~*Third Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatch-Athon*~ all poultry welcome!

[mlm Mike]

I think its to late to do anything to mine. They are due to hatch on the 19th. What percentage of weight loss should they have at lock down? I candled last night and all are wiggling. I'm using a Brinsea Mini Advanced and through hatch ave kept water in one of the reservoirs per the instructions. It said to fill both sides. Its my first time using this incubator.

I follow their instructions for that incubator, you should be fine. Yes, fill both sides for lockdown. I don't know about the weight loss, I don't weigh my eggs.

 

[Alaskan]

OH, here is the website that had the clearest directions about measuring humidity during incubation.

http://www.avianaquamiser.com/posts/How_to_weigh_eggs_and_calculate_weight_loss/

 

[sonderah]

Un hatch a thin related, but my girl sure needs all the prayers she can get today from anyone who will. No 12 yr old should have to be so stressed out and afraid to go to school!!!

 

[uphilljill]

CONTEST ALERT!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-third-annual-cinco-de-mayo-turkey-hatchathon​

Photobomb Contest
Third Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatchathon (all poultry welcome)
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Do you have a camera hog in your flock?
This contest is for photos of domestic poultry who've inserted themselves (uninvited) into your photographs!


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ANY domestic fowl accepted!
Judges will choose finalists,
and then YOU vote for your favorites!

2 entries per contestant


Winner gets first choice of the prizes below, runner-up gets remaining prize:

1st Prize
12 Hen's Choice Hatching Eggs (donated by uphilljill)
This barnyard mix and may include eggs from Midget White turkey, Pearl Guinea fowl, LF Barred Plymouth Rock,
and Barred Rock/BLR Wyandotte crosses (up to the ladies at time of collection)

2nd Prize
Hen Saddle, size L (donated by uphilljill)

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If anyone else wants to donate prizes, please let me know! ​

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Contest Rules:
1. Open to all BYC members in the Continental U.S. (due to shipping of eggs.)
2. Contestants may submit no more than 2 photos.
3. Photos of any domestic fowl accepted.
4. Your submission must be your own photo and not used in a previous contest.
5. No photoshop allowed.
6. To submit your entries, simply post your photos in this thread.
7. Judges will choose finalists, and then YOU vote for your favorites.

Deadline for entry is May 1st, 2014 at midnight PST


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POST your images in this thread!



If you have not joined in the Third Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatchathon, join us here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...e-mayo-turkey-hatch-athon-all-poultry-welcome


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[Wisher1000]

But my question is, what is an "acceptable" % for selling hatching eggs? I know you cant guarantee a hatch or fertility but what would you say is acceptable in your opinion to sell them fairly?

When I order eggs from someone, I expect them to be fertile. I will not order from someone if they do not guarantee fertility.

When I ship eggs, I always make sure to test some from the pen to make sure they are fertile. Sometimes, a hen may not get fertilized, for what ever reason, and I will not ship her eggs, if that is the case. Even so, every now and then, one will show up in a batch that is not fertile, that is why I always send extras.

You can't guarantee hatch rate due to handling after it's shipped, but you should always send fertile eggs. JMHO...

ETA: I would try to determine why you are only getting 82%. Is it a particular hen? Is the male old? Are light and nutrient/trace elements requirements being met? Once the problem is found, and corrected, you should have no problem sending eggs that are 95 - 99% fertile. Then if you send one or two extra, your customers will get the number of fertile eggs they paid for.

If, after all this, I still inadvertently sent infertile eggs, I would replace them at my own expense. It's not worth losing reputation over. If I felt that the person was not being truthful, I would reship once, or refund their money, and not sell to them again, but I've never had that happen.

 

[yinepu]

MY GOODNESS! im so darn mad!

I came down to the coop this morning to find the lid lifted up. thankfully all 9 chickens were still in the coop.....but STILL. that meant there was SOMEONE WE DONT KNOW ON OUR PROPERTY MESSING WITH MY BIRDS! my mom claimed they were just looking at them, but that's what a coop is for right? keep the chickens in and the people out! they should've been messing with MY birds in the first place....I don't care who they are!

anymore.. when it comes to people messing around my birds... I shoot first (yeah I'm also a grumpy ol fart.. lol).. but after having a bunch of birds stolen last summer (all of my peafowl).. I don't bother with the "they were just looking" line...

 

[HEChicken]

this is my breeder's palm tom turkey.

I know NADA about turkeys and was just wanting to ask you all....does he seem to be a nice turkey, or from stock? also can you eat palms? how many days does it take for turkey poults? can they hatch early too?

He looks nice to me but I couldn't tell you anything about his breeding. I've had RP's for a couple of years but am not as familiar with SOP on them as with chickens.

When you ask "how many days" are you talking about incubation? They take 28 days to hatch. They can hatch early if the heat is too high but I wouldn't recommend that.

And yes, you most certainly can eat them. Last year I hatched and raised 20+ RP's for the CDM hatch, so they hatched the first week of May. In October I butchered a tom and he was absolutely enormous. It didn't even cost me that much to raise him to that size either. I kept them in a confined space for the first 10-12 weeks to get a good start on game bird feed, and then I turned them out to free-range. We had grasshoppers thick on the ground at the beginning of their free-range time but they cleared them out and ate a lot of greens as well. They spent all day out foraging and only returned to the coop to top up on commercial feed at the end of the day. The diet agreed with them - they were all healthy and good-sized by fall.

 

[HEChicken]

Last year I hatched and raised 20+ RP's for the CDM hatch, so they hatched the first week of May. In October I butchered a tom and he was absolutely enormous.

Here he is after butcher and skinning. After this I put him in an oven roasting bag, set the oven to 250 and slow cooked him for 8-10 hours. The meat was literally falling off the bones tender at that point. I divided it up into ziploc bags - ½-lb per bag and put away 5-lb of cooked meat (raw weighs more so that is a LOT of meat), and that didn't include the legs and wings which we kept out and ate immediately. In addition I ended up with a bunch of the liquid that had cooked out of him, which I keep and use in soups and casseroles. And the fat I save for cooking. The bones were thrown away at that point because they had already given up all their nutrition to the liquid.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
any fowl that you want to render flightless

you cut just past the joint.. leaving the little "thumb" intact.. so you do not cut through digit II.. but rather just under it (I place the scissors under digit II and snip the remaining wing

they use this method on all sorts of birds.. especially ones in zoological parks..

 

[JennaLynn122]

My silly chickens won't even eat grapes.

question though, how do you make sure the crop empties? And what do you do if it doesn't? I have an EE who I swear is a goldfish and she just eats and eats. Her crop is always a lot more full than the others. I'm giving them chick grit in their chick feed, but should I do more? Thanks!!

well right now its huge and visable just looking at her....

if it doesnt empty you treat them for impacted crop.

diagnosis and treatments>
Diagnosis
If you examine the chicken, the crop will feel very full, as if it is full of dough. The best time to do this is first thing in the morning (before the chicken has had a chance to eat any food) as the crop should empty overnight.

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Treatment in mild cases
It is important to treat an impacted crop quickly otherwise the bird will starve. In mild cases, the contents of the crop can be softened before emptying. Whilst this sounds difficult, it is in fact quite straight forward and usually does the trick in mild cases of impacted crop.​

Holding the bird firmly pour a couple of teaspoons of olive oil down its throat and then massage the crop for about 5 minutes, to soften the contents. This is probably best done by two people. Then turn your chicken upside down with its head away from you and massage the contents out through the beak for a short while. Do this for only about 10 seconds at a time and then turn it back the right way so that it can breathe properly. If you are at all concerned about doing this you should take the bird to a poultry vet.
Treatment in serious Cases
In more serious cases, when the crop cannot be emptied easily, you will need to take your chicken to the vet. A vet will usually have to open the crop up to empty the contents and then stitch the bird back up.


not sure if its any different for babies