incubating turkey eggs

[upstateNYandy]

i have 2 bbb's. I think one is a tom only because they are both the same age & ones snood is hanging over his beak while the other is little more than a bump. I have been getting one egg a day for the past 5 days & would like to try to hatch one. Any tips? temp,turning & how long to hatch?

 

[yinepu]

days: 28
lockdown: day 24
temps: 99.5-101 F for forced air..
humidity: 50 % ... lockdown 80%.. drop temp tp 98-98.5 degrees

 

[A.T. Hagan]

80% humidity for the final three days may be a bit much for New York.

 

[Lagerdogger]

Before you incubate, you could check for fertility by cracking one open. If you search around you can find threads with pictures of fertile yolks so you know what to look for.

When I have to hand turn (I only have one autoturner), I turn them three times a day. The autoturner is nice. Lockdown humidity should be pretty high. I fill all the troughs and add a couple of sponges to try to keep humidity in the mid 70s during lockdown. The sponges tend to dry out, so I broke the rules and opened the incubator to re-wet the sponges whenever the humidity began to drop. I also drop the temperature to 97. Most of us probably worry a little more than we need to about the exact temperatures. Most thermometers disagree by a couple of degrees, so we never really know how warm it is. Last year I had two different types of laboratory thermometers and two of the little cheesy incubator thermometers, and a cheap digital. The measured temperatures spanned over 3 degrees. I ended up keeping the fancy digital thermometer at 97, which was about 99.5 on one of the cheap incubator thermometers, and 100 on the fancy lab thermometer. Even though the digital gave the wrong temperature, it was the easist to read without opening the bator.

Don't be afraind to let them sit longer than 28 days. They hatch very slowly, at least the early ones did. It was almost two days from first crack to hatch for the early birds. The late bird seemed to go from crack to hatch in about 8 hours.

Hope everything works out.

 

[Frosty]

If they are bbb's as in broad breasted bronze, they aren't likely to be fertile. It is possible, just not likely.

 

[yinepu]

A.T. Hagan :

80% humidity for the final three days may be a bit much for New York.

I dunno.. that's the way my family has hatched turkeys for years .. (most still live in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware)..

And it's also the recommendations that Porter gives for hatching turkeys on his site..
http://www.porterturkeys.com/egghatchingtips.htm


The last three days you want to soften the membrane.. if you go much lower than 80% the membrane tends to be too tough for them to get through​

 

[upstateNYandy]

thanks for the replies. it all sounds too much for what i want to get into at this point. it's amazing that eggs are able to hatch in nature with all the care thats required in regards to temp., humidity,turning & lock down.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Quote:
I dunno.. that's the way my family has hatched turkeys for years .. (most still live in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware)..

And it's also the recommendations that Porter gives for hatching turkeys on his site..
http://www.porterturkeys.com/egghatchingtips.htm


The last three days you want to soften the membrane.. if you go much lower than 80% the membrane tends to be too tough for them to get through

Everyone has to find what works best for them so if 80% is getting the job done for you then that's the way to go. I never go higher than 65% myself here in Florida and closer to sixty if I'm doing staggered hatches.

 

[ColbyNTX]

A.T. Hagan :

Quote:
I dunno.. that's the way my family has hatched turkeys for years .. (most still live in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware)..

And it's also the recommendations that Porter gives for hatching turkeys on his site..
http://www.porterturkeys.com/egghatchingtips.htm


The last three days you want to soften the membrane.. if you go much lower than 80% the membrane tends to be too tough for them to get through

Everyone has to find what works best for them so if 80% is getting the job done for you then that's the way to go. I never go higher than 65% myself here in Florida and closer to sixty if I'm doing staggered hatches.​

It is about what works for you. I run about 67% for my chicks, poults, pheasants, quail peafowl, ect. Me like A.T., live in a humid area so if I crank the humidity up to 80%, I will drown all the pips and my bator will pool up with water. Don't get too hung up about the humidity, just keep it 65% or a little greater at lock down.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
Everyone has to find what works best for them so if 80% is getting the job done for you then that's the way to go. I never go higher than 65% myself here in Florida and closer to sixty if I'm doing staggered hatches.

It is about what works for you. I run about 67% for my chicks, poults, pheasants, quail peafowl, ect. Me like A.T., live in a humid area so if I crank the humidity up to 80%, I will drown all the pips and my bator will pool up with water. Don't get too hung up about the humidity, just keep it 65% or a little greater at lock down.

drowning happens when the incubation humidity is too high.. NOT the lockdown humidity