Turkeys For 2013

[kuntrygirl]

Ok you turkey connoisseurs, let's talk candling. How many of you candle your eggs? When do you candle your eggs? HOW do you candle? What kind of flashlight do you all use to candle? How OFTEN do you candle your eggs once they are put in the incubator?


I have to admit that I DO NOT know how to candle. I have tried it but I can't see anything. Looks like a big glob of something in there. I don't ever see any veins or all of that other stuff people say that they see. So because of that, I don't ever candle. I just leave the eggs in and if they hatch, then they hatch. If not, then oh well. I have been SO lucky to NEVER have had any eggs to explode. WHEW!

I too candle with a Mag Lite mini flashlight. We have our incubator in our bedroom which is the darkest room in the house (my hubby used to work nights and sleep days so I have black out curtains). Anyway, I turn off all the light to candle and do it at night. If it isn't really dark, I can't really see much. I start on day 4 but usually it's day 6 before I can really see much. I incubate with the big end up so I never turn them over but I do pick them up in my hand to candle. I do run the flashlight all over the egg to see what's going on in there. Then I candle once a week so I can remove eggs that don't continue but I've never had an egg explode. I did have one start to smell one time. I always see veins and make sure the chick is moving up until lock down. Usually by then it's hard to see any more veins but I can still usually see movement. At that point I don't pick the eggs up anymore, I just put the light on top end of the egg.

I will try to candle this week.

 

[Bettacreek]

I have four more growing in the bator. Those are my last eggs though, because of the move.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I took a pic of 1 of my lighter colored Bourbon Reds. She was in a perfect spot because it shows the colors of the others. I have several hens that are all this color. Anyone have BRs this color? I'm seeing 3 more light colored poults in this last hatch. I hoping they will be hens like all the rest have been.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have four more growing in the bator. Those are my last eggs though, because of the move.

Congrats on the eggs. No more eggs for the year?

 

[Bettacreek]

Congrats on the eggs. No more eggs for the year?

Oh, heavens no! Just until these ones hatch, then I can clean and move the incubator to the new house and set up the new electronic thermostat, then I'll stop selling turkey eggs and hatch everything that they lay, LOL!

 

[Celie]

I took a pic of 1 of my lighter colored Bourbon Reds. She was in a perfect spot because it shows the colors of the others. I have several hens that are all this color. Anyone have BRs this color? I'm seeing 3 more light colored poults in this last hatch. I hoping they will be hens like all the rest have been.

Are all of your hens light like this, or only last year's hatch? Or only part of last year's hatch? or part of every year's?

Oh, heavens no! Just until these ones hatch, then I can clean and move the incubator to the new house and set up the new electronic thermostat, then I'll stop selling turkey eggs and hatch everything that they lay, LOL!

Every egg? Somebody is gonna have a lot of Turkeys running around! LOL

 

[kuntrygirl]

Celie, I have been noticing that the last 3 years, I have had lighter colored hens. I am averaging about 3 hens per hatch that are this color. I have no idea why. I have not had any outside toms. For the last 7 years, I have had no other turkeys but the ones that I had, so I'm stumped as far as the color. All of the rest of the girls are the same color as the Toms in the pic. As a matter of fact, you can see a hen in the middle of those 2 toms up towards the top of the pic.

ETA: And I love the color of the girls that are lighter.

 

[Bettacreek]

Are all of your hens light like this, or only last year's hatch? Or only part of last year's hatch? or part of every year's?

Every egg? Somebody is gonna have a lot of Turkeys running around! LOL

Weelllll, I only have two hens. I wasn't allowed to buy new turkey hens just a few days ago, and now that one is down with a broken leg as of last night, I don't think he's going to complain. I have ten or so eggs in the bator now. What's being laid now is getting shipped away, but when I move and get the bator set up, EVERY LAST turkey egg will be set in MY incubator. If I get 100 poults, I'll think about selling off newer hatches, but darn it, I'm not going to be faced with only two hens next year, or one hen and one hen with a broken leg! Darn it! I'll get my ten hens afterall, LOL.

 

[SJ]

Good luck all you turkeys!!!

Hope everbody's hatching goes great.LOL

 

[Arielle]

I have Midget whites and I love them. They are small and friendly for the most part. Tom Tom our head turkey likes to attack my 9 yo daughter... not sure what that is about. I just got my first turkey egg today. I brought it in the house because I am not sure what I am going to do with it. I want to hatch them but I am not sure how well the female will do raising them. We have 2 males and 1 female, we lost a female this week to some idiot driving way too fast down our road. I was sick with grief over it. We ordered 15 from McMurray and only 4 survived, and I can bring any chicken, duck or goose back from the brink of death but the turkeys were another story.
I would love to try BR, BS and RP turkeys but right now I am going to try to keep these ones alive and breed them first. Wish me luck, I am going to need it!!!
PS I don't have an incubator yet ... any suggestions for a cheap but good one?

I use an LG. IT makes you into a good hatcher. Many support groups for the LG. And instructions on CHooksCHicks page.

Quote: X2 I'm so cold all the time. 30 degrees feels like a heat wave.

I took a pic of 1 of my lighter colored Bourbon Reds. She was in a perfect spot because it shows the colors of the others. I have several hens that are all this color. Anyone have BRs this color? I'm seeing 3 more light colored poults in this last hatch. I hoping they will be hens like all the rest have been.

HMMMMM . . .