Listening for Turkey Sounds

Yesterday we moved the first set of turkey eggs into the "hatching chamber" of the incubator. Here they will sit until the birds break out of their shell to see their new world. Since hte chamber is "closed" the first sign of these new little lives will be the sound of chirping in our house!

The hatching process dictates that the eggs are turned regularly every day during incubation. This is accomplished by the shelves that "lean" to one side then the other every hour or so. The purpose is to prevent the growing embryo from "sticking" to the inside of the shell and developing abnormally. In nature this is accomplished by the mother bird using her beak to gently turn each egg every hour or so while she sits on them.

Then, 3 days before hatching is is  necessary to STOP turning them completely so that the young bird can position itself for hatching. If this isnt done the bird may never hatch and will often die in the shell. In nature, the mother bird knows when to stop turning them and leave them alone! Isnt nature amazing!

Since turkey eggs require almost exactly 28 days to hatch, they need to stop turning around day 25, which was last sunday for hte first set. Using hte incubator for multiple ages of eggs requires dating each egg and at every 25 day interval moving the proper eggs to the hatching chamber. That allows for a constant rotation of eggs through the system and chicks out.

So we are waiting! By wednesday night we should have most of hte first turkeys happily running around and ready for their new brooder!