Problems with turkeys hatching

[lisa69]

My Turkey make it alive to the hatch day but never make it out. If I help them out they die. If I leave them alone they don't make it out after pipping. I'v tried traditional humidity and dry hatching . Nothing seem to work out for them. Guineas in the same hatch did fine with a 100 percent hatch rate.

 

[R2elk]

My Turkey make it alive to the hatch day but never make it out. If I help them out they die. If I leave them alone they don't make it out after pipping. I've tried traditional humidity and dry hatching . Nothing seem to work out for them. Guineas in the same hatch did fine with a 100 percent hatch rate.

Saying that you use traditional humidity and dry hatching means nothing. What are your temperature and humidity settings?

You can have all kinds of problems hatching turkeys whose parents are too closely related.

Settings that work well for hatching guinea eggs don't necessarily work well for turkey eggs.

 

[lisa69]

this hatch temp is (9.5 -100) humidity was 35-45 now 60 percent for lock down. nature right 360 incubator, It is a staggered hatch

 

[R2elk]

this hatch temp is (9.5 -100) humidity was 35-45 now 60 percent for lock down. nature right 360 incubator, It is a staggered hatch

I incubate my turkey eggs at 99.5°F and 30% to 35% humidity. The hatcher is set at 99.5°F and 70% humidity. I don't do staggered hatches unless using a separate hatcher, especially with turkey eggs. If turkey eggs do not lose sufficient moisture over the course of the incubation, they may pip but tend to have a lot of late quitters and pips that fail to zip.

 

[FredsGobblers]

For me in a little giant incubator I found 50% humidity during incubation and 80% at lock down works best for me. I had the problem of poults pipping and zipping at 65% humidity at lock down but a lot were unable to actually break the membrane to fully hatch. My hatch rate is now in the 90% plus range.

 

[lisa69]

I incubate my turkey eggs at 99.5°F and 30% to 35% humidity. The hatcher is set at 99.5°F and 70% humidity. I don't do staggered hatches unless using a separate hatcher, especially with turkey eggs. If turkey eggs do not lose sufficient moisture over the course of the incubation, they may pip but tend to have a lot of late quitters and pips that fail to zip.

So what I'm doing is pretty close to what you do...except for the staggered hatch. By staggered I mean they are just a few days apart. One is pipping today but again not making much progress.

 

[lisa69]

For me in a little giant incubator I found 50% humidity during incubation and 80% at lock down works best for me. I had the problem of poults pipping and zipping at 65% humidity at lock down but a lot were unable to actually break the membrane to fully hatch. My hatch rate is now in the 90% plus range.

Did you help them when they couldn't break the membrane . One is piping today . I bumped the humidity to 70 % but like the others he is not making much progress. with my chickens and guinea eggs if they do not move along I open the air hole and bit and they usually make it out fine. After 12 hours I will unzip them if the make no progress at all. I am usually successful doing this but the turkey eggs just bleed like crazy if you help them at all.

 

[lisa69]

Hard to modulate the humidity as the air cells are drastically different from egg to egg.

 

[FredsGobblers]

yes I helped them in the beginning before I figured out needed a much higher humidity. I carefully moistened with hot water (about 100 degrees) and paper towel and removed as much of the membrane as possible avoiding any blood vessels. I then used coconut oil to moisten the edges of any membrane left and let them work themselves out of the shell after that.

 

[lisa69]

yes I helped them in the beginning before I figured out needed a much higher humidity. I carefully moistened with hot water (about 100 degrees) and paper towel and removed as much of the membrane as possible avoiding any blood vessels. I then used coconut oil to moisten the edges of any membrane left and let them work themselves out of the shell after that.

did they survive