Turkey chicks with distended/detached bellies at hatching

[Brittwearsboots]

We had two turkeys hatch last night that were perfectly healthy with the exception of their bellies being open or attached to the inside of the egg when they hatched. I've never seen this before and it was heart breaking watching the one be so healthy but once out, she didn't live long. What causes this and how can it be prevented in the future? I haven't experienced this before. I'm still somewhat new to incubating and omce again, cannot find anything on the topic.

 

[R2elk]

We had two turkeys hatch last night that were perfectly healthy with the exception of their bellies being open or attached to the inside of the egg when they hatched. I've never seen this before and it was heart breaking watching the one be so healthy but once out, she didn't live long. What causes this and how can it be prevented in the future? I haven't experienced this before. I'm still somewhat new to incubating and once again, cannot find anything on the topic.

Sorry that has happened to you. My best guess is that the problem is occurring because the parents were too closely related thus bringing out hidden genetic flaws.

Common Incubation Problems

 

[Brittwearsboots]

I'm unsure if my tom and hen were of the same clutch or had similar breeding parents. That one is tricky. I got them as adults that had just started laying/mating. I also noticed that there was an excessive amount of blood that hadn't been absorbed in the one, so maybe their little internal timers were off and she wasn't quite ready. I have 2 more in the incubator that I started a couple days later. The first two I started early because the tom was sitting on them. Which was also odd I thought, but my hens had no interest in sitting in them once laid so I let him be and took the eggs to the bator once he got up. I keep dish soap in my garage so I can wash my hands before collecting eggs, so they wouldn't be contaminated by anything either. The other 2 are due to hatch any time, and I noticed a pip this morning in one of them. The 4th appeared to be a double yolk when I candled them on day 9 or 10, and seemed to be healthy when I candled it the day before I put them in the hatching bator. Fingers crossed these two do well and don't repeat the same issues. One of them was from my bourbon red that an owl took, so their genetics shouldn't be an issue at all since my current two are royal palms. Fingers crossed!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I am not a turkey person but I would suspect that the eggs were incubated at the wrong temperature. In other words hatching time arrived before chick.... (sorry poult) development was complete.

 

[Brittwearsboots]

I wondered about the correct temp as well, but according to the "hatching turkeys for dummies" guidelines/instructions I found, they take the same temp as ducks do as long as the incubator is forced air. (mine is the little giant with forced air fan kit). But something definitely went wrong somewhere I've been reading the link above about what can cause issues, and it's given me some light on all the possibilities. Unsuccessful hatches are hard on the heart.