Turkeys For 2013
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Will humidity that is too high drown the poult?
I don't think POrters will mind if I copy his instructions here, copy and paste that is.
Turkey Egg Hatching Tips
This is some basic info to help you get the most successful hatch possible out of your turkey eggs.
These are my methods and they work for me, if you have a method that works great than by all means continue with it. This is just for those who would like a little guidance.
Before you place eggs in an incubator make sure the temp is regulating at 100.5 to 101.5 degrees for still air machines or 99.5 to 100 degrees for forced air incubators with a relative humidity in the room of 50-60 %.
I recommend a digital thermometer and hygrometer if you don’t have these already .
A lot of people are using the tabletop incubators like the Little Giant Styrofoam ones.
I would highly recommend buying a digital thermometer with the probe that you can insert right thru the Styrofoam to get a reading right at the top portion of the egg.
These can be bought at most Wal-mart stores in the cooking section , it is the same kind you use to insert into whole roasting poultry to take the internal temperature reading .
If your incubator has an auto egg turner place the eggs in the holders large end up. Otherwise just lay them on their sides and turn them over completely to the other side at least 3 times a day.
Now it will take quite a few hours for the eggs to warm up , but if the temp hasn’t reached at least 99. 5 degrees in a 24 hour period turn the temp up a bit more and carefully watch that it doesn’t go above 101.5 degrees, It can get up to 103 and still be safe but this is the maximum temp and if it goes higher it will kill the embryo. So I like to keep it in the middle at a safe range so it has a degree or two to fluctuate either way without doing any damage.
The lowest the temp can be is 99.5 degrees, if it goes lower than this for too long it can kill the embryo as well.
Check the temperature often and make any adjustments needed as it will fluctuate a bit especially in the cheaper tabletop incubators, If you are using a Dickey or GQF cabinet type incubator they pretty much maintain the correct temp without worries.
The first 24 days is considered the incubation period. I don’t add any water at all in the incubator for this time period. You shouldn’t have to unless you are in an extremely dry part of the country with very low humidity below 50%
If you run your incubator in an air conditioned room you may have to add water if your humidity is below 50% in the room.
I have mine set up in my basement and the humidity is ideal down there already .
Now at day 24 the eggs no longer need turning, the last 4 days is the hatching period, the embryo is fully developed in the egg and now it positions itself to hatch and the yolk will start to absorb into the abdomen.
Now at the end of day 24 or 25 take out the turner and put the eggs back in laying on their sides or just move them to your hatcher if you have one. You will now need to decrease your temp. down to 98.0 - 98.5 degrees and also increase the humidity by adding water, and you want the humidity to be at least 80% and if you can get it higher it will make an easier hatch for the poults as it will help to soften the shell.
But make sure you make all these changes to temp and humidity at the same time . Remember this, A combination of high temps and high humidity is a killer. So lower that temp when you raise the humidity.
Your poults should hatch out by the 28 th day, sometimes they will come out a day or two early.
I like to see an early hatch instead of a late one. Most late hatches result in weaker poults that just don’t seem to thrive.
Most early hatched poults are very vigorous and do quite well.
Happy Hatching .
Kevin Porter
Turkey Egg Hatching Tips
This is some basic info to help you get the most successful hatch possible out of your turkey eggs.
These are my methods and they work for me, if you have a method that works great than by all means continue with it. This is just for those who would like a little guidance.
Before you place eggs in an incubator make sure the temp is regulating at 100.5 to 101.5 degrees for still air machines or 99.5 to 100 degrees for forced air incubators with a relative humidity in the room of 50-60 %.
I recommend a digital thermometer and hygrometer if you don’t have these already .
A lot of people are using the tabletop incubators like the Little Giant Styrofoam ones.
I would highly recommend buying a digital thermometer with the probe that you can insert right thru the Styrofoam to get a reading right at the top portion of the egg.
These can be bought at most Wal-mart stores in the cooking section , it is the same kind you use to insert into whole roasting poultry to take the internal temperature reading .
If your incubator has an auto egg turner place the eggs in the holders large end up. Otherwise just lay them on their sides and turn them over completely to the other side at least 3 times a day.
Now it will take quite a few hours for the eggs to warm up , but if the temp hasn’t reached at least 99. 5 degrees in a 24 hour period turn the temp up a bit more and carefully watch that it doesn’t go above 101.5 degrees, It can get up to 103 and still be safe but this is the maximum temp and if it goes higher it will kill the embryo. So I like to keep it in the middle at a safe range so it has a degree or two to fluctuate either way without doing any damage.
The lowest the temp can be is 99.5 degrees, if it goes lower than this for too long it can kill the embryo as well.
Check the temperature often and make any adjustments needed as it will fluctuate a bit especially in the cheaper tabletop incubators, If you are using a Dickey or GQF cabinet type incubator they pretty much maintain the correct temp without worries.
The first 24 days is considered the incubation period. I don’t add any water at all in the incubator for this time period. You shouldn’t have to unless you are in an extremely dry part of the country with very low humidity below 50%
If you run your incubator in an air conditioned room you may have to add water if your humidity is below 50% in the room.
I have mine set up in my basement and the humidity is ideal down there already .
Now at day 24 the eggs no longer need turning, the last 4 days is the hatching period, the embryo is fully developed in the egg and now it positions itself to hatch and the yolk will start to absorb into the abdomen.
Now at the end of day 24 or 25 take out the turner and put the eggs back in laying on their sides or just move them to your hatcher if you have one. You will now need to decrease your temp. down to 98.0 - 98.5 degrees and also increase the humidity by adding water, and you want the humidity to be at least 80% and if you can get it higher it will make an easier hatch for the poults as it will help to soften the shell.
But make sure you make all these changes to temp and humidity at the same time . Remember this, A combination of high temps and high humidity is a killer. So lower that temp when you raise the humidity.
Your poults should hatch out by the 28 th day, sometimes they will come out a day or two early.
I like to see an early hatch instead of a late one. Most late hatches result in weaker poults that just don’t seem to thrive.
Most early hatched poults are very vigorous and do quite well.
Happy Hatching .
Kevin Porter
" drowning" occurs when the moisture has not been sufficiently removed during the incubation period. If the aircell is of correct size, fairly large almost 20% of the sizie of the eggs, and it matches air cell diagrams, then drowning will not occur.
HOwever, with an increase in humidity, be sure to decrease the temp per Porters instructions. Many incubators aare difficult to adjust. I personally use an LG and hand turn ( no turner to contribute heat)so I open the vents and the let the heat out and it drops the temp, then I work at increasing the humidity, which I can do with a couple techniques. Usually sponges in a water resevoir is useful.
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Ok, so I have the Octo 20 and I have a few questions? I think I'm way over in left field on this but I will ask anyway............
Why are the incubators "designed" to (and without any physical changes) to reach and maintain a certain humidity (40 for mine) if that humidity is not the necessary humidity for hatching? Why not get a bator that can get to 80 without making any physical changes (adding this and adding that)?
Could the size of the bator and amount of eggs in the bator have anything to do with the humidity, which in the case of Porters, who hatches a gazillion number of eggs, and would require them to increase the humidity because the # of eggs in the bator is pulling moisture from the inside, thus decreasing the humidity at a faster rate? Did that make sense? :/
And I know they are the experts when it comes to hatching but I just have nagging questions that I'm thinking about.
I can't wrap my mind around 80%. After my eggs are hatched and my poults are out of the bator, I will have to experiment to see what I need to do to get the humidity to 80.
So, with the Oct 20, I only have the vent opened 1/3 as opposed to 1/2 from Day 1 - 25. Does the vent opening have anything to do with humidity?
So, would it be best to order a humidity pump for the Octo 20 units?
I stop the auto turn at Day 25 but I see they stop at Day 24.
Not sure what a hatcher is but I don't have one. And I have never decreased the temps as they have mentioned. I keep mine at 99.9. Anyone decrease the temps?
I think I have a headache now.
Why are the incubators "designed" to (and without any physical changes) to reach and maintain a certain humidity (40 for mine) if that humidity is not the necessary humidity for hatching? Why not get a bator that can get to 80 without making any physical changes (adding this and adding that)?
Could the size of the bator and amount of eggs in the bator have anything to do with the humidity, which in the case of Porters, who hatches a gazillion number of eggs, and would require them to increase the humidity because the # of eggs in the bator is pulling moisture from the inside, thus decreasing the humidity at a faster rate? Did that make sense? :/
And I know they are the experts when it comes to hatching but I just have nagging questions that I'm thinking about.
I can't wrap my mind around 80%. After my eggs are hatched and my poults are out of the bator, I will have to experiment to see what I need to do to get the humidity to 80.
So, with the Oct 20, I only have the vent opened 1/3 as opposed to 1/2 from Day 1 - 25. Does the vent opening have anything to do with humidity?
So, would it be best to order a humidity pump for the Octo 20 units?
I stop the auto turn at Day 25 but I see they stop at Day 24.
Not sure what a hatcher is but I don't have one. And I have never decreased the temps as they have mentioned. I keep mine at 99.9. Anyone decrease the temps?
I think I have a headache now.
Ok, so I have the Octo 20 and I have a few questions? I think I'm way over in left field on this but I will ask anyway............
Why are the incubators "designed" to (and without any physical changes) to reach and maintain a certain humidity (40 for mine) if that humidity is not the necessary humidity for hatching? Why not get a bator that can get to 80 without making any physical changes (adding this and adding that)?
Could the size of the bator and amount of eggs in the bator have anything to do with the humidity, which in the case of Porters, who hatches a gazillion number of eggs, and would require them to increase the humidity because the # of eggs in the bator is pulling moisture from the inside, thus decreasing the humidity at a faster rate? Did that make sense?
And I know they are the experts when it comes to hatching but I just have nagging questions that I'm thinking about.
I can't wrap my mind around 80%. After my eggs are hatched and my poults are out of the bator, I will have to experiment to see what I need to do to get the humidity to 80.
So, with the Oct 20, I only have the vent opened 1/3 as opposed to 1/2 from Day 1 - 25. Does the vent opening have anything to do with humidity?
So, would it be best to order a humidity pump for the Octo 20 units?
I stop the auto turn at Day 25 but I see they stop at Day 24.
Not sure what a hatcher is but I don't have one. And I have never decreased the temps as they have mentioned. I keep mine at 99.9. Anyone decrease the temps?
I think I have a headache now.
It is necessary for the egg to lose some of its moisture during incubation; however, the purpose of supplying water in an
incubator is to prevent excessive drying out of the natural moisture in the egg. The rate of evaporation from the egg is determined by the
type of egg, pore density and size and the humidity of the air. Methods of determining the proper rate of evaporation are by judging the
size of the air sack in the egg, the hygrometer reading, or by weighing the egg with a scale
. Humidity is adjusted in the incubator by
adjusting the vents (opening the vents decreases humidity) or changing the surface area of the water (add wick pads to increase
or cover part of the pan to decrease humidity).
Weighing the egg with a very accurate scale is the best way of establishing proper humidity. Most types of eggs should loose
about 12% to 14% of their weight during incubation. Raise humidity if too much weight is being lost, reduce humidity if weight loss is
too little. By using the known weight of the egg before incubation, multiply this number by the desired percentage of weight loss to get
the desired weight loss. Divide this figure by the number of days for incubation and it will yield the average desired weight loss per day.
Compare the desired weight on a given day to the actual weight for that day. The egg maybe +/- one percentage point of the desired percent.incubator is to prevent excessive drying out of the natural moisture in the egg. The rate of evaporation from the egg is determined by the
type of egg, pore density and size and the humidity of the air. Methods of determining the proper rate of evaporation are by judging the
size of the air sack in the egg, the hygrometer reading, or by weighing the egg with a scale
. Humidity is adjusted in the incubator by
adjusting the vents (opening the vents decreases humidity) or changing the surface area of the water (add wick pads to increase
or cover part of the pan to decrease humidity).
Weighing the egg with a very accurate scale is the best way of establishing proper humidity. Most types of eggs should loose
about 12% to 14% of their weight during incubation. Raise humidity if too much weight is being lost, reduce humidity if weight loss is
too little. By using the known weight of the egg before incubation, multiply this number by the desired percentage of weight loss to get
the desired weight loss. Divide this figure by the number of days for incubation and it will yield the average desired weight loss per day.
The actual hatching takes place after the incubation takes place or during the period people here are calling lockdown! Actually, I do not fuss much with these things and am hatching continously. Every day putting in eggs and taking out hatchlings. The Cabnet model incubators are a lot more of a set it and forget it type of incubator. I have been watching my humidity reading, since reading what everyone is saying about humidity and it is fluctuating between 55 and 65, depending on the relative humidity outside the incubator. Mine is just off the kitchen and the ac has not been needed this year yet. Yesterday was rainy, so it was up a bit. Remember 80% humidity @ 100 degrees F will read as 42%
About three days before the expected hatch date move the
eggs from the turning tray(s) and lay them in the hatching tray(s) in their
natural, unsupported position. It is recommended to use a separate
hatcher such as the Model 1550 as temperatures are usually ½ to 1F
degree cooler for hatching with increased humidity. The 1502 incubator
has a hatching tray in the bottom, which will allow for hatching eggs
while newer eggs are being turned in the setting trays. If all eggs in the
1502 are to hatch, then the turning trays can be leveled and the eggs
placed on the wire floors of the setting trays. Small chicks such as
quail may require a cover over the trays similar to the hatching tray
cover. Covers are not used for large chicks. For hatching, set the
incubator to 99.5F (37C) and add a wick pad to the moisture pan. A
second pad maybe added to the pan if higher humidity is desired.
If eggs hatch a day or two early, decrease the temperature ½ degree
during the entire incubation period on the next setting. If the eggs hatch a
day or two late then increase the temperature ½ degree. For poor hatches
that hatch on expected day, consider an adjustment in humidity settings.eggs from the turning tray(s) and lay them in the hatching tray(s) in their
natural, unsupported position. It is recommended to use a separate
hatcher such as the Model 1550 as temperatures are usually ½ to 1F
degree cooler for hatching with increased humidity. The 1502 incubator
has a hatching tray in the bottom, which will allow for hatching eggs
while newer eggs are being turned in the setting trays. If all eggs in the
1502 are to hatch, then the turning trays can be leveled and the eggs
placed on the wire floors of the setting trays. Small chicks such as
quail may require a cover over the trays similar to the hatching tray
cover. Covers are not used for large chicks. For hatching, set the
incubator to 99.5F (37C) and add a wick pad to the moisture pan. A
second pad maybe added to the pan if higher humidity is desired.
If eggs hatch a day or two early, decrease the temperature ½ degree
during the entire incubation period on the next setting. If the eggs hatch a
day or two late then increase the temperature ½ degree. For poor hatches
My eggs usually hatch 2 to 4 days early, sometimes they are still being turned, and they hatch strong and healthy and can be heard tweeting inside their shells a couple days before hatching.
Ok, so I have the Octo 20 and I have a few questions? I think I'm way over in left field on this but I will ask anyway............
Why are the incubators "designed" to (and without any physical changes) to reach and maintain a certain humidity (40 for mine) if that humidity is not the necessary humidity for hatching? Why not get a bator that can get to 80 without making any physical changes (adding this and adding that)?Some incubators are high quality and when instructions are followed to the letter, great things result. ie DIckey. I use an LG, a simple box in which I set the temp( variable knob) and humidity is also variable based on a number of factors, the most influencial is the ambient humidity. I DO NOT have a set it and forget it incubator. Having said that, not all incubators are suitable for all kinds of fowl and need some adjustment or just don't have good results. AsKevin Porter wrote, if you have a method that works, use it. His methods were for newbies needing some guidence.
Could the size of the bator and amount of eggs in the bator have anything to do with the humidity, which in the case of Porters, who hatches a gazillion number of eggs, and would require them to increase the humidity because the # of eggs in the bator is pulling moisture from the inside, thus decreasing the humidity at a faster rate? Did that make sense?IMO when I loaded up my homemade Henny Penny with 7 dozen eggs the humidity was fairly constant and gave steady results. ll the eggs are letting off moisture. I did not need to add any moisture to the set up and I kept the lid slightly askew to allow for air flow and better temp control. So fewer eggs in my LG requires careful monitoring to add water if need be; running the fan also increases the need for more moisture as it has a drying effect because is forces more air out of the incubator = more turnover of air = drying effect.
And I know they are the experts when it comes to hatching but I just have nagging questions that I'm thinking about. THat is how we all learn--keep asking.
I can't wrap my mind around 80%. After my eggs are hatched and my poults are out of the bator, I will have to experiment to see what I need to do to get the humidity to 80. If you are happy with your results, perhaps don't change a thing. I have had eggs hatch at 80% and 40%.
So, with the Oct 20, I only have the vent opened 1/3 as opposed to 1/2 from Day 1 - 25. Does the vent opening have anything to do with humidity? YES. However, opening all the air flow vents is important. As the embryos grow larger their need for air exchange increases: a lot by the end of the incubation period 25 days, then more at internal pip, and a HUGE increase in air exchange at hatch. Often chicks and poults die in the last 4-5 ddays simply because there is NOT enough air exchange with in the incubator to provide the increased need for oxygen for EACH of the poults. My LG can fit 50 eggs-- that is a whole lot of oxygen compared to hatching only 10 eggs.
So, would it be best to order a humidity pump for the Octo 20 units?I don't know this machine. If you are happy with your hatch rates, save the money.If you want to experiment, go for it. If you are not happy with your hatch rates I would address other more likely issues first.
I stop the auto turn at Day 25 but I see they stop at Day 24.Turning can be stopped early because they will hatch anyways by this point without turning; I often have early hatches, though not at day 24. he he he. Do what works for you. Perhaps they(Porters) have all the poults hatch 12 hrs before yours do,
Not sure what a hatcher is but I don't have one. And I have never decreased the temps as they have mentioned. I keep mine at 99.9. Anyone decrease the temps?
In an LG decreasing the temp is not easy, I'm sure POrters uses very big high quality incubators that can be adjusted. I use two machines. One is for incubating until lockdown, that is the incubator; then I have a second machine, and that is used during lockdown for hatching. How is that? GOt it?
I think I have a headache now.((hugs)) me too
Nice write up Celie--
Eggs that hatch early are usually better , more vigorous than very late chicks. I have read this over and over and it seems to be true in my experience. Shooting for the ideal time is always to ensure correct development of the egg. I always say, if it is working for you, don't change anything.
Eggs that hatch early are usually better , more vigorous than very late chicks. I have read this over and over and it seems to be true in my experience. Shooting for the ideal time is always to ensure correct development of the egg. I always say, if it is working for you, don't change anything.
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