I haven’t written much about it because I am too nervous, but I have 19 turkey eggs in the incubator right now. I have read that turkey eggs can be trickier than chicken eggs, and I have read that caring for turkey babies can be a lot trickier than caring for chickens. I have been reading and reading, scared to death I am going to hatch these turkeys and they are going to die. I read they can literally starve to death with food right there with them. I have read you have to check their crops every day between days 3 and 10 to make sure they are getting enough to eat. I have read you have to put something shiny, like a marble, in the waterer to encourage them to drink. Apparently, they will be curious about the a shiny marble, and it will get them to drink.
When we started this venture, I had not read enough about how hard it was going to be to raise turkeys, so I haven’t written much about it. I have been terrified I am going to accidentally kill those babies. However, I am starting to worry that I have done something wrong during incubation, and those babies are never going to hatch anyway.
Today is day 28. They were supposed to hatch today. And I am used to baby chicks who are supposed to hatch on day 21 but will sometimes hatch as early as day 19. Baby chicks are anxious and energetic. I don’t know what to expect with these turkeys, but I can see they might be a little too chill.
Of course, maybe I did something wrong. I candled twice, and things looked good. I started with 22 hatching eggs. On day 10, I candled, and all 22 had potential. On day 24, I removed the egg turner and candled again. I had 19 that looked promising. I could see movement in some, and they were all quite full. But here I am on day 28, and all I have is one pip. And it’s barely a pip.
I am trying to be patient. I read that is not uncommon for them to wait until the end of day 28 or even day 29, but if I don’t have any baby turkeys by tomorrow night, clearly something has gone wrong.
In the meantime, I wait. And the waiting is certainly the hardest part.
I have been talking to the eggs some today. I definitely heard a peep or two, but not much. When I am doing chicken eggs, those eggs will just cheep and cheep so loudly in the last day.
I decided, however, I am going to try something. I found a YouTube video of a mama turkey talking to her babies. I am about to go play it for my turkey eggs. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Cross your fingers for me! And if you have any experience with turkeys, please share any advice you can. I am going to need it. I mean, hopefully!
photo credit: Dylan Crawford, Unsplash
I have zero experience with turkey eggs, but the wild turkeys have been gobbling out beyond the edges of our yard for about a month now, despite the fox and the coyotes.
I think if 1/2 to 2/3 of your eggs hatch, you will have done very well by them. At least, that is the way of chicken eggs. Keep us updated on how they progress!