Turkey eggs not hatching

[Ariel301]

I have some turkey eggs in the incubator. Today was day 28, and so far things don't look promising. I have seen no movement, heard no noise, and none of them are hatching. I candled every few days until lockdown, and again at lockdown, and all were fine and moving around inside the eggs.

This is my first time hatching turkeys...how long should I let them go before I give up? This is very disappointing because last month I tried to hatch chicken eggs and the same happened. Fine until lockdown, then they just never hatched.

 

[longranger]

How is your humidity??

Make it higher if it is not at least 65%

Personally I would candle and open the air sack of a couple of eggs to see if they are alive and well. If I could see them pipped into the air sack just put a very small hole or crack as close to the beak as possible. This should get them started.

Obviously toss the dead poults.

Then pump the humidity as high as you can.

Breaking lockdown is not desirable but if the alternative is "wondering if" break it. You may still be able to salvage a few nice poults.

 

[Struttn1]

if your temp was a degree low or so they may be a day or two behind schedule. You need to place a wet folded washcloth in the bator to raise the humidity. Give another 2 or 3 days.

 

[Ariel301]

I did try candling them (even though you're not supposed to mess with them during lockdown) and that was pretty inconclusive. A couple of them are so completely dark inside that I can't tell a thing about what is going on in there, or if there is any movement. I can't tell if they are in the air cell or not. Others seem to be half full of something that doesn't really look like a baby bird, it's just sort of a dark sloshy shadow that doesn't seem to move at all.

Humidity and temperature are exactly what they should be, so that should not be the problem.

These were the first few eggs laid by hens that just started laying, and all were developing and looked normal at one point, so I know the fertility was good. I can't imagine they would be affected negatively by being the hen's first eggs? I will feel really bad if none of these make it; a friend of mine gave me all her turkeys' eggs to hatch for her because she hasn't had good luck with hatching, and she thinks I have some magic touch when it comes to livestock. I certainly don't--far from it--but I don't want to disappoint her by telling her that I had to throw out 30 eggs that she trusted me with!

 

[Ariel301]

Well, I candled again and carefully opened the most promising looking one. I have no idea what is going on, I KNOW I saw an embryo squirming around inside this one not that long ago. But all that was in there was a bunch of scrambled up, thick, brownish goo that looked (and smelled) like rotten egg stirred up with a fork. There were a couple of veins full of already clotted up blood, but no apparent remains of a poult. If it was in there, it must have liquified. Yuck. I was so disgusted by the smell I couldn't bring myself to open any more. I'm sure they were all bad.

Well, there's always next time. I've got another six eggs that are two weeks in and look great when candled. They started as a dozen, but six were infertile. Apparently the tom wasn't doing a great job. And there's another dozen that went in a few days ago, too soon yet to tell if they are any good. The owner keeps giving me eggs as she gets them from her birds, about a dozen a week...so surely we'll get some turkeys, right?!

I think maybe the incubator had a temperature spike while we were not at home, and we didn't catch it. It probably cooked the eggs. It has done so before. I got a batch of chicken eggs from it that it overheated to 125 degrees on day 18 and they literally looked like hard boiled eggs inside. Time to replace this incubator, I think.

 

[Ariel301]

My husband just had a thought about our hatching problems. We installed a computer fan in the incubator after it cooked the chicken eggs, and it has been a lot more stable with that...but it does have a little bit of a vibration to it. Could the vibration the fan makes damage the eggs? It's pretty slight, it's not like it's shaking it around a lot, but is it possible that over 28 days it could slowly scramble the eggs?

 

[byoung14ever]

The more you mess with turkey eggs incubating the worse of you are in my opinion. My first couple hatches in the past I candled all the time and they didn't do well. The next batch I left alone, never candled and let the turner do the work and had 22 out of 24 hatch. I think they are more sensitive to temperature change than say quail or pheasants. I have hatched them all and to me turkeys are the hardest to get all the way to hatch.

 

[Struttn1]

Quote:
I would think a constant vibration would not do them any good. You can buy fans designed specifically for incubators in farm supply stores.

 

[akeagle]

I have some turkey eggs in the incubator. Today was day 28, and so far things don't look promising. I have seen no movement, heard no noise, and none of them are hatching. I candled every few days until lockdown, and again at lockdown, and all were fine and moving around inside the eggs.


This is my first time hatching turkeys...how long should I let them go before I give up? This is very disappointing because last month I tried to hatch chicken eggs and the same happened. Fine until lockdown, then they just never hatched.

 

[WalnutHill]

The computer fan is not the problem. That vibration isn't natural, but isn't going to affect them. I hatched dozens of poults with a computer fan forced incubator.

With the advanced stage of decay, you need to practice candling. Use a bright LED flashlight, not a regular light bulb. Candle the fat end and you will see moving shadows after day 10.

After day 20, you can water candle if unsure. Fill a coffee cup with warm (102-105F) water. Place the egg in, pointy end down, and take away your hands. If the poult is viable, you will see the egg wobble and bob within 10 seconds or so. If you don't see anything, try again another day. I usually do this before lockdown.

Turkey eggs refrigerated before incubation, or chilled in the coop, tend to have thick, rubbery membranes even if the air sac is the correct size (which indicates correct average humidity). This isn't the issue you experienced.

Sanitize your incubator. Bacteria filled eggs will contaminate the foam, and it will transfer to the next clutch.

When you raise the humidity for hatching, lower the temperature by 1-2 degrees.

Big temperature spikes longer than 1 hour are often fatal. If you find your eggs had one, open the door, let them cool to room temperature, then start the bator up again. Sometimes you will get lucky.