Turkey eggs are heavier and slower than chicken eggs, and most failed turkey hatches start with a routine copied from the chicken setter.
Halaal Farms Ghana team31 March 2026 · 11 min read
A turkey egg is not a big chicken egg. Set one in a machine running a chicken batch, follow the same turning and humidity habits you use for chickens, and you can end up with a hatch that comes late, weak or not at all. The incubator is the same machine. The egg, the timing and the patience are different.
Our incubators in Opeikuma, Kasoa, hatch under 5,000 chicks a week, and turkey eggs need a different plan from the chicken batches that fill those machines. We also supply turkey poults, and a question that comes up often is whether a keeper can set his own turkey eggs alongside a chicken batch to save time and power. The short answer is no. This guide sets out what changes when you set turkey eggs, what stays the same, and what to settle with us before the first egg goes in.
Size is the first difference, and it changes everything that follows. A turkey egg is much heavier than a chicken egg. It holds more water and more of the material the developing bird feeds on, and it loses moisture through its shell in a different way while it sits in the machine.
The shell deserves attention too. It has to protect a larger developing bird for a longer time, so a hairline crack you might ignore on a chicken egg can matter more on a turkey egg. Handle them gently from the nest to the tray, and do not stack them in a pile while you sort.
Turkey eggs also do not sit in the trays and racks made for chicken eggs in the same way. A tray set up for chicken eggs may leave turkey eggs wedged or pressed against each other. A crowded egg does not turn properly, and an egg that does not turn cannot develop evenly. Check the fit before you load the machine, not after.
Chicken eggs in our incubators take 21 days at about 37.5°C. Turkey eggs take longer than that, and the gap is large enough that a keeper who plans his brooder around the chicken date will be waiting for birds that are not ready.
We are not going to give you a turkey figure in this article as if it were a rule. The exact period depends on the breed, the condition of the eggs and how the batch is run, and it is a figure to get from us in writing. Ask for it when you send the order form, along with the hatch date we will confirm with you. A date you have in writing is worth more than a number you found on a forum.
Our working target for chicken eggs is about 37.5°C. For turkey eggs the principle is the same: steady warmth, not a machine that swings up and down through the day. Do not raise the set point to speed things along. Too much heat kills an embryo quietly, and you will not know until the day it should hatch.
Turning continues through the set period as it does for chicken eggs, and then it stops near the end so the chick can settle into position. The point where you stop is a turkey-specific decision, so confirm it with us rather than copying the chicken routine. If your machine turns the eggs on a timer, check that the trays tilt fully and that no egg is jammed against the wall.
Moisture leaves a large egg more slowly than a small one, but it still leaves. Get the humidity wrong and the chick either sticks to the membrane or dries out inside the shell. Both problems show up at pipping, when it is too late to correct the batch.
Plan your humidity for the eggs in the machine, not for the chicken batch you ran last month. Weigh a sample of eggs when they go in, weigh the same eggs again at intervals, and write the numbers in your log. If the loss is not what you expected, change the water or the ventilation and keep notes. Do not wait for the hatch to tell you.
The table below is the quick version we would give any keeper before they set a batch. Where a turkey figure is not in our own fact sheet, the entry says to confirm with the farm instead of guessing.
| Point | Chicken egg (our routine) | Turkey egg (plan with us) |
|---|---|---|
| Hatch period | 21 days at about 37.5°C | Longer. Get the exact period from us for your batch |
| Temperature | About 37.5°C, held steady | Same steady target. Confirm before changing anything |
| Turning | Through the set, then stopped near the end | Same principle. Confirm the stop point |
| Humidity | Set for the batch in the machine | Set for larger eggs. Weigh and record the loss |
| Before setting | Clean, sound eggs, set fresh | Handle with more care and set fresh. Do not hold them long |
| Packing for delivery | Ventilated boxes of 50 chicks | Ask how poults are packed and priced |
Setting your own eggs is cheaper on paper, and many keepers do it for good reason. The trade-off is that you carry every unknown yourself. You may not know how the parent birds were kept, how old the eggs are when they reach you, or how many of them are fertile. A bad hatch then costs you the time, the power and the space in the brooder, and you may not know which of those three failed.
Buying poults from a hatchery starts you from a known point. Every batch we supply is vaccinated, and we tell you what was given, so your vaccination record starts on the day the birds arrive. You also get a set date you can plan around. The price is higher per bird, but the risk sits with a timetable you agreed in writing, not with a set of eggs you hoped would work.
Neither route is wrong. A keeper with a steady supply of his own clean eggs and a working machine can make it pay. A keeper with a festive deadline and no margin for a failed set usually does better buying poults.
If you are setting turkey eggs for the first time, work through this list before the eggs go in. It is short on purpose.
Keep the log in the same place every day, and keep it honest. A log that says 37.5°C every morning when the thermometer said otherwise is worse than no log at all, because it hides the problem until the hatch. Note the power cuts, the days the generator ran and the days the door was opened more than usual. These notes are what we look at when a hatch comes out wrong, and they are what you will need to look at yourself.
Keep the machine closed as much as you can. Each time the door opens, the temperature and the humidity drop, and the eggs take time to recover. If you must check, be quick, and close it again straight away.
Work backwards from the date the birds must be sold or served. For a festive table, that date sits at the end of a long line: the hatch, the brooding, the growing, the transport to the buyer and the sale itself. Turkeys take more time at every step than broilers do, so the margin you leave at the start is what protects the end.
Do not leave the plan until October. Festive demand fills up early, and a buyer who has already been promised a bird will not wait for yours. If your birds are going to a regional town, add the STC or bus journey to the timeline, along with the cost of keeping birds fed, watered and dry on the road. Harmattan mornings in the north can be cold, so think about brooder heat before the birds arrive, not after.
Most turkey hatch problems come from a short list of mistakes:
Feed deserves a line of its own in the plan. Feed is more than half of what a poultry farm spends, and a bird that takes longer to reach the market eats for longer. Work out the feed for the extra weeks before you commit to a date, and do not assume the broiler number on the bag will carry you through a turkey finish.
Each of these is fixable on its own. Together they make a turkey hatch hard to read, and that is when a keeper starts guessing.
We advise against it. Two batches on different timings mean one of them is always being run to the other's schedule. Keep them in separate runs.
Longer than the 21 days we run for chicken eggs. We do not want to give you a figure that is not right for your breed and batch, so ask us for the exact period when you send the order form.
Yes, through the set period. The point where turning stops is a turkey-specific decision, so confirm it with us before the eggs go in.
Yes, we supply turkey poults. Ask us for today's price and the hatch date, and confirm the delivery cost before you pay. Payment is by cash, mobile money or bank transfer.
If you are setting turkey eggs or buying poults for a festive batch, read our notes on rearing turkeys for the Christmas table and on storing eggs before they go in the incubator. They cover the parts of the plan this article does not repeat.
When you are ready, send the order form on the site or call us on 024 915 1503. Our terms are simple. We confirm the price, the hatch date and the delivery cost with you before any payment. Chicks dead on arrival are replaced free in the next hatch, and the minimum order is one box of 50. You can also check our current price list and follow how to order day-old chicks step by step.
Written by the Halaal Farms Ghana team. We hatch and import day-old chicks at Opeikuma, Kasoa, and deliver to all 16 regions. This article is general guidance for farmers. For diagnosis and treatment of sick birds, speak to a vet or your district veterinary office.
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