How to Hatch Turkey Eggs in an Incubator

Whether you find wild turkey eggs and want to save them, or raise turkeys for a business then you need to learn to use an incubator. When you hatch turkey eggs in an incubator you need to know the proper temperature and humidity, and several other things for the chick to hatch successfully.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Incubator
• Water
• Spray mister
• Thermostat
• Wet bulb thermometer

1. Sanitize the eggs by dipping them in a solution for that purpose. When you hatch turkey eggs in an incubator, you want the eggs free from germs. Clean and sanitize the incubator as well.

2. Start the incubator and get the temperature between 100 degrees and 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep the humidity at 60 percent. If you can adjust oxygen, keep it above 20 percent and the carbon dioxide below one half percent. Make sure there is at least some air movement; 12 cubic feet each minute is best.

3. Place the eggs in the incubator. Don't adjust the temperature upward in the first 48 hours if it falls. The eggs cause the temperature to fall a little and raising it cooks the eggs.

4. Keep the eggs out of direct sunlight and drafts while they incubate. When you hatch turkey eggs in an incubator, you want the conditions similar to those under a mother turkey.

5. Increase the humidity. If the incubator is a still air one, raise the humidity higher right before hatching time.

6. Turn the eggs at least four to six times each day. Don't turn the eggs the last 3 days before they hatch. Since turkey egg incubation period is 28 days, stop turning them on the twenty-fourth day. The chicks inside the turkey eggs move enough to turn themselves in the incubator.

7. Stop yourself from helping the chicks from the shells. It could cripple or infect the chick. Keep your hands out of the incubator those last days since it disrupts humidity. Remove the chicks between 6 to 12 hours after they hatch. Wait until they are fluffy and dry. Remove all the chicks at the same time. If all chicks hatched but one and the others are dry, remove the dry and fluffy ones.

Tips & Warnings

• If the humidity falls, increase it with a spray bottle. Spray through the incubator ventilation holes.
• You only add water that is the same temperature as the incubator. If it's warm when you touch it, it usually passes the test.

[diaz-farms]

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