Ok, so long story short, my Dad surprised me one day with my Mom's old Brower incubator and a box of 22 turkey eggs.
I didn't really want to incubate eggs, but we set it up and I started reading. Temps up and down, humidity not stable, turning the eggs like a slave 3-5 times a day.
Candling day came... and went... we had recently moved and couldn't find a flashlight! We finally bought one and I candled the eggs on day 20. Out of 20 eggs (two were cracked before we put them in the 'bator), only ONE had movement! Over half were not even fertile and the rest had ceased development at different stages.
One, little, lonely egg.... soooo, I have a broody buff orpington who had been brooding for about 2 weeks-ish, so that night we stuck the turkey egg under her. She had originally had some nest confusion and would change nests, but had been consistently sitting on the same nest of 4 golf balls for 3 days straight.
Next night when we went to lock up the chickens and gather the eggs, silly broody was sitting in another nest on a fresh egg. Thankfully we had been having very warm temps (100ish) during the day, so we stuck her back on the turkey egg, re-added 2 golf balls (thinking she had switched because there were 2 new eggs in the other nest).
Next night she was again on a different nest, and so it went and became routine that every night we had to put her back on the turkey egg. The last 3 days or so, however, we have cooled down a bit and only gotten up into the mid-90's during the day.
However, she wasn't getting off the nest until late afternoon, during the warmest part of the day, and we stuck her back on the egg in the evening and she would stay on it until the next afternoon.
I still figured there was no way this egg was going to hatch.
So tonight I went out, a little late, and sure enough she was on another nest. I decided, as I bent down to pick her out of the wrong nest, that I was only going to do this a couple more times and then call it a good try.
As I was leaning down with my head close to the nests, I heard PEEPING from the correct nest! I quickly reached in and grabbed up the poult, it was too dark to see much in the hen house (no lights), so I took it outside and checked to make sure it was ok. I called for my husband and we got a dog crate, put in some shavings, put it on the floor of the hen house and stuck the broody in. Once she had settled (in just a few seconds), we stuck the poult under her.
She didn't cluck or talk to it.. she didn't do anything at all. I am fighting myself right now about going out and getting it, but I don't have a place to put it right now, I have 29 chicks and 5 poults who will be 3 weeks old tomorrow in my house right now and they have the only heater. I can't stick her in with them and they are not old enough to be totally without heat (some of the laying chicks are still pretty small, though I have recently had to remove the 5 monster cornish rocks because the other chicks were pecking them bloody, and they do not have heat and are doing fine - but hey are huge and generate ALOT of heat)....
If anyone is awake and has taken the time to read this far... do you think the broody will have turned into a Mommy by morning, or do you think I should go get the poult and figure something out quick?
I honestly will be surprised if the little thing is still alive in the morning... just as surprised I was that it hatched tonight!
I didn't really want to incubate eggs, but we set it up and I started reading. Temps up and down, humidity not stable, turning the eggs like a slave 3-5 times a day.
Candling day came... and went... we had recently moved and couldn't find a flashlight! We finally bought one and I candled the eggs on day 20. Out of 20 eggs (two were cracked before we put them in the 'bator), only ONE had movement! Over half were not even fertile and the rest had ceased development at different stages.
One, little, lonely egg.... soooo, I have a broody buff orpington who had been brooding for about 2 weeks-ish, so that night we stuck the turkey egg under her. She had originally had some nest confusion and would change nests, but had been consistently sitting on the same nest of 4 golf balls for 3 days straight.
Next night when we went to lock up the chickens and gather the eggs, silly broody was sitting in another nest on a fresh egg. Thankfully we had been having very warm temps (100ish) during the day, so we stuck her back on the turkey egg, re-added 2 golf balls (thinking she had switched because there were 2 new eggs in the other nest).
Next night she was again on a different nest, and so it went and became routine that every night we had to put her back on the turkey egg. The last 3 days or so, however, we have cooled down a bit and only gotten up into the mid-90's during the day.
However, she wasn't getting off the nest until late afternoon, during the warmest part of the day, and we stuck her back on the egg in the evening and she would stay on it until the next afternoon.
I still figured there was no way this egg was going to hatch.
So tonight I went out, a little late, and sure enough she was on another nest. I decided, as I bent down to pick her out of the wrong nest, that I was only going to do this a couple more times and then call it a good try.
As I was leaning down with my head close to the nests, I heard PEEPING from the correct nest! I quickly reached in and grabbed up the poult, it was too dark to see much in the hen house (no lights), so I took it outside and checked to make sure it was ok. I called for my husband and we got a dog crate, put in some shavings, put it on the floor of the hen house and stuck the broody in. Once she had settled (in just a few seconds), we stuck the poult under her.
She didn't cluck or talk to it.. she didn't do anything at all. I am fighting myself right now about going out and getting it, but I don't have a place to put it right now, I have 29 chicks and 5 poults who will be 3 weeks old tomorrow in my house right now and they have the only heater. I can't stick her in with them and they are not old enough to be totally without heat (some of the laying chicks are still pretty small, though I have recently had to remove the 5 monster cornish rocks because the other chicks were pecking them bloody, and they do not have heat and are doing fine - but hey are huge and generate ALOT of heat)....
If anyone is awake and has taken the time to read this far... do you think the broody will have turned into a Mommy by morning, or do you think I should go get the poult and figure something out quick?
I honestly will be surprised if the little thing is still alive in the morning... just as surprised I was that it hatched tonight!
