Turkenstein25's Turkey Talk for 2015

[WalnutHill]

I am very happy for you.

I've managed to kill most of my Bourbon Reds just before hatch.

 

[chickadoodles]

WalnutHill I am so sorry.

Feedman that is a very good hatch rate! Congrats!

 

[feedman77]

I am very happy for you.

I've managed to kill most of my Bourbon Reds just before hatch.

Sorry about your bourbons.
If those were the late deaths. If I could ask what happened to them.

 

[feedman77]

WalnutHill I am so sorry. 

Feedman that is a very good hatch rate! Congrats!

thank you.

 

[feedman77]

Well my hatch made me feel good.

Went out this morning and checked on some of my broody birds. 2 of my outside nests were destroyed. I have not found the hens yet. But there was no signs of the hen getting killed. No feathers or blood. Just empty nests.

Looks like game cams are gonna have to come out to figure out what predator it is.

 

[WalnutHill]

Sorry about your bourbons.
If those were the late deaths. If I could ask what happened to them.

This was the first and second run of turkeys through my new incubator. I ran a tray of chicken eggs through, hatched out great. I ran another tray of chicken eggs through and transferred to a foam bator for hatching, and cooked them. So I ran the Bourbon Red through the incubator, had great growth from shipped eggs, and raised the humidity in the cabinet for hatching. The first two pipped, one dripped amniotic fluid through the pip and drowned, the second pipped the shell but could not break through a very rubbery membrane with no air cell visible. Third was upside down and pipped the small end, and fourth looked like it was doing just fine but quit. I have one more pip in there, and a few more chances.

With the hatchers out of the cabinet, I candled the Midget White, eggs from my hens, and chicken eggs that are in the incubator. Air cell growth is good, no surprises there. So I am not sure what happened with the Bourbon Reds, perhaps early high humidity? Or maybe chilled a long while during shipping (it was a cold spell and the shipping route was 2000 miles along the northern frontier).

Out of the first 25 eggs, I got 3 hatched, 2 quit during hatch, other 10 that went to lockdown failed between days 21 and 28.

Out of the second 25 eggs, 19 made it to lockdown, 4 quit during hatch, 9 are still in the hatcher, and 6 quit between days 21 and 28. Air cells on the remaining eggs are bigger than those that already attempted, but are still not as big as I am used to seeing with chicken eggs.

ANY suggestions from experienced turkey hatchers are welcome. I want to hatch them, not kill them. Pips start one day before calendar hatch date, so temps seem okay.

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: I am not a pro but lets see if Ron can suggest something he is the hatching pro for BYC @ronott1 can you please help with some suggestions for WalnutHill.

And I am so sorry you are having problems with your hatching.

 

[ronott1]

This was the first and second run of turkeys through my new incubator. I ran a tray of chicken eggs through, hatched out great. I ran another tray of chicken eggs through and transferred to a foam bator for hatching, and cooked them. So I ran the Bourbon Red through the incubator, had great growth from shipped eggs, and raised the humidity in the cabinet for hatching. The first two pipped, one dripped amniotic fluid through the pip and drowned, the second pipped the shell but could not break through a very rubbery membrane with no air cell visible. Third was upside down and pipped the small end, and fourth looked like it was doing just fine but quit. I have one more pip in there, and a few more chances.

With the hatchers out of the cabinet, I candled the Midget White, eggs from my hens, and chicken eggs that are in the incubator. Air cell growth is good, no surprises there. So I am not sure what happened with the Bourbon Reds, perhaps early high humidity? Or maybe chilled a long while during shipping (it was a cold spell and the shipping route was 2000 miles along the northern frontier).

Out of the first 25 eggs, I got 3 hatched, 2 quit during hatch, other 10 that went to lockdown failed between days 21 and 28.

Out of the second 25 eggs, 19 made it to lockdown, 4 quit during hatch, 9 are still in the hatcher, and 6 quit between days 21 and 28. Air cells on the remaining eggs are bigger than those that already attempted, but are still not as big as I am used to seeing with chicken eggs.

ANY suggestions from experienced turkey hatchers are welcome. I want to hatch them, not kill them. Pips start one day before calendar hatch date, so temps seem okay.

Temperature and humidity can cause this along with improper turning during the fist two weeks.



Turkeys incubate very similar to chickens but take longer. Hatch problems happen if the temperature varies 1\2 of a degree from 99.5 during incubation. Another problem would be incubating with too low or too high humidity. If using a "dry Hatch" and humidity was below 25%, then next time get the humidity up to closer to 40% during the set time. Setup for hatching should be in the 65 to 75% range.

The entire article on hatching is here:



It looks like a good guide for a lot of different birds.

 

[feedman77]

Thee eggs I set apr 3. Should hatch fri.
Went to check them 1 pipped wrong end and wasdead. Was gonna do a quick candle and had 3 with external pips and 2 more rocking. So closed lid a wwaiting starts.

This batch got hand turned and incubated on their side. Have always used a turner so guess will see if hatch is any better this way.

 

[RuzichFamily]

My 3 yr old heritage bronze tom seems to have developed a cough, any ideas what this could be & how to help him?