In poultry farming, perhaps the most useful for breeding are turkeys. They have good muscle mass and fertility. Although the turkey has a well-developed maternal instinct, in some cases it is necessary to use an incubator. To properly grow young animals in an incubator, you need to learn how to ovoscopy turkey eggs in the afternoon.
- eggs are taken only from women aged 8 months;
- keep eggs dry, clean, well ventilated;
- incubation material is laid with a blunt edge up;
- It is forbidden to store filler for more than 10 days, ideally 6 days.
First conduct an initial inspection, which allows you to visually identify defects. Quality eggs are conical in shape. Too round or oblong eggs should be discarded. All testicles should be the same size. No need to take too large or small.
It is important to remember that before laying you need to warm up the testicles to 21 degrees.For this, the night before laying the biomaterial is laid out in a warmer room. Before placing the testes in the incubator, they are disinfected with a solution of manganese. All surfaces of the incubator must also be sanitized in advance.
The dried biomaterial is placed in the incubator in a horizontal position, while it is necessary to mark the opposite sides with a simple pencil, so that in the future, each testicle can be rotated 180 degrees with accuracy. It is not recommended to use markers or felt-tip pens to mark eggs. For the manufacture of the coloring matter, harmful chemical compounds are used that can adversely affect the development of the embryos.
What is the purpose of the electroovoscope
An initial examination is not enough. The next stage of preparation is ovoscopy of a turkey egg. For the procedure, you will need a special ovoscope device . Under the lamp, defects in the development of the embryo at any stage can be detected. Initially look at the yolk. The size of the airspace is very important. Quality requirements for turkey eggs for laying:
- the yolk should turn into protein smoothly;
- the air chamber should be located on the blunt side of the testicle and be constantly in one place;
- blood streaks or inclusions should not be noted in the protein, its consistency is uniform;
- when the egg is turned over, under the ovoscope you can see how the yolk moves along the edge very slowly, and then returns to its original position.
In addition to the secondary examination, ovoscopy is performed at different stages of embryo development. The procedure is carried out to cull spoiled eggs, as well as to control climatic conditions. Inspection allows you to adjust if necessary the temperature or humidity, until it has caused irreversible damage to the embryos. It is important to remember that using the ovoscope too often during the incubation period is also harmful, especially in the later stages, when the shell becomes thin, this can damage already formed chicks.
How are artificial chicks growing?
A turkey in an egg develops for 28 days. Hatching of chicks can be expected from 25 days. The entire incubation period is divided into three stages. The main thing is to fulfill all the requirements that relate to temperature conditions, humidity and uniform turning of the biomaterial.
From the first to the eighth day, it is recommended to maintain the temperature in the incubator within 37.8 degrees. Humidity should not exceed 65%. At all stages, it is necessary to regularly rotate the testes 180 degrees so that the embryo does not adhere to the shell. On the eighth day, a second ovoscopy is performed. Discard unfertilized specimens and check whether all embryos develop normally.
From the eighth to the fourteenth day, embryos go through the next stage of development. These days, the bookmark of the respiratory system. Initially, the fetus breathes due to the air chamber.On the fourteenth day, the ovoscope is again used for monitoring.
In the third stage, which lasts until 25 days, changes in metabolism occur. All organ systems are already functioning and the embryos themselves generate heat. In this regard, the ventilation function must be turned on in the incubator to avoid overheating. The temperature should not exceed 37.5 degrees.
In the hatching phase, the chicks go on 25-26 days. During this period, it is very important to maintain the humidity level within 70%, otherwise the turkeys will not be able to get out of the shell and die. Air flow at this stage is increased. In no case can turkeys be helped to break the shell, otherwise they will die.
Hatching is an important process
It is necessary to create optimal conditions for the appearance of chicks
Most of the chicks are born on the 27th day. Do not open the lid when the hatching process has begun. Cold air from the outside can only lead to hypothermia of hatched chicks. The birds are taken out of the incubator only after they hatch and dry.
When the turkey poults are born, the ventilation function must be turned on in the incubator to provide access to the required volume of air. At the same time, a draft should not be allowed. All chicks cannot hatch at the same time.There can be a difference of 24 hours between the birth of the first and the last. The bulk hatch in 10 hours, during this period the temperature drops to 37 degrees, and after drying and removal of the hatched individuals, the temperature is raised again to 37.5.
What mistakes are made by the poultry breeders during artificial breeding ?
Often, when laying turkey eggs in an incubator, novice poultry breeders make many mistakes. An ovoscope is just needed to monitor the condition of eggs during the entire incubation period. Timely observed pathology in development allows you to quickly adjust the incubator and avoid losses.
One of the first mistakes is the failure to observe the temperature regime. Even a slight increase in temperature leads to instantaneous overheating. Such a mistake leads to the development of various pathologies. Many chicks do not retract the yolk. Overheating is the cause of early hatching, and with a lack of heat, turkey poults begin to hatch much later.
The second mistake is a poor selection of biomaterial for the bookmark. When eggs of different sizes are laid in an incubator, it is impossible to ensure uniform heating of the entire biomaterial. Too small testicles will overheat, and large ones, on the contrary. Eggs with microcracks or a damaged air chamber should not be laid.
The percentage of moisture plays a decisive role in the development of chicks.Overmoistened air becomes the cause of hatching at a later date, and most of the chicks do not even live up to this point, but choke in the amniotic fluid. Dry air causes the hardening of the shell. The turkeys try to get out of their house ahead of time, but cannot do it, because the shell is too strong.
Another important point that is the key to the normal development of embryos is regular flipping. If this procedure is neglected, the embryos dry to the shell and die. If the breeder stopped turning over the testicles at a later date, then there is a high probability of the appearance of babies with congenital malformations.
Final part
Ovoscopy of turkey eggs is a rather serious procedure. The laying of turkey eggs in the incubator follows the pattern. The first step is a visual initial inspection of the entire biomaterial. It is not necessary to take biomaterial heavily smeared with litter, because it is impossible to wash the testicles, and during the incubation process, harmful substances can penetrate through the pores of the shell and provoke the development of pathologies. You can watch the training video on the initial inspection of the eggs and learn a lot of new information.
A secondary examination is carried out using an ovoscope. Do this on the day before laying the eggs, when all the material has already been treated with a disinfectant and dried. You will need an ovoscope throughout the incubation period to monitor the climatic conditions in the apparatus. These periods of incubation allows you to quickly fix them and significantly reduce the risk of giving birth to underdeveloped chicks with pathologies.
The next ovoscopy is performed on the eighth day, when the first stage of development is completed. Then the eggs are ovoscopic on the fourteenth day from the beginning of laying. the appearance of the first chicks can be observed. Do not open the lid of the device during hatching, otherwise the chicks will catch a cold and may die. If you are very interested in knowing how babies hatch, you can watch the video.
