HELP!!!!! 1st time hatching turkey eggs

[WalnutHill]

not if you subscribe to that other way of thinking, there are more BTU of heat in the larger incubator then the smaller so even at 99.5 the larger incubator has to be hotter

There is some truth to that, though. If you put a cup of same-temp water in each and unplugged them both and came back in an hour, the cup of water in the cabinet would be warmer.

 

[JetCat]

But just like the humidity it has nothing to do with the actual temp. More heat equally disbursed over a larger area is still the same temp it just takes a greater influence to make a change. The incubator wasn't any hotter it just had more BTU

 

[wabbit1964]

thanks so much! when i try in a month or so i'll lower the humidity. another problem i had was the hard eggshells. when i went to go throw them out i threw them as hard as i could and none cracked. i had to find a rock to crack the eggs open on to examine the dead poults.

This is the part that I am most curious about because of all my chicken eggtopsies I have never had shells that hard. I am looking all over BYC to be sure I am on target with my first ever turkey hatch. Due to hatch the end of this week.

 

[justrain]

thanks so much! when i try in a month or so i'll lower the humidity. another problem i had was the hard eggshells. when i went to go throw them out i threw them as hard as i could and none cracked. i had to find a rock to crack the eggs open on to examine the dead poults.

I suppose it's possible that the shells were too hard (perhaps the jenny had too much calcium in her diet), but my ducks (especially the Pekins) have extremely hard shells and have always hatched (100% hatch rate on my ducks), but they take longer from internal pip to external pip and zipping also seems to take a long time. Often I get more than 12 hours between internal pip and external pip, and another 12 hours from external pip to zip.

I just had a 100% hatch rate with my turkeys with humidity throughout incubation at about 50% in a smallish incubator (24 egg capacity). This being said, the first turkey pipped and zipped at day 27 and the last one pipped and zipped 36 hours later.

I would think that if the shells were too hard you would have at least had internal pip, but if you didn't get internal pip and the eggtopsy showed developed chicks you might have given up too early. I blame my patience (or lack thereof) as the cause of death for a couple chicks in past hatches; I believe that had I waited I would have a couple more chickens now than I have.

 

[wabbit1964]

I suppose it's possible that the shells were too hard (perhaps the jenny had too much calcium in her diet), but my ducks (especially the Pekins) have extremely hard shells and have always hatched (100% hatch rate on my ducks), but they take longer from internal pip to external pip and zipping also seems to take a long time. Often I get more than 12 hours between internal pip and external pip, and another 12 hours from external pip to zip.

I just had a 100% hatch rate with my turkeys with humidity throughout incubation at about 50% in a smallish incubator (24 egg capacity). This being said, the first turkey pipped and zipped at day 27 and the last one pipped and zipped 36 hours later.

I would think that if the shells were too hard you would have at least had internal pip, but if you didn't get internal pip and the eggtopsy showed developed chicks you might have given up too early. I blame my patience (or lack thereof) as the cause of death for a couple chicks in past hatches; I believe that had I waited I would have a couple more chickens now than I have.

Thank you for your response. I am hatching my first turkey eggs this week so have been reading everything I can on the forums to be sure I am doing it right... everything temp/humidity in the beginning was on target and steady so am hoping for a successful ending. I have read some say 50% for early stage of incubation and 80% for lockdown..I went along with the same temp/humidity I do for my chickens.. The humidity part is one thing that worries me having never hatched before I want to be sure to do it right.

 

[justrain]

Thank you for your response. I am hatching my first turkey eggs this week so have been reading everything I can on the forums to be sure I am doing it right... everything temp/humidity in the beginning was on target and steady so am hoping for a successful ending. I have read some say 50% for early stage of incubation and 80% for lockdown..I went along with the same temp/humidity I do for my chickens.. The humidity part is one thing that worries me having never hatched before I want to be sure to do it right.

I think you'll be fine if you follow the same rules you apply to your chickens. As I mentioned, patience is my greatest enemy.

 

[RustyBucketFarm]

Quote:
I also am hatching my first batch of Heritage White Holland turkey eggs this week and have been reading as much as I can about lock down and hatching. I just placed the eggs on lock down today and out of 12 shipped eggs I have ten that appear to be still moving when I candled today. I have kept my temperature the same as for chicken eggs and humidity around 40 - 50%. I increased the humidity to 80% today and decreased the temperature to 98 for lock down. I am praying it all pays off!