Turkeys For 2013

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Photobombing.....turkey style
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Adorable
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Does anybody feed their poults fresh, raw meat? Last season meal worms (with the heads pulled off) were a HUGE hit, but this season I've been giving mine a few bites of finely minced raw (Guinea, lol) livers and hearts a couple times a day. It's a poult MOB, and they try to eat my fingers off, lol.
 
Hey y'all! I got turkey eggs last week (royal palm/bronze cross and bourbon reds). I am new to chickens, turkeys, and all things poultry. I have 24 eggs in my incubator,(which I have never used before). I have candled eggs before and know these are fertile but was curious about temp, humidity, and when you can tell if there is actually a turkey in the egg. Any help or advice is extremely welcome! LOL.
 
Photobombing.....turkey style
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Here's my 1st 12 mutt poults of the season. Nice mix. They are SO sweet and calm, I missed not having poults (Turkey Puppies).
One of the Blacks looks like a dark Blue color, instead of Black and it has some yellow in the butt fluff (top poult in the first pic shows him well). Can't wait to see how it feathers out. And the 2 that are yellow/mostly yellow I am in love with. Mutts or not, it's gonna be hard to part with any of these... so I just might have to keep all 12 from this hatch. For sentimental reasons, of course, lol.







My next batch is going into lock-down tomorrow PM, or AM the next day. 13 eggs looked good when I candled this AM. Hope they all hatch too!


Good luck to everyone else hatching poults... post pics!

Oh my
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can't wait - 3 more weeks on this group, first candle Sunday! Beautiful babies, congrats to you both!
 
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Hey y'all! I got turkey eggs last week (royal palm/bronze cross and bourbon reds). I am new to chickens, turkeys, and all things poultry. I have 24 eggs in my incubator,(which I have never used before). I have candled eggs before and know these are fertile but was curious about temp, humidity, and when you can tell if there is actually a turkey in the egg. Any help or advice is extremely welcome! LOL.

I can't am a total noobie. I have 18 BBW poults that are 6 weeks doing very well, but they were shipped chicks. Good luck on your hatch!
 
Quote: I need some BB genes in my Turkey mix..when you coming to CA jc?? Trade ya some Guinea eggs, LOL.

abmaddox... I am fairly new to hatching Turkey eggs, but I incubate my (home laid, not shipped) Turkey eggs in a forced air incubator (with a fan) at 99.6ish degrees with 30-35% humidity for 25 days, then lock them down for the hatch (according to their air cell size and internal pips, or external pips) at the end of day 25, or very early on day 26. Still air incubation temp would need to be a couple degrees higher (measured on top of the eggs) to compensate for the temp difference of the warmer air rising. I've tried to bump the humidity up to 80% for the hatch (lock-down), but it's fighting me, and wants to stay at 70% or so. I had a great hatch this week tho, regardless. I usually candle the eggs at 6-7 days for the first time and I can see veins at that time (and maybe a tiny little embryo too), and the eggs have a reddish hued darkening to the entire egg contents with the aircell at the big end of the egg being really visible. I candle every 4-5 days after that, and usually by the 2nd candling I can see some embryo movement. For a comparison, you can candle a fresh egg, or a refrigerated chicken egg from the grocery store... those are definitely clear, with no development.

Maybe this pic will help you with how the air cell size should look, at the certain # of days thru the incubation:


Good luck with your hatch!
 
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Awesome! The lady I bought these from (she's local to me so I picked them up the day after she gathered them) said she has her bator at at about 99.7 degrees and 70% humidity and when they start hatching to bump it up to 90%. I'm so confused.....
I need some BB genes in my Turkey mix..when you coming to CA jc?? Trade ya some Guinea eggs, LOL.

abmaddox... I am fairly new to hatching Turkey eggs, but I incubate my (home laid, not shipped) Turkey eggs in a forced air incubator (with a fan) at 99.6ish degrees with 30-35% humidity for 25 days, then lock them down for the hatch (according to their air cell size and internal pips, or external pips) at the end of day 25, or very early on day 26. Still air incubation temp would need to be a couple degrees higher (measured on top of the eggs) to compensate for the temp difference of the warmer air rising. I've tried to bump the humidity up to 80% for the hatch (lock-down), but it's fighting me, and wants to stay at 70% or so. I had a great hatch this week tho, regardless. I usually candle the eggs at 6-7 days for the first time and I can see veins at that time (and maybe a tiny little embryo too), and the eggs have a reddish hued darkening to the entire egg contents with the aircell at the big end of the egg being really visible. I candle every 4-5 days after that, and usually by the 2nd candling I can see some embryo movement. For a comparison, you can candle a fresh egg, or a refrigerated chicken egg from the grocery store... those are definitely clear, with no development.

Maybe this pic will help you with how the air cell size should look, at the certain # of days thru the incubation:


Good luck with your hatch!
 
Are you using the same exact incubator as she has? If so, I'd just go ahead follow her method to save yourself some confusion since she is local, and it works for her. I'd be kind of worried about your eggs not losing enough moisture during incubation with 70% tho (and you may end up with sticky poults or poults that drown in the egg before hatching), so just be sure to monitor the air cell size. If they are ahead or behind schedule lower or raise the humidity as needed.

Ideal incubation conditions will vary from area to area, incubator to incubator, even room to room, so it's hard or even impossible to give ONE set of temp and humidity guidelines that will work for everyone. 99.5 degrees is the ideal/target temp for most eggs tho (in a forced air incubator), a little higher usually doesn't hurt but it can make the eggs hatch a little sooner.
 
Hey y'all! I got turkey eggs last week (royal palm/bronze cross and bourbon reds). I am new to chickens, turkeys, and all things poultry. I have 24 eggs in my incubator,(which I have never used before). I have candled eggs before and know these are fertile but was curious about temp, humidity, and when you can tell if there is actually a turkey in the egg. Any help or advice is extremely welcome! LOL.
5I like the diagram above as it shows how the egg needs to dry out in a timely manner. 70% humidity is not likely to get the drying effects that those eggs need. THe purpose of candling is to verify the moisture loss in the egg. ANd to look for life!! lol Looking for veining is a challenge in a 5 day old egg. I can see at about 10 days easily what is going on-- with practice you will be able to see earlier, but I suggest the 10 days so you can understand what the view is.

I incubate my turkey eggs along side my chicken eggs-- low humidity. I save the 70% for hatching. Porters has a good info sheet on hatching. and incubating. Have fun--
 
Quote: I need some BB genes in my Turkey mix..when you coming to CA jc?? Trade ya some Guinea eggs, LOL.

abmaddox... I am fairly new to hatching Turkey eggs, but I incubate my (home laid, not shipped) Turkey eggs in a forced air incubator (with a fan) at 99.6ish degrees with 30-35% humidity for 25 days, then lock them down for the hatch (according to their air cell size and internal pips, or external pips) at the end of day 25, or very early on day 26. Still air incubation temp would need to be a couple degrees higher (measured on top of the eggs) to compensate for the temp difference of the warmer air rising. I've tried to bump the humidity up to 80% for the hatch (lock-down), but it's fighting me, and wants to stay at 70% or so. I had a great hatch this week tho, regardless. I usually candle the eggs at 6-7 days for the first time and I can see veins at that time (and maybe a tiny little embryo too), and the eggs have a reddish hued darkening to the entire egg contents with the aircell at the big end of the egg being really visible. I candle every 4-5 days after that, and usually by the 2nd candling I can see some embryo movement. For a comparison, you can candle a fresh egg, or a refrigerated chicken egg from the grocery store... those are definitely clear, with no development.

Maybe this pic will help you with how the air cell size should look, at the certain # of days thru the incubation:


Good luck with your hatch!

I could spend a week out there visiting friends on BYC and DH's USAF roomie, he is still begging us to come
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If we ever do I will sure swap ya! I am pasturing these buggers, and I cannot believe how fast they grow, they are nearly as tall as my chickens already. I will try to get pics tomorrow, scraggly looking ugly stage for them right now
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they hop on my lap and fall asleep, just dolls.
 
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