Turkeys eggs developing but not hatching

[jodief100]

This is the second hatch this year and the second time this has happened. The eggs are developing, about 1/4 of them pip and only 4-5% of them hatch. I broke them open when I gave up at day 32 and about 90% of them are fully developed, most were dead. A few were still alive?!?!

Temps have been running 98-101. Mostly in the 99-100 range. Humidity has been difficult and fluctuating between 40% and 60% with a few big spikes when I add water. It was up between 55% and 75% after day 26. I am going to have my thermometer and hygrometer calibrated but any other suggestions would be appreciated.

The first hatch was chicken and turkey eggs, same problem with both. Second hatch was turkey and guinea eggs, same issue. Using a Farm Innovators incubator with fan and turner.

 

[Haida]

I was hoping someone else would respond to this, as I had the same issue. Over the course of April-May, I incubated a total of 68 eggs. Guess how many I had hatch? 19. Most died within 72 hours of hatching... I currently have 5 that have done very well so far. I cracked open every single egg that didn't hatch, and yes, they were all developed, but hadn't really absorbed the yolk sack yet. Some had absorbed it, but were malpositioned... one was backwards (not sure how this happened as I use an egg turner and it was put in there correctly!) and one had his feet stretched out, pointing towards the air bubble, head curled into his belly.

I use two still air Hovabators and I've never had an issue with them. I even did emu eggs in them (and those hatched just fine!). I kept the top of the eggs around 101-102... I kept track of their weights (I added very little water) and they were on target for the 12-15% range... but they just... stopped before hatching. I didn't see any deformities, they all looked amazing.

The chicks that died shortly after hatching all displayed the same symptoms... they'd be fine, pecking at stuff... then all of a sudden, they'd be unable to walk and would have a seizure or spasms... and then they'd be on their backs and dying. Nothing I did would help them. Some had even learned to eat and drink. Poos looked fine. However, I would look at their bellies... they didn't seem bloated, but they looked bruised. The dead poults had an unbelievable odor... like they'd been dead for a week when they'd just died a few hours ago. The only thing I could come up with was infection from Aspergillus molds or infected navels/Omphalitis.

My incubators were cleaned twice over before I began incubating... so I don't think they were infected from that. I think they were infected from the air around it... I kept my bators in the basement, which flooded a few times this spring (it's unfinished and has a pump and all of that) and the temps in the basement were stable at 64 degrees (which is why I would incubate down there). But it was very damp in the basement. Inside my bators, my humidity was at about 15%-30% so I don't think that was an issue... emu eggs were incubated in the exact same spot with no problems, but that was January-March when it was a lot drier and the temps in the basement were closer to 55 degrees.

Where are you incubating your eggs?

Hopefully this helps, there is nothing worse that a bad hatch.

PS: Some of my eggs were shipped... and actually weren't able to lose enough moisture... some drowned... so it might have been my humidity was too high or my math was off. I only had this problem with the shipped eggs, though. So maybe my eggs were infected from the hens? I have a hen who's sitting on eggs who's due next week... so we'll see if she has the same issues. My tom is also sitting on eggs, but isn't due for a few weeks still.

 

[bayvistafarm]

I had two horrible hatches, then I started dry incubation. As in adding NO water to the trays at all. My hydrometer told me the room humidity was at about 58-65%. I only added water to the lockdown stage. I still had a few turkey eggs not hatch, but did hatch 12 out of 16 set. One was infertile and one was questionable. The other two I didn't bother to eggtopsy.

I just completed a hatch of black sex links... again, NO water other than lockdown. I had 15 hatch out of 16 eggs. The egg that did not hatch was a kind of 'deformed egg', kinda long and pointed. I haven't opened it either.

Hope this helps.

 

[retlaw]

I also deal with this.
The first hatch of the year starts off ok and then goes down hill from there.
Second year in a row now.
I always think its the power outages we get.
Every year we get them at hatch time.
Also think it can be from the temperature out side warming up and effecting the temperature in the incubator.
I have witnessed the change.

I think its a temperature issue of being to high.
If your incubator reads 101 at 55% humidity and then the humidity increases to 75% you are going to get temperature spikes.
When you increase humidity you have to decrease temperature.
When you decrease humidity you have to increase temperature.

If you have a temperature gun you will also notice that the eggs get hotter then the incubator and as they develop their temperature increases.
Large commercial incubators will decrease the temperature as the egg get more developed.
This is impossible to do when the incubator has multiple sets of eggs that were put in at different weeks.

What I do in these situations is I monitor when the shell gets its first crack or hole.
If it does not hatch by itself after 24 hours I go in.
I pop the top off and put it back in the tray and let it work itself out.
They need to do that to get their leg muscles strong enough so they don't get straddle leg.
Other wise I have to hobble them for a day.
If they can't walk by them self in the first couple days then they will dye.

If you hear pipping in the shell and they have not poked a hole then there is nothing you can do.
I have tried to save those ones but always fail.
They just don't have what it takes to survive even if you help them out.

If you see the hole in the egg you can put the end and press gently to your ear and you will develop a sense of how strong the poult is.
This way you can tell if the poult is getting weaker.
If it is then the only option is helping it out otherwise it is gone.
Remember that the poult might be resting and having a break.
So tap gently on the shell a few times with it to your ear and they will wake up and respond with making some noise.
Like I said, if the noise is very faint then they need help asap.
Leg and foot issues are the main health problems when this happens.
But most of the time they can be fixed.

I will post a chart that might explain and help out clarify some issues of problem hatch's

 

[retlaw]

Common Incubation Problems

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8127.pdf