My Turkey egg progress

[kambrose]

?

?

Dead
Open

Any ideas on the ones that could possibly have died?
We now have 9 total out of 14

 

[WVduckchick]

Full bottoms at this stage are good. The pics of air cells look fine too, they are just starting to draw down because its almost time. The 3rd pic has a little clear-ish area, so that chick could come out a little sticky, but could also clear up within the next few days and be fine.

Are the last 2 open pictures from the same egg? Looks like it just quit before starting to absorb the yolk. Toes are curled, wings look a little under-developed. Hard to say why the poor fella just gave up.

 

[kambrose]

Yes. It was the last egg and saw lots of room underneath which made us believe he quit earlier. Then we checked above and really tried to see if we saw movement and couldn't.

If the air cell detaches and moves, is that an indicator that it died? Or do they move a little?

For those who are curious
Our humidity is between 30-55. When it drops we add water. Last about a day.
Our thermometer says 100 but our digital seems touchy and says 101-102. I don't know if I trust that if our normal thermometer says 100.

And it's on a rotator.

Now we have humidity up to 60-65, highest we can get. I might need to add more surface rags.

Our thermometer says 98
But digital says 98.8-91.1 maybe a tad higher at times.

 

[WVduckchick]

I've never seen an air cell detach and move, so I'm not sure. What kind of incubator? Were they upright, or laying down (prior to lockdown)?

 

[kambrose]

Brisnea
And they were upright. Big end up of course.
We just layed them on there sides now.

 

[WVduckchick]

The air cells will draw down after they are laid down, but usually its a day or so after, I believe. That's why I asked, I thought maybe they were already laying down during the initial days.

Here's a picture (screenshot of a video) of one of my duck eggs after a couple days of lockdown, light shining through the window. You can see how much further the air cell was down from my last line. But the part of the egg closest to the floor actually stayed about at the line, or even higher. They say the Brinsea's are nearly foolproof... so my other question is what do you know about the origin of the eggs? Maybe they just weren't good stock? How were they handled, how old were they... There are so many reasons for chicks to quit...

 

[kambrose]

I got the eggs from Porters Heritage turkeys.
I don't know too much about them.
They were shipped to me and wrapped good.
I had 4 infertile eggs.

I'm worried I kept too much water in there now. What is the limit before they "drown"? How to know if they drowned?
Or my thermometer is all wrong and it was too hot for them! :/

 

[WVduckchick]

I know this won't help, but try to stop worrying. This far into it, you will just have to hope for the best. Is this your first hatch? They still grow alot during these last days, so it could all be fine! I would suggest testing your thermometer and hygrometer though. They are too important to the whole process for you not to know if they are accurate. Were you only using the units meters? Luckily I think Brinseas are usually pretty good. 30-35 should have been good early on. I prefer about 75 for lockdown. I've read that you can add a towel under the basket and let it hang in the water on both sides and it usually helps humidity. I think Porter has a good reputation too. So I don't think you could do much more than you have.

 

[kambrose]

Good to hear about Porters.
And thank you!

Yes, this is my first hatch. I'm all nervous about it mostly because it's my first and putting money into it. You just want it to work!
But I'll take a deep breath and hope for the best. I'll keep you updated this weekend. They will hatch Sunday!

 

[kambrose]

Hatched 3 days early.

Does his yolk area look ok?

I have another semi cracked one but I don't see a air hole. It's not moving.. I am nervous. Maybe reading too many bad stories on babies dying.
Do you think I should make a air hole for the semi cracked one?