Some questions about raising Bourbon Reds

[Blue Legs]

Today is the day, gonna start my first hatch attempt of bourbon reds. Managed to find 22 turkey eggs over the last 2 weeks or ten days. They have been in a cool 50-60f room until yesterday when I brought them into a normal 68-70f room to come to room temp. The incubator has been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and is currently warming up to the proper temp. My plan is to maintain them at 99f, but where should I try to keep the humidity? Are there any other big differences between this and hatching chickens other than the length of incubation?

Thank you R2Elk for all your help so far, everything has been going very smoothly

 

[R2elk]

If your incubator is a forced air unit, shoot for 99.5°F to 100°F for the temperature.

 

[Blue Legs]

Well, I have candled the eggs twice so far and things seem to be going well. Of 22 eggs, 1 was discarded as it appeared infertile, 1 is undetermined, and 19 showed signs of growth on both days 7 and 9. Five of them even had visible heart beats or fluttering of some sort so I'm 100 percent on those being healthy.

One of the hens has taken to trying to sleep in a nearby tree that she has found convenient to branch hop up as she has clipped wings. Is it safe to allow them to stay out at night if they are off the ground 5-10 feet? My yard is fenced in but is surrounded by riparian land that is crawling with racoons, possum, coyote etc. I have lost smaller birds in the past that slept outside, but nothing as large as a full grown turkey.

What do you have your turkeys nesting in R2elk? I've saved up another two dozen eggs since this last batch has been sitting and I was going to see if I could get one of the girls to do some hatching for me. Mine are currently laying in a few consistent places but none that are safe. I was thinking about building a box 4'x2'x2' or something but was also considering just cutting a side off a large plastic tote and sticking it in their night run?

 

[R2elk]

Well, I have candled the eggs twice so far and things seem to be going well. Of 22 eggs, 1 was discarded as it appeared infertile, 1 is undetermined, and 19 showed signs of growth on both days 7 and 9. Five of them even had visible heart beats or fluttering of some sort so I'm 100 percent on those being healthy.

One of the hens has taken to trying to sleep in a nearby tree that she has found convenient to branch hop up as she has clipped wings. Is it safe to allow them to stay out at night if they are off the ground 5-10 feet? My yard is fenced in but is surrounded by riparian land that is crawling with raccoons, possum, coyote etc. I have lost smaller birds in the past that slept outside, but nothing as large as a full grown turkey.

What do you have your turkeys nesting in R2elk? I've saved up another two dozen eggs since this last batch has been sitting and I was going to see if I could get one of the girls to do some hatching for me. Mine are currently laying in a few consistent places but none that are safe. I was thinking about building a box 4'x2'x2' or something but was also considering just cutting a side off a large plastic tote and sticking it in their night run?

If you have raccoons and owls, turkeys nesting in trees are at risk to them.My roosts are mostly 4" diameter corral poles set up at staggered heights from 3' to 6' high. The section of the run where their roosts are, is beside the coop and below 2" flight netting.

The majority of my hens have hidden nests in an area about 1 1/2 acres that has 2"x4"x6' welded wire perimeter fencing. I proactively trap ground predators so that the area is relatively safe. I don't clip wings and hens that get their nests disturbed during the night may lose eggs but the hens themselves usually fly into the run for protection.

I haven't had any coyotes inside the perimeter area since I put up the fence. Great Horned Owls tend to leave the adult turkeys alone.

I have pallets that are leaned against a wall that have been used as nests in the past but most of my turkeys prefer to get away all the nuisance of the chickens and prefer their hidden nests. One turkey hen is laying in an over sized chicken nest box.

Some people use the Dogloos for nest sites. At least one person I know had success cutting an entrance hole in the middle of a 55 gallon plastic drum. I recommend making drain holes if this is set up outside. Some people put some straw in a plastic tote that the hens use.

 

[Blue Legs]

Thank you again for your helpful suggestions R2elk. I ended up laying a 55 gallon open top barrel sideways in a corner of their run, on a slight angle down, and lined the bottom by gluing on mylar bubble wrap insulation. I filled it about 1/3 of the way with a mix of straw and pine shavings and then added 18 eggs I had been collecting over the last week or so. At first they turned their nose up to it, but then I added a few dozen 3-4' bambos shoved in the ground around the barrel and then put some corrugated metal roofing panels as cover. Now one is laying eggs on it and organizing and will hopefully start sitting soon... Fingers crossed. Will take some pics today, its hard to describe precisely in words. I was also going to set eggs some under some of my chickens, what is an appropriate amount for an average sized hen?

 

[R2elk]

Thank you again for your helpful suggestions R2elk. I ended up laying a 55 gallon open top barrel sideways in a corner of their run, on a slight angle down, and lined the bottom by gluing on mylar bubble wrap insulation. I filled it about 1/3 of the way with a mix of straw and pine shavings and then added 18 eggs I had been collecting over the last week or so. At first they turned their nose up to it, but then I added a few dozen 3-4' bambos shoved in the ground around the barrel and then put some corrugated metal roofing panels as cover. Now one is laying eggs on it and organizing and will hopefully start sitting soon... Fingers crossed. Will take some pics today, its hard to describe precisely in words. I was also going to set eggs some under some of my chickens, what is an appropriate amount for an average sized hen?

I had a stout bodied Brahma/Cornish cross hen that I could stick 6 turkey eggs under.

 

[Stouffer]

Individual hens may lay different amounts of eggs. Some will lay every other day. Some will lay 3 days in a row and skip a day. Some will lay 2 days in a row and skip a day.

If nothing stops them from laying, they can lay from spring to fall. If a hen is allowed to go broody, hatch and raise her poults, she may be done laying until the next year.

Eggs that are laid when the temperatures are frigid can freeze and not develop. I collect the eggs for the first couple weeks and incubate them. After that I let the hens go broody and hatch their own eggs.

are the turkey eggs good to eat? thanks

 

[R2elk]

are the turkey eggs good to eat? thanks

Turkey eggs like other poultry eggs are good to eat. They are prized for baking and make superb custards.

Because of the size of the eggs it is easy to overcook the whites while waiting for the yolks to get done. Scrambling them avoids this potential problem.

 

[Blue Legs]

Well, I seem to have finally diagnosed my hatching problems, but it did cost me a whole hatch of bresse and almost this whole batch of turkeys. My incubator thermometer probe likes to be resting against an egg to give reliable temperatures. For months now I couldnt understand why it was so far off -it was reading 104 when it was 99- and now it seems much more correct and correlates closely with a good digital probe I have in there. I have the temp 'stabilized' to the point where it cycle between 98.4 and 100.6f, with a median temp of 99.5/6. Is this much range ok ? I am going to eventually get a better incubator, considering the Brinsea Ovation 56 advanced. Have you found a particular incubator works well for you R2elk or huntmaster? I'd like to be able to hatch 15-30 at a time, and do chickens/ducks at times as well.

In other news, the hens are turning their nose up at their barrel nest, in spite of several relocation attempts. One of them has starting laying eggs near my compost stalls, so I think I'm going to fence the spot in top-bottom-sides and then wire it shut at night. Hopefully I can keep my dogs away while the nest fills, one of them spends a good amount of time every day hunting the eggs. Its a bit of a competition to see who gets to them first lol