Turkey Talk for 2014

[SilkieSensation]

I have 4 incubators. I use 3 for incubating & 1 for hatching. That way I can set eggs whenever I want & not have to worry about lockdown affecting anything else in the bator.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Your broody plan sounds good. If I'm sure the broody isn't going to break, I've also given them eggs out of the incubator to finish hatching. They don't realize they're sitting for a shorter period and it frees up incubator and brooder space.

I've done this too. My broodies never knew the difference.

 

[Arielle]

I'm FINALLY joining the egg club! We go our first turkey egg today!

(It's still below freezing here and we didn't get to it before it froze and cracked,

but at least now we know to be on the watch for more.)

DOesn't it fell like you won the lottery??

 

[Sydney Acres]

Oh, now incubator vs hatcher totally makes sense. Thank you to everyone for explaining it.

 

[uphilljill]

Quote:

Sure does! And I'm glad she's not hiding them (yet.)

 

[Momhunter]

Sounds like you explained the science pretty well!

I have to admit I'm getting confused by the term hatcher vs incubator.  I thought chicks/poults hatched in the incubator then went into the brooder.  Did I miss a box?  Or are you using the term hatcher to refer to the last few days of incubation when you raise the humidity and stop turning the eggs, which I've heard described as lockdown?

I am venturing into hatching for the first time, and the eggs are on day four of incubation.  I have one broody (chicken) hen setting on her own five eggs, plus 11 eggs in the incubator from two other hens that will be separated in pedigree cages at lockdown.  The incubator eggs were started about 18 hours after the broody eggs, and my original plan was to let everyone hatch, leg band everyone to keep track of parentage, then slip the incubator chicks under the broody hen on the first night.  But now I have a second broody hen, so it looks like I'll be able to let her continue her brood over ceramic eggs, then distribute the chicks evenly after they're banded, assuming that there's enough viable eggs to justify having two broodies when they're candled.  If not, I'll break the brood of the second broody early.

I have a gqf cabinet incubator (sportsman model) that has three racks that will hold 5.5 dozen large eggs per rack on auto turners. Then I have a separate gqf cabinet style hatcher that had two trays with two compartments each that I move the eggs to to hatch. So yes I have two separate "boxes" that I can keep at separate temps and humidity. This is the only way I can hatch out eggs from 4 different species and keep them all going

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
I would love to have only broodies hatch out everything, but I've got eggs from three different hens and only two broodies, so I've got to band the chicks out of pedigree cages before they mix together. I have to put the two broodies in the predator proof broody cage together (only have one cage, but it's 6'L X 5'W X 6'H, so it can be divided in half until I know the hens won't fight and injure the chicks or break eggs). If I don't remove the divider until after the chicks hatch, then I could have 2 out of the three egg groups hatch under a hen, but if I remove the divider before the chicks are banded then I might not know which chick came from which hen if they mix together.

I've always been told that broodies have to set the entire time because they won't be "hormonally ready" for chicks at the early stages of the brood, and might kill the chicks if they're put under her too early. But I've never seen where the cut-off point is. It seems obvious that you shouldn't put chicks under her the first 1-2 days, but it also seem logical that anytime in the third week would be fine. How early can you put new hatchlings under a hen, be it chicken hen or turkey hen?

 

[chickadoodles]

DOesn't it fell like you won the lottery??

X2

Congrats!

 

[yinepu]

Ancona ducks and Khaki Campbells hatched on the 13th.. got a 100% hatch rate on the shipped ancona eggs

Every single darn turkey egg in the incubators are fertile.. so the tom is doing his job..
hatch dates on those are 3/30 thru 4/5 (3 test batches).. lol.. we're eating the excess turkey eggs that I hadn't planned on setting..

 

[Momhunter]

Ancona ducks and Khaki Campbells hatched on the 13th.. got a 100% hatch rate on the shipped ancona eggs 

Every single darn turkey egg in the incubators are fertile..  so the tom is doing his job.. 
hatch dates on those are 3/30 thru 4/5 (3 test batches).. lol.. we're eating the excess turkey eggs that I hadn't planned on setting.. 

Wow! Great hatching. I'm jealous, where are you in Texas and where did you get ancona eggs?? I was thinking of adding them this year but haven't decided. I've need to get better at hatching the turkey and peafowl eggs first. Lol.