- Mar 22, 2011
- 5
- 0
- 7
I totally blew it this time. This summer we are not selling heritage turkeys or Poulet Rouge meat chickens...I am soley working on perfecting incubating; besides spending the summer with my toddlers and training our ponies. Never mind that... My last hatch of chickens was great...seemingly perfect but some bantams died after they began to hatch. I had to leave town (lesson learned- before starting clutch, find out what you will be doing 21 days later) and my girlfriend let the incubator go dry...I think they couldn't get out. What do you think? However, had about a 60% good healthy hatch rate. About 18 chickens and 2 bantams.
This time I had some chickens, turkeys and guineas in incubator. Perhaps that was my first mistake? 2 chickens hatched healthy last week. When I was sure the others wouldn't hatch, I opened them (to learn from my mistake) and found them fully developed...
One guinea fowl has hatched and seems in perfect condition, the rest of the guinea eggs were fully develped but dead in the egg
My turkeys began to try to get out of the egg and one died with his beak sticking out, after a couple days, I helped 2 out and they couldn't seem to get out of the fetal/egg position. Never got upright just spun circles aroung the incubator and one died (the other is dying) and the rest of the turkeys were, again, fully developed but dead int he egg.
What am I doing wrong?
I should tell you, my 5 yo turned the incubator down to 75 and it was like that for 1 night before I fixed it and that was when the eggs had been in the incubator for a couple days. Then my partner shut off the fuse as he was doing some electrical work (supportive family, huh) and the next morning when I found out, the incubator was at 40 deg. So in one way, I was expecting nothing...but why did they get so far along and hten die?
This time I had some chickens, turkeys and guineas in incubator. Perhaps that was my first mistake? 2 chickens hatched healthy last week. When I was sure the others wouldn't hatch, I opened them (to learn from my mistake) and found them fully developed...
One guinea fowl has hatched and seems in perfect condition, the rest of the guinea eggs were fully develped but dead in the egg
My turkeys began to try to get out of the egg and one died with his beak sticking out, after a couple days, I helped 2 out and they couldn't seem to get out of the fetal/egg position. Never got upright just spun circles aroung the incubator and one died (the other is dying) and the rest of the turkeys were, again, fully developed but dead int he egg.
What am I doing wrong?
I should tell you, my 5 yo turned the incubator down to 75 and it was like that for 1 night before I fixed it and that was when the eggs had been in the incubator for a couple days. Then my partner shut off the fuse as he was doing some electrical work (supportive family, huh) and the next morning when I found out, the incubator was at 40 deg. So in one way, I was expecting nothing...but why did they get so far along and hten die?
