turkey egg question

[lisa69]

I found my first turkey egg this morning. Hen was not sitting on it and it was outside cold in Pa ....at 40 degrees for about 3 or 4 hours. Will it still develop in a incubator or was it too cold for too long?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A turkey hen (or any hen for that matter) won't sit on an egg until they have assembled a clutch. Doing so would be folly because either they would only lay one egg because a setter quits ovulating - or - if they sat while assembling a clutch would result in a staggered hatch as the first sat on would start developing. That means when poults or chicks hatch, after the first few, the hen will abandon the rest to care for the live offspring.

Ideally, an egg will go through 2 temperature changes for optimal hatchability. One when the egg cool after it is laid and again when incubation begins.
If the egg isn't frozen, it is viable for up to 10 days or more. 40F isn't a problem at all. The blastoderm is in suspended animation till internal temperature raises to 85+F.

 

[lisa69]

Thank you for your response. It has been my experience with my chicken eggs that if they are not warm when i collect them, then they will not hatch in the incubator. The winter chilled egg just are not viable, even if they are not frozen or have only been in the coup a couple of hours.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

In my experience and research shows that chicken eggs can be exposed to temps down to 28F for short periods before ice crystals form in them and they are no longer viable.
I surmise if that is your experience, there is another problem aside from temperature.

 

[lisa69]

All the chicken eggs that i found still warm did hatch, in the incubator. The cold ones didn't. Not trying to be oppositional but this has been my experience. So I am disappointed that I didn't find my turkey egg sooner. I threw it in the incubator with my fingers crossed hopping that you are right. I am exctied to find my first turkey egg. They have been mating like crazy but the weather has been so sucky.

 

[aart]

It has been my experience with my chicken eggs that if they are not warm when i collect them, then they will not hatch in the incubator

Coincidence.
I've hatched eggs that were in the fridge for a few days.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

There is a 'incubating Trader Joe's eggs' thread with a big following.
Lots of people have been successful hatching fertile grocery store eggs that have been refrigerated for a week or more.

 

[aart]

There is a 'incubating Trader Joe's eggs' thread with a big following.
Lots of people have been successful hatching fertile grocery store eggs that have been refrigerated for a week or more.

3-4 years ago that was all the rage...and how I learned I could grab a few eggs out of fridge to add to a hatch.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/search/53023986/?q=trader+joe&t=post&o=relevance