New to Turkeys, Hopefully

[scrambledmess]

I just ordered my first turkey eggs. They should arrive the end of the week. I have a million questions. Can anyone direct me to a short tutorial so I can skim that and then come back here for more specific questions.

Questions like:

What temp for the bator?
How many days?
When do you stop turning?
Can turkeys be in with chickens?
Can they eat the same feed?
How about when grown?
Is it safe to gather eggs? (I remember my grandmother's turkeys not being overly friendly)
What time of year do they usually go broody?
Etc, etc, etc

 

[syble]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=92240 there is the thread located in the stickey. incubating is 99.5 till hatch many people drop it down to 98 to prevent heat spikes. incubation lasts for 28 days, stop turning 3 days before. turkeys with chickens is a touchy subject because of black head. Turkeys in general need higher protein when growing at least then chicks. collecting eggs is a matter of the bird, unless they are broody they should be easy enough to collect. broody happens late spring, early summer. depends on if there are alot of eggs hanging around, they may brood sooner.
Sib

 

[Thomasturkey]

Most of your incubator question will be answered in chapter 4. http://www.albc-usa.org/EducationalResources/master_breeder_turkeys.html

Your question about food a disease passed by chickens is in this Manual. http://www.albc-usa.org/EducationalResources/turkeys.html

 

[Jmiller429]

in short form-
What temp for the bator? 99.5
How many days? 28
When do you stop turning? 25
Can turkeys be in with chickens? yes provided you understand associated poultry diseases risk
Can they eat the same feed? poults should be given a much higher protein ration to start over chicks, mine get 30 for 6 weeks, then the same 23 everyone else does
How about when grown? ALL my birds get free choice cracked corn and layer mix.
Is it safe to gather eggs? (I remember my grandmother's turkeys not being overly friendly) yes
What time of year do they usually go broody? after they have laid a clutch of eggs. (aprilish around here)
Etc, etc, etc - ?? keep asking ill answer.

 

[scrambledmess]

Thanks for the links and answering questions. I am so excited about these eggs. I really hope I have success with them. I didn't have any success with my chicken eggs. But I think their fertility was low.

 

[scrambledmess]

Another question on humidity in the incubator? I set my bator up about 8 hours ago. My eggs are due to arrive tomorrow. I seem to ahve the temp regulated. But I can't seem to get the humidity above 34%. I am using a Little Giant still air incubator with automatic turners. I have the water trays full in the bottom. Is there anything else I can do?

 

[scrambledmess]

I got it up to 52% by filling up the bottom of the tray rather then just the cups.