Second Hatch, Turkey Poults

[Ourlittlehollow]

Our Turkey Poults pipped internally last night around 5:30pm. No Peeping this morning but lots of rocking. I have a battery operated light inside the incubator that helps me see whats happening on the inside of the egg without opening the bator. Humidity has been perfect, temperature has been perfect, I was so excited for these ones to hatch! Then, the power blipped, three times and finally went out! I wrapped the incubator in a towel and waited quietly for a peep or an external pip… as of 8:00pm, movement was decreasing, still no external pip or peeping coming from the eggs. I opened the vent and moved the light against each egg to see what the heck was happening. One poult, was not breathing as much as this morning and one wasn't breathing at all. More than 24 hours had passed since first internal pip. Still no peeping, no external pip and movement was rapidly decreasing. Against my better judgment, I put a small hole in the egg to take a look at what was happening. Glad I did, the poult that pipped first was stuck, and gasping for air, the second poult pipped in the wrong spot, no where near the air sac and there was quite a bit of blood between the membrane and the shell. The blood wasn't from me it looks like the poult pipped through a large vein. Breathing was very shallow and sounded a bit gurggley. I wrapped both in warm damp paper towels and put them back in the bator. the temperature is managing to stay around 36.0 and humidity at 64%. Its the best I can do without power. I'm going to keep a close watch on the temperature in the bator, it's in the warmest part of the house, and check on the progress of the poults in two hours. Fingers crossed, and maybe my toes! These will hopefully be Blue Red Bronze Turkeys. The hen is a Slate Blue and the tom is a Ridley Bronze. What a learning curve hatching has been! We also have 9 standard chicken eggs under a broody bantam due to start hatching today! I'm not even going to think about those chicken eggs, our little broody Sophia is taking her job very seriously and so far the eggs have all developed normally and on time. I'll update the progress in a couple of hours. Thanks for reading.
!

 

[sumi]

Update?

 

[Ourlittlehollow]

Two of three Poults hatched. Both had clubfoot and were flipping over on their backs spontaneously. We used poly-vi-sol drops for both combined with electrolytes. The both became stable but their feet were/are an issue. I made shoes for the stronger of the two, left them on a day and stood him up to walk every few hours.

Today he/she is up and walking. The little one with the bloody shell and shallow breathing wasn't very strong yesterday so I left him/her to rest. Today we put shoes on the little one and propped him/her in a mason jar in a doughnut made of paper towels. We will know by tomorrow if there is an improvement. My fingers are crossed and I'm hoping for the best but the little ones lungs don't sound completely clear and is still a little weak. I will do my best but I am not optimistic. On a positive note, 6 standard chicks hatched today from under our broody bantam Sophia! I will post an update tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks for checking in. Our stronger little turkey pout looked up when the camera flashed. The chicks didn't even notice! This poult is a blue-red-bronze, the smaller one is a black slate (not visible in this photo).

 

[sumi]

Keeping fingers crossed for the weak little one.

Aww, look at that face!

So pretty, thanks for sharing!

 

[Ourlittlehollow]

I moved our stronger Turkey to the brooder and s/he is doing great. No more flipping over, feet are straight and strong. Little one is the same today, no change.
These are three of our orpington crosses: far right is one week older than the bantam and standard on the left.


Partridge Cochin over Orpington,(bantam) Red Frizzle Cochin over Orpington and, Partridge Cochin over Orpington

 

[sumi]

They are beautiful! Do I see a curious pup having look at the littles?

Still keeping my fingers crossed for the weak one. I hope it pulls through.

 

[Ourlittlehollow]

That curious pup is our old man dog zach. He watches them, all day and all night. When they started to peep inside the incubator he came and got me as if something might be wrong with the chicks! Its cute. He is a rescued red heeler. I would assume based on his behaviour with our livestock that he came from a working farm.

 

[sumi]

That is so sweet!

 

[Ourlittlehollow]

Had to cull our little black slate poult today. It was really struggling to breath and starting to become emaciated. I couldn't let it suffer anymore, it was clear that despite our best efforts it would not survive and we were prolonging the inevitable. I have slaughtered plenty of chickens and even a pig for consumption, but haven't ever had to cull a sick or injured animal. I suppose with the number of hatchlings we are hoping to have every year, this will be the first of many. It was an upsetting thing to have to do when it isn't about food. As a chef I am always able to make the distinction between pets and food. But it was different with that little poult, which I would have eventually slaughtered for meat, because it didn't have any quality of life. Culling is something I hope I never "get used to".

We have more turkeys hatching on Sunday. Because of the power outage and the humidity and temp fluctuations last week in my bator, I took the next batch of turkey eggs and put them under our broody bantam Sophia. I stole her chicks to put the turkey eggs under her. I am hoping once those turkeys hatch to sneak the other hatchlings back under her during the night. She is a wonderful broody. This was her first time. I know I shouldn't let her set for an extra week but I want the next batch of poults to really get the right start. Nature knows best. Her condition is still really good, she is eating and drinking plenty and I've added poly-vi-sol to her water and am feeding her a high protein crumble. She has a cushy pad inside our house in the front room. I am greatful for her skill set and am excited to watch her raise her mixed clutch of standard and bantam chicks, poults and ducklings. I think she is going to be great!

I will post again after next hatch, Monday or Tuesday.

Thanks for reading.

 

[sumi]

I'm so sorry to hear about the little one. I don't think that is something you can "get used to" doing. Or at least not easily…

Looking forward to seeing the next batch of hatchlings!