The Call Again Farm Journal

Exciting news!  I saw the first of the turkey eggs rocking this morning!  Inside the egg, a few days before hatching, the chick (in this case, the baby turkey, or poult) breaks into the air cell at the big end of the egg and starts breathing the oxygen in there.  When the air in there gets very fowl, the poult tries to start hatching so it can breath.  The poult was trying to start hatching, but hasn't chipped the shell yet.  

The turkey eggs should hatch on Thursday.  Therefore, I was not exactly surprised to see the eggs rocking, as this usually happens two to three days before the eggs are due to hatch, but the first rocking egg of each hatch is always a thrill.  It's good news in the very stressful business of hatching, the worst part of incubation.  When hatching goes well, it's magical and happy.  When it doesn't, it's heartbreaking.  

I'm really nervous about this hatch because of the trouble I've had with incubator temperature through this incubation.  The wrong temperature leads to weak poults which leads to a poor hatch.  There's nothing sadder than a poult trapped in an egg.

The rocking egg was something normal, but it meant that at least one poult was progressing just fine.  It one reassuring sight in this nerve-racking hatch.