First poult of the year hatched this afternoon. 7 more due the 26th.
Congrats!
Turkey Talk for 2014
- Thread starter kuntrygirl
- Start date
Congrats!
I totally know how you feel lol, This year I'm hatching chickens, Emus, turkeys, and peafowl, so, yeah. What have i gotten myself into??!! lol.
oh that's an easy fix... just get another incubator! (I highly recommend homemade coolerbators)
who?.. me an enabler?... NAH...NEVAR!
- Jul 10, 2013
- 15
- 1
- 21
It's nice to know I'm not alone in the hatching craziness!
Do most of you hatch your own eggs or buy eggs from outside sources? I'm a little leary about mail order eggs. But it seems like it would be a good way to bring in other breeds and blood lines.
Do most of you hatch your own eggs or buy eggs from outside sources? I'm a little leary about mail order eggs. But it seems like it would be a good way to bring in other breeds and blood lines.
Most of the ones I have been hatching out the past few years were shipped eggs.. some times you get sellers that will lie their behinds off just to make a sale (misrepresenting eggs or not having a male in their flock but swearing their eggs are fertile).. but sometimes you get just what you had hoped for.. I have gotten everything from 0% hatch rates (infertile or scrambled eggs) to 100% hatch rate on shipped eggs (the little anconas I just had hatch are a perfect example.. every single egg sent hatched)..
I buy shipped eggs exactly for the reasons you mentioned.. new breeds plus genetic diversity. since I don't care much for most of the hatchery stock out there it's worth the risk to me to buy those ol shipped eggs.. lol
oh that's an easy fix... just get another incubator! (I highly recommend homemade coolerbators)
who?.. me an enabler?... NAH...NEVAR!
I already dropped that bomb on my husband. Anyone want Ameraucana eggs or turkey eggs later on? I'm asking because I need to raise over $700 for a new Sportsman... Donations accepted, too! LOL!
I buy a few dozen (haha... a few) to bring in new blood or new varieties I don't already have. This is my version of gambling (will they hatch, or won't they?) and I actually quite enjoy it. For the most part, I hatch my own, though. This year, not including the unexpected turkey and quail eggs, my limit was 10 dozen outside chicken eggs and I actually stayed within that limit!
Sydney Acres
Songster
Sometimes it's the only way to get the breed or the line you want.
The three issues are disease transmission, ability to really know what you're getting, and hatchability.
Disease transmission is much less with eggs than with chicks or older birds, but still not zero. NPIP certification gives you some assurance of disease control (not 100%, but it's a great start), so breeders that are certified are always first on my list. Other than that, you have to ask some tough questions, but sometimes the risks are worth it to get birds from a specific breeder, depending on your circumstances.
Any time you get eggs, and to a lesser degree chicks, you are trusting the breeder to send you what you actually ordered. Some breeders are very organized and meticulous; other not so much. Lots of eggs from different breeds look alike, and a lessor number of chick breeds look alike. So more people seem to get the wrong eggs than the wrong chicks. And even if you do get the right breed, you may not get the quality of birds that you had hoped for, because you aren't likely to see the parents when you order via e-mail. But that's no different than with chicks. You just have to really investigate the breeder, and trust his/her reputation, when you can't go out to the henhouse and pick out your own eggs.
Hatchability is a huge issue with shipped eggs. They aren't always packed properly, and they get jostled during shipment regardless of how carefully they are packed. Some shippers would be willing to custom pack eggs if requested, and some would be insulted at the request, so you may or may not want to make any specific requests there. There is an "open letter to egg shippers" available for use on the BYC Hatching 101 site. Hatchability seems to average 30-40%, but people report anything from 0-100% on specific shipments. Certainly the distance shipped and seasonal temperatures are likely to affect hatchability. But I would think most people order twice as many eggs as they want to have hatch, just to be sure they get at least the chance to get enough chicks.
As far as what most people do, I get the impression that most people fall into one of two categories. People who want to breed start out getting either chicks or eggs originally, then hatch their own for a while. If they're happy with their birds, then there's no need to infuse in any more, and they work to perfect their "known entity." If they want to infuse new genetics into their birds, then they look for specific breeders that can provide the specific qualities they need. Other people don't want to breed but they are ok with hatching. They order new eggs whenever they need replacement birds, or when they want to try new breeds, and they regularly order eggs for those purposes. Some people are a combination of both. Lots of people order eggs instead of chicks because there are no chicks available in the breed they want, or because they don't want a minimum shipment of 25 chicks. I personally planned to work at breeding my current group of Red Dorkings until I had developed some judgment in evaluating their breeding potential, and how to properly match up pairs for the desired results. I really want to contribute to the improvement of this rare breed, but realize that I am a new breeder without the necessary judgment yet. So I had not planned on infusing in any new genetics for 5-10 years. But then I found out that two breeders who have exceptional birds will be retiring soon and selling their flocks, so plans have changed. I have contacted each of those breeders and requested to get on a waiting list for up to 2 dozen eggs each. So even though I hadn't wanted to move this quickly, and have always been reluctant to bring in shipped eggs, or anything from a non-NPIP source, I am finding that this is an essential opportunity that will be gone soon, so I'm moving forward.
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What kind of turkeys & how much? Lol
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