Incubating Turkey eggs advice desperately needed.

[gypsy2621]

Hi Everyone, I may have the wrong part of the forum for this , if so please feel free to move me where I need to be.

I just got done attempting to hatch 6 turkey eggs, needless to say it didnt go well, I have one chick that is not thriving.
Humidity was at 55 % and temp was 99.5 to 100.2 consistantly.
all eggs started 1 stopped at 1 week, the rest of the eggs developed normally untill week 3, then I had 1 more stop.
4 eggs in the bator 1 hatched the others just quit.

Is there any way to prevent this from repeating with other turkey eggs?
my duck eggs in a different bator are all doing well and growing on schedual.
I do not understand what could have gone wrong with the turkeys.
Are they normally hard to hatch out? this is my first time with turkeys not under a hen.
Thank You in advace for any and all information and help.

 

[lotzahenz]

I have very little turkey experience. My first two eggs, one was a quitter at about 2 wks. I kept them exactly as I did the chicken eggs, since I had no idea. I now have 2 out of 6 left in the bator and the first 4 were completely clear, not even fertile.

I have my fingers crossed for the last two. Hope a turkey person on here helps you. I'll be

 

[MissPrissy]

I incubate my turkey eggs as you described. 28 days and start looking for pips. Sometimes they can go 30 days. Turkeys are far more fragile than other fowl in my exprience. You may have to help them a little if they are not progressing in their hatch. The inner membrane gets rubbery quickly if the humidity isn't boosted in the last few days.

 

[willowcol]

Well I just hatched a turkey last night. It was the only 1 out of 6 eggs to hatch, the rest weren't fertile. Stealing this info from another post, this is what I tried to do.

The RH% should be in a range but it doesn't have to be spot on - I have never seen a poultry hen with an installed RH sensor, or a temp sensor for that matter. Ours for a GQF sportman runs about 40 to 50 % during the incubation and 60 -ish during hatching. However. we do staggered hatches in ours and use it as a hatcher as well, so every week or every other week the RH goes to the hatching level. That takes out the spot on RH%.

Fill us in on the incubator and how you are running it. Since you can hatch the chicken eggs the incubator shouldn't really be a factor but... We use the same settings. There is no reason to drop the temp when the eggs stop turning, 1/2 a degree doesn't really matter at the end and it's very hard to do at the same time you are rasing the RH%. lowering the temps is what is written in hatching manuals and doesn't really work in the incubator or under a hen for that matter. Most of the other BYC's that hatch turkey eggs will confirm this.

Are they pipping the shell? or not pipping? The RH at the end has nothing to do with with "soften the shells hard surface" the poult pips from the inside out and it's very wet inside the egg shell. It's as hard and solid as it's going to be once the egg is layed - As the egg develops it "draws down" and forms the air cell at the top of the shell, this is where the poult breaks into first and pips from there. If the poult can't pip and dies at the end or can't pip into the air cell your rh is to high. If it's to dry it will pip into the air cell but it won't be able to turn in the shell so that's as far as it will go.

I'm thinking your RH is to high from the beginning. and they aren't drawing down enough.

 

[lotzahenz]

Wilcol, did you buy your turkey eggs from someone? Is it common for them to be infertile? I know some turkeys have trouble breeding, right? I bought 6 from someone on here and 4 were completely clear, not fertile. I think 4 of 6 is poor fertility for someone selling hatching eggs though. And 5 is even worse. I am hoping the other two are okay, they are developing so far.

 

[willowcol]

yes I bought them from someone on here. The worst part was 1 started weeping 2 days after I put them in the bator, then 2 more about a week later. I am just happy I got 1 to hatch.

 

[MissPrissy]

A clear eggs does not mean the egg was not fertile. This is a HUGE mistake novice hatchers make and leaves a blight on a breeder that is very unfair.

Shipping is very hard on eggs. The slightest too much shaking and tossing around does just enough damage to prevent the cells from beginning to divide and develop.

The large numbers of new hatchers declaring clear eggs to infertile is why many breeders of very healthy and viable eggs refuse to offer them for sale.

Again - a clear, undeveloped egg is NOT a fertility issue in most cases.

 

[willowcol]

Sorry, I didn't mean it like it sounded I guess, I meant they never developed. I didn't fault the seller and left positive feedback on the eggs. Sorry if what I said was taken in a bad way.

 

[MissPrissy]

I was refering to the post above yours.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
I agree with this, I have had eggs( turkey) in the bator for a week appear clear then poof all of a sudden start developing. I never remove turkey eggs from the bator untill it shows obvious sign of being bad( weeping or smelly only)

Shipping eggs is always a hazard, I asked Miss Prissy not to mark they are eggs when I have the turkey eggs shipped , due in fact to my PO ensuring they are damaged when they arrive.
Its not the sellers fault when the PO is mean.