Help - No progress since last night

[tia]

Help... this little turkey pipped yesterday evening... and had this big of a hole when I went to bed last night about 2 am (this morning actually) He hasn't made any progress. I increased the humidity yesterday to 73. I have condensation this morning. What do you think I should do. I can see the little guy breathing in there and his beak is sticking out.... I don't see any attempt to get out at this point. The other eggs have been moving the last few days. No pips yet.

 

[tia]

I should have mentioned they are not scheduled to hatch until today. Maybe the little guy is just resting for a while and he will get a little boost of energy later and be able to finish the job.

 

[jm93030]

Turkeys take little longer to get out of the egg than other birds
they need high humidity 75 - 80 %

try not to open the incubator since this can cause the turkey to shrink wrap

what I do when i see this issue is this
I use a needle and break the shell all around , shell only not the white skin , shell only
grab the egg and dip it in a little bowl of warm water make sure you dont drown him
get the egg wet , try to get the bird soaking wet

put him back in the bator and wait

the water will soften the wraping skin

he will be wet but will dry


hope this helps

 

[tia]

Thanks for your help. If they take a while... maybe I will wait for a little while before trying to help. Perhaps I will go work in the yard for a while and that will keep me from worrying.

 

[Gypsy07]

I think if I were you I'd bump the humidity right up and then just sit and wait for a while.

 

[tia]

Would you bump it up to around 80... even if there is condensation. I think he is just resting... seems to be breathing okay and he just yawned.. so maybe just taking a break... he peeped a bit earlier. I hope the others pip soon. I have to work a few hours this afternoon, so will be gone for a while. (maybe that is a good thing). I don't like the new thing where they show you how many views... not very many comments for the number of views.... but I guess it is better not to comment unless you feel like you can help.

 

[tia]

My little guy is about the same. I would get him out and wrap him in a wet paper towel, but hate to open the incubator because of the other three eggs that haven't pipped yet. A person just hates to screw things up by doing the wrong thing. I guess for now nothing is probably the best. I did raise the humidity to 80... it is about 76 right now.

 

[anaiyuk]

Yes, 80 but not above that. Some reccomend it but I find that is where they begin to suffocate when they pip internally. Although I don't have a lot of experience with turkeys.

 

[tia]

Anaiyuk - Yes my experience is with ducks. I have been successful with the humidity at 65 for hatch, but I have no experience with turkeys.... hope I'm doing the right thing.

 

[Gypsy07]

Hi Tia. Personally I'd bump the lockdown humidity above 80 without thinking twice if I was even slightly worried about shrinkwrapping, but I just don't like to recommend it to others because so many people are completely convinced that it drowns or suffocates their chicks. That's not something I've ever experienced, and I've more than once run my own (chicken) lockdowns at 85% creeping as high as 90% and sitting there for a full day. I've never had a drowned chick or an even slightly soggy chick from doing this. I've also never had a chick pip internally and then fail to hatch. Everyone who pips internally always manages to hatch by themselves. I'm not claiming to be an expert or a master hatcher or anything but I have experimented with very high lockdown humidities and I think they work fine.

From what I've read about incubation, what I've read in posts on here, and what I've spent time thinking about and experimenting with, I think quite a few people don't fully understand the actual mechanics of how humidity works with regards to the incubation process. Seems to me like the most common problems folk have are either a too high humidity days 1-18 and/or a too low humidity during lockdown. Their chicks drown because of the too high early humidity, and they blame it on the lockdown humidity, because the chicks die during the lockdown period, even though it's really the earlier humidity that's to blame...

I weigh my eggs to gauge correct humidity, which removes a lot of guesswork from the process. That way by the time they hit lockdown I know they have lost the correct amount of moisture. The weighing method is incredibly accurate and helps you to pinpoint whether your humidity problems are occurring in the first 18 days or during lockdown.