Only 3 poults out of 9 eggs :(

[Humble Shack Farm]

Okay, so we bought some turkey eggs (red bourbon) from someone local and we're at the hatch date now. We started with nine eggs, freshly collected, but it looks like only two will hatch. I had to throw several out over the last few weeks as I found them not developing. Is this kind of hatch rate normal for turkeys?

This is our first time hatching turkeys. I have hatched dozens of chickens with much better success (or should I say my hens have because they do all the brooding I don't have an incubator). I have even had better success with our duck eggs although not as good as with the chickens. Oh, and just to be clear, the hens have done an excellent job sitting on these eggs so the hatch rate is not their fault.

Anyways, two turkeys is not as many as we were hoping for. We wanted 6-8 to start a breeding flock. So now our options are to get more eggs from the same source and see how it goes again, purchase poults from a hatchery next year when they're available again, buy hatching eggs and have them shipped from a small farm a few hours north of us, or continue a what has been up to now fruitless search for poults already hatched by a local farm in our area. What would you do?

 

[R2elk]

Okay, so we bought some turkey eggs (red bourbon) from someone local and we're at the hatch date now. We started with nine eggs, freshly collected, but it looks like only two will hatch. I had to throw several out over the last few weeks as I found them not developing. Is this kind of hatch rate normal for turkeys?
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This is our first time hatching turkeys. I have hatched dozens of chickens with much better success (or should I say my hens have because they do all the brooding I don't have an incubator). I have even had better success with our duck eggs although not as good as with the chickens. Oh, and just to be clear, the hens have done an excellent job sitting on these eggs so the hatch rate is not their fault.

Anyways, two turkeys is not as many as we were hoping for. We wanted 6-8 to start a breeding flock. So now our options are to get more eggs from the same source and see how it goes again, purchase poults from a hatchery next year when they're available again, buy hatching eggs and have them shipped from a small farm a few hours north of us, or continue a what has been up to now fruitless search for poults already hatched by a local farm in our area. What would you do?

I recommend finding a different source. Why not drive the couple of hours to pick up hatching eggs from the other farm. You will be much gentler on the eggs than having them shipped.

I don't recommend having the chickens brood the poults. The imprinting causes the turkeys to lose the ability to understand that chickens are not turkeys. You really don't want turkeys treating your chickens as if they are turkeys.

 

[cmobley]

Turkey eggs are a totally different animal from a chicken egg. I lost a ton before I started dialing in my incubators and learning from people that hatch alot. I tried the eggs under chickens it didn't work for me they seemed to struggle trying to keep them under them and rotated. My bourbon red hen did an excellent job at hatching all her eggs. Since I've started doing things different I usually get in the high 90s percent hatch rate and alot of times 100 percent. I live in South Alabama so with the high humidity here I only dry incubate. I have 20 poults right now 10 are 10 weeks old and 10 are a week old I have 8 eggs in my incubator thatll hatch end of this month and getting a couple eggs daily.

 

[Humble Shack Farm]

cmobley Okay. I'm also in South AL (Wilmer) so we're close. You wouldn't happen to have any eggs or poults you want to sell? Or maybe in the future?
We are trying to get a flock started but we got a late start for this year. We hope that next year the turkey hens can take over the hatching job that my chickens normally do. (I don't even have an incubator.) We thought we were lined up to get some poults from a local hobby farm and then they gave them to someone else Trying to support small local businesses but they didn't help themselves.


R2elk Can't drive that far. Also, I don't have any turkeys or incubators to use to hatch my eggs so the chickens get the job. I haven't had any issues raising turkeys and chickens together in the past and the turkeys will have a separate living space very soon.

 

[R2elk]

R2elk Can't drive that far. Also, I don't have any turkeys or incubators to use to hatch my eggs so the chickens get the job. I haven't had any issues raising turkeys and chickens together in the past and the turkeys will have a separate living space very soon.

I have used chicken hens to successfully hatch turkey eggs. Don't try to put too many eggs under one hen. When I let chickens hatch poults, as soon as the poults are dry I take them from the chickens and put them in a brooder.

Buying and selling are prohibited outside of the Buy/Sell forum. If you want to have such a discussion here, do it in a conversation previously referred to as a PM.

 

[Humble Shack Farm]

I have used chicken hens to successfully hatch turkey eggs. Don't try to put too many eggs under one hen. When I let chickens hatch poults, as soon as the poults are dry I take them from the chickens and put them in a brooder.

Buying and selling are prohibited outside of the Buy/Sell forum. If you want to have such a discussion here, do it in a conversation previously referred to as a PM.

Okay. I was also going to put the poults in a brooder. I did have the eggs split between several hens to make sure they weren't sitting on more than they could keep warm

Thank you for letting me know. We will use the conversation option.

 

[Emmaloveschickens9156]

cmobley Okay. I'm also in South AL (Wilmer) so we're close. You wouldn't happen to have any eggs or poults you want to sell? Or maybe in the future?
We are trying to get a flock started but we got a late start for this year. We hope that next year the turkey hens can take over the hatching job that my chickens normally do. (I don't even have an incubator.) We thought we were lined up to get some poults from a local hobby farm and then they gave them to someone else Trying to support small local businesses but they didn't help themselves.


R2elk Can't drive that far. Also, I don't have any turkeys or incubators to use to hatch my eggs so the chickens get the job. I haven't had any issues raising turkeys and chickens together in the past and the turkeys will have a separate living space very soon.

They have affordable incubators on Amazon. And temu. I have zero experience with turkeys, but this is the incubator I use, and I have a great hatch rate.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/little-giant-still-air-incubator