WHere to store my turkey eggs?

[Arielle]

Colby you bring up a good point--I haven't seen any activity regarding breeding since they arrived at my home.

Last Friday may be the last date of breeding as she was in a pen with several toms. How long will the hen have fertile eggs from the last breeding?

 

[MissTurkey4]

If the weather is not to extreme, each time a turkey lays the next egg, the remaining eggs are incubated just enough to replace the dieing egg cells. That is why they can store eggs longer than we can store them at temperatures above 65.

There is records of turkeys laying fertle eggs as much as 45 days after a Tom dies or is removed.

 

[Arielle]

Miss Turkey 4

There is records of turkeys laying fertle eggs as much as 45 days after a Tom dies or is removed.

Could you point me to this record and where this is reported? Perhaps it will show % hatch.

In the absence of toms for an extended length of time, a hen can lay an egg that will develop into a tom. It is a unique situation in which nature can create what it needs to continue the species; there is a fish that can change genders when lack of males is a problem. She can't change back though. Nature is very interesting!​

 

[MissTurkey4]

Quote:
Could you point me to this record and where this is reported? Perhaps it will show % hatch.

In the absence of toms for an extended length of time, a hen can lay an egg that will develop into a tom. It is a unique situation in which nature can create what it needs to continue the species; there is a fish that can change genders when lack of males is a problem. She can't change back though. Nature is very interesting!

I am sure everything you will want to know you can find here.

Turkey Management by Stanley J. Marsden and J. Holmes Martin, Interstate Publishing (1939).

The book is out of print, but a used copy can be purchased through various online resources. The book can also be viewed in its entirety in electronic form through the Cornell University’s Core Historical Literature of Agriculture digital collection at http://chla.library.cornell.edu/c/chla/ . The book itself is over 700 pages long but it is a worthwhile read for turkey producers.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

delete

 

[Arielle]

Thanks, Steve. I could remember the "process" but not recall the specific name for it (Parthenogenesis) with certainty. I wasn't a great student; if only my professors could see me now!

Any one know how long Turkey eggs can be held in storage and have a great hatch %?? I've come across 2 university pdf files that say eggs are viable much longer than chicken eggs but do not give a length of time.

I'm trying to get the incubator up and stable. Patience . . . .

 

[mitchell3006]

I don't know of a scientific study to quote but I have found that the best hatch percentage is under 2 weeks. I try to set every 10 days if I have enough eggs. My Bourbon Red hens are still laying almost every day. 4 hens-4 eggs almost every day since about March 1st. I am getting overrun with turkeys. I have had 2 toms on the four hens at different times and want to keep several hen poults from each. I am looking to expand my breeding flock to 6 hens per tom in two seperate pens. I will keep 1 or 2 jakes from each and sell the rest. Right now I have almost 50 poults of various ages with another 80 eggs in the incubator. I have 19 eggs waiting to go and will set at 36 because it fills a tray. It works out to about every 10 days. I have had viable eggs at 8 days seperation from a tom before on some whites I was hatching. I would say she should be good at least a week after exposure to a tom based only on experience. Hope it helps.

Mark

 

[Arielle]

Great ! This is what I am looking for. You have been hatching a boat load of eggs to have data of value. Thanks for sharing.

Being the cautious sort, I went ahead and set before 10 days; but of course that now mean the next set of eggs will be much older, some closer to 3 weeks old. Will give it a go and see what the rate it. WHen I pick up the egg I date it and mark X/O so I have the dates/age. I have only 1 hen, every egg counts.

Thanks for the info.

 

[onthespot]

I know chickens are not exactly the same as turkeys, but I have four java hens I pulled aside from a different breed rooster, because someone else wanted eggs from them from another breed rooster. I have been waiting now nearly seven weeks and there are still fertile eggs being produced!!!

If I were you I would just collect and incubate the eggs every week, probably doesn't matter too much the temp you keep them at. I am in So Cal, and though not really hot, it has been warm here, and the room I am keeping eggs in gets up to the mid eighties, sometimes higher. I am not being as careful right now, because it is just me collecting my own eggs for hatching here, and it does not seem to be affecting fertility in the least. You should just load what you have in the incubator, and run separate brooder boxes for each week's hatch, until they are older and closer in age with each other, at which point you can mix them. Two week olds can go in with three week olds, and what not. It is the very little ones that need to be brooded separate. You can't put two week olds in with six week olds, or anything like that. Just use common sense, and keep an eye on them when you integrate. Congrats on your new turkeys. You will have to post pics of them when they hatch!

 

[Arielle]

On the Spot--Sorry, it must be the hour; just so I'm sure I understand, you mean to keep putting eggs in the incubator even though the one LG serves as both incubator and hatcher? What about the higher RH during hatching?