Too late to stop incubation?

[AVizcaya]

Ok, 2 eggs were taken away at 8 hours of incubation and 6 were taken away at 24 hours of incubation, if anyone is interested I will update this when hatch time comes for my third hen. With 8 eggs in the nest, plus maybe 12 more she will want to lay, we are looking at 14 days until she goes broody, so in 5 weeks we will know. Long time ain't it?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

There was talk on here about people that would incubate eggs for 48 hours before shipping saying that after that they handled shipping better an the person on the other end would get better hatches. Dont think any proof was ever given ether way....

 

[AVizcaya]

That is very interesting. I can't find any reference material on it and appreciate the information. We all just end up playing a game of trial and error anyways. What's the worst that can happen? We loose several eggs. Oh well, life goes on, but maybe someone can learn from our experiences.

 

[Irish Ridge]

I don't mean to hijack the thread but I have to know...

What breed of Turkeys do you have???
I never had any luck getting the Bronze Turkeys we had to breed.

 

[AVizcaya]

Quote:
No problem, turkeys don't get discussed much outside of the turkey forum. I have bourbon reds, getting some Wishard standard bronze very soon. If they were Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys they are unable to breed naturally. They have been bread for high breast meat production which makes the male too top heavy to breed the hen. If they were standard bronze (heritage/heirloom 25lbs max)... well.... they don't start breeding until they are 1 year of age... in the spring... can't think of a reason they wouldn't breed, all of the same sex? hehe, no clue. That is like a rooster not mounting a hen, it just doesn't happen

 

[KellyHM]

I regularly steal eggs out from under my broody Silkies, since everyone else likes to lay in their nest boxes. The eggs are in there for up to 24 hours since I only collect them once a day. I haven't had any issues storing them for later incubation.

 

[Irish Ridge]

Thanks! I suspect it was one of the meat strains. The tom got really huge and fat, he eventually messed his leg up and we had him butchered. He was so big we had to put him in the turkey pan sideways! lol Thanks for the info.

 

[AVizcaya]

Quote:
Oh yeah, that's a meat boy, he was tasty, wasn't he?!?! hehe I always tempt myself into getting a couple more big boys for my special recipe. I take the breast meat off and slice it about 1/2inch thick against the grain, marinate it in buttermilk with seasonings, bread it, and you have the most awesome chicken fried turkey steak in this world. Just can't do that with these smaller heritage birds, but oh well.

Quote:
Good to know. Just get paranoid sometimes. When my broody chicken took a break, I went to check in on her later in the day and she had gotten into the wrong nest and her eggs were cold. I called up my all knowing grandmother, her reply, "Don't even worry about it, that happens all the time, she will still hatch some out, quit worrying!" Our older generations just understand better, nature can handle more than we think.