of reasons from setting shipped turkey eggs to using eggs from parents that are too closely related to the nutrition of the flock itself.

Failure to thrive in the brooder can also be due to those same issues or coccidiosis or improper or old feed being given to the poults. Brooder temperatures and conditions can also be a problem.

Common Incubation Problems

 

[Moosehaven farm]

What do you want to know. If you read my information you will see that shipped eggs are not the issue. Genetics are unlikely since I’m using two different breeds for hens. Why candle more frequently? I do it once per week. Temp of the eggs is between 99 and 101 depending on location. Nutrition is an interesting idea. I’m feeding them a chicken layer mash. Same as my chickens which I get a very good hatch rate. Food for chicks is new. I use a starter/grower mix and a “medicated” crumble. They prefer the starter/grower mash though.

 

[R2elk]

Food for chicks is new. I use a starter/grower mix and a “medicated” crumble. They prefer the starter/grower mash though.

If you are feeding chick feed to turkey poults, that is inappropriate feed. Turkey poults need a proper turkey or gamebird starter that is at least 28% protein. Chick starter does not have the proper amounts of lysine, methionine or niacin that turkeys need.

Genetics are unlikely since I’m using two different breeds for hens.

If you are talking about turkeys, you can only be using one breed because the breed is Turkey. You may be using two different varieties of hens. Saying that you have two different varieties of hens says nothing about the tom or toms that you are using. It does not matter whether or not the hens are closely related to each other. It does matter if the toms are closely related to the hens.

Temp of the eggs is between 99 and 101 depending on location.

You say it is a homemade incubator but do not specify whether it is still air or forced air. The recommended temperatures are different for still air and for forced air. If it is a still air unit, 99°F is too low. If it is a forced air unit, 101°F is too high. Where the temperature is measured is also different.

I am assuming that you do not have an automatic turner. You do not mention how often you turn the eggs. You say that you are storing the eggs in a wine cooler but not whether or not you are turning the eggs or what the temperature and humidity levels are during storage.

 

[Moosehaven farm]

Thanks for the info about the food. I’ll look into that.