I woke up to one turkey pip this morn
~*Third Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatch-Athon*~ all poultry welcome!
- Thread starter ChooksChick
- Start date
Winteree, I'm sorry for your frustration with the eggs but I wonder if you are confusing the term "infertile" with "failure to develop" - they are two very different things. I see way too many times where an egg fails to develop and the immediate conclusion jumped to is that the eggs are "infertile".
Fertility is when the rooster/tom/drake/gander has mated the female and introduced his sperm to the egg. An egg that is fertile will - under the right conditions - develop into a fetus and eventually into a chick/poult/duckling/gosling.
However there are many things along the way that can affect the ability of the egg to develop correctly. Sitting out in the sun and baking. Or the opposite - being left at a cold temperature for too long and freezing. A temperature that is too low for the embryo to sustain development. Poor genetics.
When you throw shipping into the mix, you have even more factors to consider. Many experienced hatchers - who expect 100% development from their own eggs, are happy with 50% from shipped eggs. Arielle mentioned many of the challenges faced by shipped eggs. I personally had an expensive shipment of marans eggs develop and hatch out a single chick. It is frustrating and heartbreaking and when you add up the cost, you realize that one chick is a very expensive little chick. But it is the reality with shipped eggs. And it is the risk we take when we order shipped eggs.
There are unscrupulous people who knowingly ship infertile eggs. But a hatchery has a reputation at stake and cannot afford to do the same. It is always possible for an egg or two to slip through unfertilized, even from a male who is doing his job. You can't know without cracking them and looking for the bullseye if a specific egg is fertile or not. But the odds are very much in favor of the hatchery sending fertile eggs and the failure to develop being either shipping or incubation conditions - or a combination of the two.
Fertility is when the rooster/tom/drake/gander has mated the female and introduced his sperm to the egg. An egg that is fertile will - under the right conditions - develop into a fetus and eventually into a chick/poult/duckling/gosling.
However there are many things along the way that can affect the ability of the egg to develop correctly. Sitting out in the sun and baking. Or the opposite - being left at a cold temperature for too long and freezing. A temperature that is too low for the embryo to sustain development. Poor genetics.
When you throw shipping into the mix, you have even more factors to consider. Many experienced hatchers - who expect 100% development from their own eggs, are happy with 50% from shipped eggs. Arielle mentioned many of the challenges faced by shipped eggs. I personally had an expensive shipment of marans eggs develop and hatch out a single chick. It is frustrating and heartbreaking and when you add up the cost, you realize that one chick is a very expensive little chick. But it is the reality with shipped eggs. And it is the risk we take when we order shipped eggs.
There are unscrupulous people who knowingly ship infertile eggs. But a hatchery has a reputation at stake and cannot afford to do the same. It is always possible for an egg or two to slip through unfertilized, even from a male who is doing his job. You can't know without cracking them and looking for the bullseye if a specific egg is fertile or not. But the odds are very much in favor of the hatchery sending fertile eggs and the failure to develop being either shipping or incubation conditions - or a combination of the two.
Turkeys are hatching! 7 out so far this morning, many more pips and a few zips in there. It's so hard not opening the incubator to scoop them out 35 were developing Saturday out of 56 originally set, it's our first time incubating/hatching in a hovabator, grateful for enabler neighbors lending us their incubators
35 were developing Saturday out of 56 originally set, it's our first time incubating/hatching in a hovabator, grateful for enabler neighbors lending us their incubators 
Is that a White Park baby?My first pipper is finally zipping - hasn't opened the lid yet, though, about half way around. five more pips reading magazines in there. Has four more calves this morning - unfortunately, one of them is this kind:
Didn't realize mama had twins, and she thought she'd have to kill us. (Usually, they're very calm - most are curry-comb addicts!) Fell, tried to catch self, but... I broke my left wrist last Saturday, and it isn't scheduled to be set until Wednesday because of the swelling... could not get back up quickly. Fortunately, DH was there to save me life. It's been an exciting day and I want more pain medication. The chick is going off in the incubator- I think it's out. Will take pics later, but they're all standard LF breeds and mostly BO's, so not very exciting, LOL.
Turkeys are hatching! 7 out so far this morning, many more pips and a few zips in there. It's so hard not opening the incubator to scoop them out35 were developing Saturday out of 56 originally set, it's our first time incubating/hatching in a hovabator, grateful for enabler neighbors lending us their incubators
I am not famililar with the hovabator-- but do use the LG. What I noticed is that the hatched chicks started to die when bator was filling up with hatchlings. Now I remove chicks , only leaving the newest ones to fluff out.
my hatch is over... 2 royal palm turkeys, out of 6 eggs, 3 of which were infer
tile,1 drowned when hatching, and the 2 live one.
and 53 chicks. I'll post a find the turkeys in the pictures....or the turkin all the same color
tile,1 drowned when hatching, and the 2 live one.
and 53 chicks. I'll post a find the turkeys in the pictures....or the turkin all the same color
This is exactly what I want! Did you buy them locally or from somewhere that ships? I would be afraid to have one shipped but am not opposed to taking a weekend drive.I have 2 Nigeriean Dwarf does. They are super cute, they can get a little loud sometimes. I have yet to breed them so no milk for us but I plan to breed them this fall.
Are the poults in the bottom pic towards the back in the middle? They look taller than the chicks.my hatch is over... 2 royal palm turkeys, out of 6 eggs, 3 of which were infertile,1 drowned when hatching, and the 2 live one. and 53 chicks. I'll post a find the turkeys in the pictures....or the turkin all the same color
yep you can barely see the turkin it is yellow
They are adorable. I could barely see them! I love these pics. Super cute fluffiness.
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
-
-
-
-
How intense is your pecking order?
- Started by thecatumbrella
- Replies: 96
-
