Incubation question for turkey eggs

[amyquilt]

How long is incubation for turkey eggs? I have experience with chickens and I think I'm ready to get some turkey eggs so we will have some when we move to our farm in April.

Any special instructions? What to feed baby turkeys?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Cowgirl71]

Incubation period is 28 days. Treat them like you would chicken eggs, except put them into lockdown day 25, rather than 18 like you would for chicken eggs.

I'll let someone else answer the rest. I've never raised turkeys!

 

[sonew123]

If your incubating do as cowgirl says..I have some in bator now. But the one thing I do do is hatch out regular chickens with them a few at least. My experience is that turkeys do things by watching the other chicks over and over-they'll forget where their water is and food. So watching the baby chicks eat and drink alot helps them learn faster instead of you having to point it out alot the first few weeks! well worth it to hatch out a few chickens with them!!! I feed them crumbles...not medicated-I dont at least. I put them on layer pellets when they are about 6 months old or when I got sick of buying crumbles just for them! haha all though they snuck into the layer pellets alot earlier than that as they were with my chickens...good luck

 

[Cowgirl71]

Raising chicks with the poults is also a very good idea. Joel Salatin also recommends it. Start the turkey eggs, and then a week later add some chicken eggs so that everything's due to hatch at the same time!

 

[amyquilt]

Thanks everyone, pretty much what I thought, just didn't know the incubation time.

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
I actually put them all in at the same time as the turkey grows bigger and faster-so it gives my chicks a bit of stealth before the turkeys come out to play!!

 

[Martin Grove Farm]

Turkeys need slightly higher humidity as well. The starter needs to be higher in protein.

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
how high would you suggest?? Mine is 28 % never had any issues

 

[ColbyNTX]

I hatch with chicks or Keets(28 days) because of the same incubation time. One other thing I do with my turkeys eggs is I lower the temp 1 deg to 98.5 and raise the humidity to around 70% at lockdown. You will find that turkeys need hightr humidity than chicks. When you get the humidity up that high and if your temp spikes up to 100-100.5, you can kill the poult in the egg after it pips. It will drown and you will see bubbles and yellow looking fluid oozing from the pip hole. High temp + high humidity = dead poult! I use purina gamebird starter nonmedicated. It is 30% protein. I am not one of those that has a problem with the medicated but my feed store carries nonmedicated. After they hatch, keep them warm, dry, clean, feed & water and you will be OK.

 

[Martin Grove Farm]

usually about 5% more than chickens. The exact amout will vary depending on what part of the country you are in. Your incubator should have come with a manual that will give you humidity percentages for both humidistat and wet bulb. If there are no instructions, google the Sportsman Incubator and search out instructions on it. For us here in Ontario Canada it is about 80% and 72-74% for chickens.