How hard is it to hatch turkeys? Really? And why?

[Jocasta]

I'd not heard anything about turkeys being difficult to hatch until several days after I'd set my eggs. Then someone on here commented that "I just can't get turkeys to hatch" and then another comment on a different forum was relaying a similar tale having recounted four separate times trying, with two different incubators and not ever getting more than one poult... Then another thread on here outlining an outstanding hatch also mentioned all the hype about turkeys being difficult. I'm nervous!

I'm on Day 19 with 12 turkey eggs. I only set the 12 and they are all developing, getting much bigger with definite movement every time I candle them. So, what's the difficult bit? Is it the developing, or does it come later at hatch? I've got them in a Brinsea Eco 20.

TIA

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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[Jocasta]

I'd heard that about them starving - I've got some chicken eggs in with them hoping that they'll teach the poults what to do although I doubt, knowing me, that I'll be able to tear myself away from them once they hatch. I'll be a decent instructor

A friend said that if you tap the ground where there's food, apparently this helps too.

What would you do if hatching small scale - would you go with egg cartons or lay them on their sides? I was planning the latter but would welcome your view.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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[Teach97]

I am of the no issues hatching turkeys but ducks are about to make me take up drinking....or something

I have hatched them both upright and on their side and didn't really see a difference...I use a sportsman

I will agree on the not the brightest bulb issue

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I hatch in cartons, but that's just personal preference. Doesn't really seem to matter one way or the other.

I haven't found incubating and hatching turkey eggs any harder than chicken eggs. Just takes a week longer is all.

Keeping the humidity up the final three days is important though. The membrane in a turkey egg is pretty tough and if it dries out from low humidity the poult could be in trouble.

Brooding them those first three days does take more care and attention, but even there I have not found them really any more difficult than with chickens. If there aren't any older chicks or poults to show them how I ordinarily hatch a few chickens along with them because they pick it up faster then teach the poults. These last couple of hatches though were just poults. I'd catch each one and dip their beaks in the water then set them down on top of their feed every couple of hours that first day. They all figured it out pretty quick. Observation will help you a lot to find and prevent problems.

 

[kagedgoddess]

Well the last post kinda helps for the q i just posted.

I havent had problems with anything and my incubator is all screwy. I was supposed to lock down today but the poults hatched yestwrday morning. I hadnt raised humidity and in fact had just turned them and we heard peeping.


So see it cant be that hard. ( knock on wood)

I lay them on their sides. But this was my first turkey hatch and i dont have a turner.

 

[Dogfish]

I've had two hatches go fairly well, as good as my chicken hatches. Different timeline is all.

 

[jenniferf82]

Not really hard.. We have about 12 turkey eggs a week moving from the incubator to the hatcher. Our humidity was too high for a couple weeks so last week we had a pretty poor hatch rate, but, the 3 weeks in a row before that we had 100% hatches.

They aren't really that hard to raise so far either. Our oldest batch is 6 weeks old and so far we've only had two losses after hatching, one that had trouble hatching and never got up and moving and a 4 week old one that damaged it's eye somehow and had to be put down.

If you follow the rules, then they're just as easy as chickens.

Though, I dunno, you can probably hatch chickens just fine out of an old still air hovabator but I doubt you'd get a good turkey hatch in one.

 

[Jocasta]

Thanks guys! That's made me feel much better! Am really looking forward to the 13th/14th!!! Should th brooder be the same temp as the incubator to start with?