Turkey Talk for 2014

[yinepu]

Quote:
that's the thing.. there is no "magic number" for humidity during incubation since it can vary from home to home .. even from room to room in your house. Things like water features (fountains, showers, fish tanks), if you have windows open, weather, heaters, and so on can affect it.. not to mention the incubator itself (fan placement and force of air across the eggs).. and then there is also shell porosity.. which can vary from bird to bird

So yeah.. that's why I always say to let the eggs be your guide as to what the humidity should be for that particular hatch in your home and in your incubator...

Can you use a brighter light?.. I use the super bright led flashlights and they work great for air cell viewing as well as embryo development.. for eggs that i can't see into (some marans and emu for example) I just go ahead and weigh the eggs on day 1 and monitor weight loss

 

[AmericanMom]

that's the thing.. there is no "magic number" for humidity during incubation since it can vary from home to home .. even from room to room in your house. Things like water features (fountains, showers, fish tanks), if you have windows open, weather, heaters, and so on can affect it.. not to mention the incubator itself (fan placement and force of air across the eggs).. and then there is also shell porosity.. which can vary from bird to bird

So yeah.. that's why I always say to let the eggs be your guide as to what the humidity should be for that particular hatch in your home and in your incubator...

Can you use a brighter light?.. I use the super bright led flashlights and they work great for air cell viewing as well as embryo development.. for eggs that i can't see into (some marans and emu for example) I just go ahead and weigh the eggs on day 1 and monitor weight loss

LOl, I use my dads old slide projector, if that's not a bright light I dunno what is...

When I candled the goose eggs last night they looked to be right on track, the best chicken hatch I have ever done was when the humidity read 50% through days 1-18 .. I have the graphic of what the air cell in the turkey egg should look like, when I candle on day 10 I'll check it against that..

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
then you should be good.. but I wouldn't trust the hygrometer since it's more than likely reading off.. i have two right now (they are connected to the thermometers).. since I haven't calibrated one in ages it's reading a pretty steady 43%.. the one that HAS been calibrated is reading at 23%.. so there's a big difference. I don't use them as a guide anyway... I go by air cells since they are a whole lot more reliable.

 

[AmericanMom]

then you should be good.. but I wouldn't trust the hygrometer since it's more than likely reading off.. i have two right now (they are connected to the thermometers).. since I haven't calibrated one in ages it's reading a pretty steady 43%.. the one that HAS been calibrated is reading at 23%.. so there's a big difference. I don't use them as a guide anyway... I go by air cells since they are a whole lot more reliable.

Ok, I'll check the air cells in two days and mark them, hopefully I can get a picture also and post.. I have wanted Turkeys for so long I don't want to mess this up

 

[Nickeyo]

I have 2 questions about turkeys.

1) why is it that some books and people say you shouldnt keep chickens and turkeys together or near each other, is it a disease thing?

2) are turkeys good free rangers, can both male and females protect themselves from red foxes and badgers, ( I live in the uk so I only have foxes and badgers)?

 

[Sydney Acres]

I have 2 questions about turkeys.

1) why is it that some books and people say you shouldnt keep chickens and turkeys together or near each other, is it a disease thing?

2) are turkeys good free rangers, can both male and females protect themselves from red foxes and badgers, ( I live in the uk so I only have foxes and badgers)?

There's a disease called Blackhead. It can be carried by chickens without affecting them, but it kills turkeys. It doesn't exist in all areas of the world. In the U.S., some counties don't have it at all, and chickens and turkeys are safely kept together. In other counties turkeys cannot be kept with chickens, or on farms where chickens have been kept within many years. They county agricultural extension offices keep track of that sort of thing, and can advise people if Blackhead is a problem in their area. I don't know if this disease exists in the UK.

Heritage turkeys are excellent free rangers, and can fly quite well. Commercial turkeys, the broad breasted bronze and broad breasted whites, cannot fly well at all, and tend to be so large that they can only free range over a limited area. Given the size of an adult broad breasted commercial turkey, it could possibly intimidate a fox or badger, but definitely couldn't outrun it if the predator wasn't impressed by the size. A juvenile would be much more vulnerable. The heritage turkeys might suffer a few losses due to surprise attacks from an experienced predator, but could probably fly away from most situations given a few moments lead time, as long as their wings weren't clipped. A very large or older tom might have difficulty getting off the ground, but again their size might be intimidating. It all depends on the individual birds, and the layout of the land. If foxes and badgers are truly your only predators, then a well mowed field with some 6 foot high perches would likely be quite effective, as the predators would be easily seen and the high perches would be easily reached by the birds but not easily by the predators. A wooded or highly landscaped area might give the predators the advantage, as there would be lots of areas of cover for surprise attacks. The only differences in vulnerability between male and female would be size (males are between 1.3 to 2 times larger than the females, depending on your group) and egg laying or brooding. The females would be quite vulnerable on the nest.

 

[Reyvaughn]

First.. a few questions...

What kind of incubator are you using?

Did you break open the eggs to check the condition of the dead poults?.. if you did.. were they very wet, bloated, very small and so on?

Are you using a hygrometer to check humidity or are you keeping track of the air cells?

Where is your incubator located?

Are you hand turning the eggs?

Of the poults that do hatch... what are they like at hatch? Are they gooey at all?.. do they hatch easily or are you assisting?


Once you answer those few.. i can narrow it down a bit...

Sportsman 1502
I did not do eggtopsies.
The Sportsman's digital control is what I use for internal temp and humidity. I tested the temp and it was spot-on.
My incubator is in my living room. It's right by my sliding glass door and I know it's not supposed to be in direct sunlight but I have no other place to put it. It only gets sun after 3pm. It didn't seem to affect the chicken eggs - I have had 100% hatches last year.
Auto turn.

I haven't assisted a poult yet. I don't remember them being gooey or anything. If I remember right, they seemed normal. I have 2 pipped now, so I will let you know how they come out.

 

[BullChick]

I let the boys outside for about ten minutes.

 

[chickadoodles]

I let the boys outside for about ten minutes.

They are so cute! Love your little dog watching over them

 

[AmericanMom]

To invest or not to invest...

The lady that sold me the 17 Bourbon red eggs just got ahold of me, she still hasn't sold her adult birds and has in the last 7 days collected 18 more eggs... I cannot put them in the incubator of course because its been running for 8 days now... Hubby told me if I wanted to just to go buy another incubator and sell the poults if they hatch...
Oh what to do....

Im getting the 18 eggs for 10 bucks...I can buy another Hova bator like I have without the turner or fan for 45.00.. If I get a good hatch (and that's an if) I can sell the poults for up to 10. each... Sounds great, but there are a lot of what if's there..