rookie mistakes?

[Burning Beard]

So I am a rookie and made a few mistakes. My first mistake is that I put my two chicken eggs in the bator same day as my 9 turkey eggs. I now realize that if they were to hatch they would prior to the turkeys and possibly contaminate the eggs. Secondly I set the temp at 91 instead of 101. I candled at day 7 and day 14 and one of the chicken eggs look good and six of the turkey look good with two more maybes. On day 18 I stopped turning the chicken eggs but continued to turn the turkey eggs. On day 19 the temperature spiked to 102 for some reason and I then turned it back down to 91. Day 21 came and went and the chicken egg didn't hatch. It is now day 24 and no signs of hatch from the chicken egg. In the meantime I have turned the temp up to around 100.

My question is, have I screwed up the entire batch by what I have done as described above? Will the chicken hatch in the next couple of days with the rise in temp? Have I screwed up the turkeys with the fluxuation in temps? If not should I expect the hatch to be beyond the 28th day?

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[midget_farms]

Welcome to the group -

I have never done turkeys - so I can't answer that portion. The chicken eggs however will develop very very slowly if the temp is too low. You had the temp at 91 for most of the time - so it could be as much as another week before they go. They should be OK though - 102* spike is not that high & wouldn't hurt the chickens.

Definately next time though try to keep to 1 type of egg & dont add any after you start the first batch.

 

[redhd077]

Quote:
I feel for ya! I am new at this too! I hope it all turns out for you!

 

[shesaredroan]

Quote:

Burning Beard......now that you've found BYC you have a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips!!!
I have always kept my 'bator temp set at 99.5 degrees......there is never a reason to change the temp during incubation.
There are many different threads here at BYC, spend time searching and you will find answers to all your questions.

 

[Suechick]

Hi Burning Beard and

Hatching is nerve wracking!!!@

for sure

If your temp was at 91 for a lot of the incubation then your embyos didn't develop as fast as they would at 99-100. So it would make sense to have a late hatch. I don't know if they will make it but I'd def give them a few more days for sure

Good luck! And don't give up if this one doesn't work try again!!

 

[Burning Beard]

Thank you for the Welcome!

I guess my real question is with the temp 10 degrees cooler than it should be for almost 3/4 of the incubation, is my hatch lost and if not should I expect delay of up to a week?

Thanks again!

 

[mbnewby]

i incubate both turkey and chicken at the same time and have now real problem

 

[midget_farms]

You can candle the eggs to see if they are still viable - I'd bet they are fine (at least some of them) just late. Give them another week no matter what - we have people here who keep the temps just right all the way through & get chicks that will hatch 2 or 3 days late.

 

[Burning Beard]

Thanks Mig. Tomorrow is supposed to be lock down for the turkeys so I'll candle tonight and report back.

Hopefully we are still in business.

 

[Burning Beard]

Ok here is my report and I don't believe it is a good one. I candled all of the eggs again. Keep in mind thta today is day 24. The two chicken eggs had only a small mass. I eggtopsied them and found only a very early stage embryo in each. I then candled the turkey eggs. I found three clear eggs with no development which matches what I found in the day 14 candling. I found only one that had a mass about as large as half of the egg. Towards the cone of the egg there appeared to be a jelly-like mass that moved as I turned the egg. Being a greenhorn I'm not sure if this is a good sign or not. Then there was an egg or two that had a similar mass but was a third smaller and the last three only appeared to have a mass that was the quarter the size of the egg towards the bottom of the egg.

All eggs oterh than the chicken eggs were placed back in the incubator and the temp is stablized at 101 degrees. PLEASE give me feed back on what I saw and if there is any hope for any to hatch and if at least the larger mass is on schedule. Hatch was supposed to be Saturday but I'm sure I slowed the growth with the low temp so should I still stop turning tomorrow or do it for a few more days?

Thanks again and don't be afraid to tell me the honest truth.