Staggered Turkey hatch? How long do I wait?

[Chicken Love]

Our Royal Palm hen "Tasha" was discovered with a nest of 17 eggs on Aug 23rd. Sometime within the 28 following days, counts were as high as 22 eggs in the nest, so obviously she wasn't done laying when we found her, though she was on and off the nest. On Saturday Sept 22, poults began to hatch and she was out of the nest with 7 healthy babes on Sunday the 23rd; a couple had died half-hatched or just after hatching. We put the rest in the incubator. One more hatched on Monday the 24th. We candled the rest and it seems there are 7 left with babies in them; they are still in the incubator. How long should I wait before I give up on these last 7? I have done the float test in the past and it doesn't work for me: Eggs that look "dead" actually have healthy chicks in them, so please don't recommend that method. Other suggestions most welcome though!

 

[Oregon Blues]

You can leave them in until they start to stink. There is no reason that dead eggs must be removed immediately. Leave them in a couple more weeks if you think they might still have a chance of hatching.

 

[Chicken Love]

Do YOU think they still have a chance at hatching?

 

[Celie]

Do YOU think they still have a chance at hatching?

I hatch all of my turkey eggs in an incubator, which usually takes from 26 to 28 days, but a few will take the whole 30 days. After 33 days in the incubator, I would throw them out, as not to have them rot and explode in the incubator! But that's just what I would dthers might have other ideas.

 

[Lagerdogger]

If you candled them, you should have seen movement in live eggs. Candle them again and see if they are moving. About 4 days before they hatch, they get pretty solid and movement is hard to detect. So if they are not moving, or not very dark and solid looking, open them up and see. At least then you can learn how good you are at candling.