We’ve had five turkeys hatch but one didn’t make it. His right leg and foot were deformed. We tried to split it and help him but he just fell over every time he tried to stand up and then he stopped eating and . . we couldn’t save him.
Turkeys
Above are three turkeys that look just alike, and the fifth one looked like them too. But, number four . . not so sure where he came from:
Turkey
He’s much more solid colored than the others.
Yesterday was Day 21 for the chicken eggs and they’re pretty much like clockwork. By the time I was ready for bed, we had three that had hatched:
Three Baby Chicks
The one in the far back is a lavender marans, the one in the middle is a black copper marans and the one in the front, newly hatched is a Dominique from Wilbur and one of his ladies!
Here’s what one looks like when it’s just hatching. It’s just so neat to watch . . makes me laugh to think we eat eggs but if we stick them in the incubator, this is what happens!
Hatching Chicken
I cleaned out two of the coops, and took the eggs that weren’t going to hatch, took them outside to see what was in them . . how far they had gotten in the development stage and not a single one of them had ever done anything.
Duds!
There are that many or more in Incubator #1 that aren’t going to hatch but with the hatching babies, I don’t want to keep it open long enough to candle them and take them out.
Such exciting times around here!
Karen says
nice to see the chickens and turkeys hatching. I assume you use the chickens for both their eggs and food? you have so many so I wonder. Well you be selling them perhaps-two people can just use so much and after awhile you will have canned and eaten as much as you want to preserve? What about the turkeys’ just to raise to eventually eat – and do people eat turkey eggs – kind of a silly question I guess but I have never heard of eating a turkey egg
Joyce says
It’s amazing to watch them hatch!
Donna Williams says
Poor little turkey baby. I rescued a baby chicken with a deformed leg once, thinking I was all that and a bag of chips and could save it. Needless to say, he/she didn’t make it. Natural selection can be a painful lesson.
Pretty babies and I bet they grow up to be pretty chickens and turkeys. What fun and congratulations!
Jean says
They have to be fertile eggs to hatch. Rooster required. Those we buy in the store aren’t fertile.
JudyL says
Some grocery stores do sell fertile eggs. I think Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s may sell them. I’ve heard of people incubating them and having a few hatch. Some people think there is nutritional value to eating a fertile egg but studies have shown there to be no difference. My aunt swears she can taste the difference in a fertile egg . . I cannot.
swooze says
Love the update. Thanks!
Sherrill says
I dunno..something about eating a fertilized egg sounds unappetizing to me. Don’t know why!! I was going to ask you about the candling. So the turkey lady’ll be getting a couple of turkey chicks, huh? Glad ole Wilbur lives on.
CindyM says
Even though I grew up on a farm and saw 100s of things born, it is still very fascinating to me — and a miracle from God each time. But I do have to share my opinion…. baby turkeys are ugly creatures! *L*
Valerie says
This is exciting and amazing. Thank you for sharing with the non chicken or turkey people like me!! Fun and I want to know if you tag them as to who’s they are or you just know?
Michelle Harrison says
I like chickens in quilts and on Pinterest, but I have no experience with farm fowl. Thanks for the pictures and the explanation of what we were seeing. I enjoyed it!
Susan says
Wow, that seems like a low return for so many eggs! How very odd. I hope your new venture from more local chickens proves more productive.
Rebecca in SoCal says
I thought of you when I read an article (on Huffington Post, IIRC), about Silkies, the new pet! They had lots of pictures of pretty, fluffy chickens, and went on about how cute and pretty they are…things I’ve heard before!
Michelle says
Hi, I’m incubating turkey eggs, and I have a couple questions. My parents bought a pair of royal palm turkeys over a month ago. Turkey boy, always loved turkey girl, and we saw lots of proof. Anyway, she started laying eggs. So, we collected them, and put them, small end down, in an egg carton until we had 9 of them, she layed them in about 8 days. So, on the 8th or 9th day after she layed the first one, I put them in the incubator. I didn’t, and still am not sure at all about how to care for them. I kept the incubator at 99.5 as best as I could, Sometimes it was 98, sometimes it was 100. I didn’t have a water meter, so I just kept the basin at the bottom full. 25 days go by, and I take them out of the turner and lay them in the bottom. On day 28 three hatch. Perfect, beautiful little turkeys. On day 30, two more hatch. One looks like it developed with it’s guts out… ;( It only lasted a couple hours out of the egg. Another hatched right after it, and it can’t open one eye, and always falls over. I hold it upright, and it will sit for a minute, and then flip over, and it can’t get back up by itself. Another one has just hatched this morning, day 31, and both of it’s feet seem to be stuck to it’s tummy. so it can only walk around on its knees. I’m not too sad or dissapointed, but why did three come out perfect, and three deformed? They all had the same invironment…. There are still three eggs, that I anticipate will never hatch. Does anyone know what happened? I’d appreciate info, as this is the first time I’ve ever incubated anything.