Eggs cracked by auto-turner - has this happened to you?

[Cerise1924]

After many years of turning eggs, I finally bought an autoturning incubator with overwhelmingly positive reviews. However, after the first night I checked the eggs and found that two had jammed into each other. One had a big hole caved in it, and the other had the shell chipped but the membrane intact. I tossed them both, and cleaned the tray area with warm, soapy water and then a Clorox wipe.

Has this happened to you? I was quite shocked to see that an auto turner can smash eggs. I thought it was a gentle turning, but I guess I left too much room between the egg rails for these small eggs, and one must have rotated sideways and then gotten stuck against another egg.

Is this likely to compromise the rest of the hatch? Are there going to be bacteria problems over the next 20 days? Would you have tried to save the egg with the intact membrane?

Is it okay to move eggs to this incubator from my crowded hand-turn incubator, to fill the now empty spaces?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

-Cerise

 

[Chickiemom25]

what kind of eggs are you hatching? I find the turner a little rough on my guinea eggs as they are smaller and rattle around more. However they are also very thick shelled eggs. The duck eggs, I tend to put with a space in between and offset the rows as they are huge. I haven't had any cracked eggs yet. Were these eggs next to the mechanism or motor?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Until you mentioned the eggs were small and did not fit the tray well I was really wondering what happened. Thanks for that explanation.

As long as no liquid spilled and got on the other eggs I think you will be fine. You cleaned it out so there is nothing left for bacteria to attack.

I personally would not have tried to save the one with the membrane intact, especially early in the incubation. You don't have the shell there to help keep bacteria out and the egg will lose a lot of moisture through that bare spot. To me it's not worth the risk to the rest of the hatch and that egg is less likely to hatch anyway because of excess moisture loss.

If they started at the same time and it has't been too long you can shift the eggs from one incubator to the other, but what do you gain? A couple of seconds when you hand turn the two eggs. Is that all that burdensome?

If it has been a while I'd be less inclined to switch them. Different incubators can have slightly different average temperatures which can affect hatch days. I have moved eggs from an incubator and put them under a broody to hatch. If you have enough experience with your incubators to know the hatch dates are going to be really close I don't see a problem moving a couple of eggs over. Your decision.

 

[Cerise1924]

what kind of eggs are you hatching? I find the turner a little rough on my guinea eggs as they are smaller and rattle around more. However they are also very thick shelled eggs. The duck eggs, I tend to put with a space in between and offset the rows as they are huge. I haven't had any cracked eggs yet. Were these eggs next to the mechanism or motor?

Thanks for the reply! It was a Svart Hona egg that collided with a Cream Legbar cross. The Svart egg was small and round. Yes, they were near the mechanism.

 

[Cerise1924]

Until you mentioned the eggs were small and did not fit the tray well I was really wondering what happened. Thanks for that explanation.

As long as no liquid spilled and got on the other eggs I think you will be fine. You cleaned it out so there is nothing left for bacteria to attack.

I personally would not have tried to save the one with the membrane intact, especially early in the incubation. You don't have the shell there to help keep bacteria out and the egg will lose a lot of moisture through that bare spot. To me it's not worth the risk to the rest of the hatch and that egg is less likely to hatch anyway because of excess moisture loss.

If they started at the same time and it has't been too long you can shift the eggs from one incubator to the other, but what do you gain? A couple of seconds when you hand turn the two eggs. Is that all that burdensome?

If it has been a while I'd be less inclined to switch them. Different incubators can have slightly different average temperatures which can affect hatch days. I have moved eggs from an incubator and put them under a broody to hatch. If you have enough experience with your incubators to know the hatch dates are going to be really close I don't see a problem moving a couple of eggs over. Your decision.

Thanks, @Ridgerunner ! That is a very detailed, thoughtful and helpful reply. I feel reassured about the condition of the incubator, since none of the spillage got on any of the other eggs. I also feel reassured about my choice to toss the chipped egg rather than compromise the whole hatch.
I only set the eggs last night, in both incubators, so I guess I could move a couple of eggs over. Again, thanks very much!
-Cerise

 

[Chickiemom25]

Thanks for the reply! It was a Svart Hona egg that collided with a Cream Legbar cross. The Svart egg was small and round. Yes, they were near the mechanism.

You might want to leave the slots next to the turner open to avoid problems. Looks like the Svart Hona looks like a medium size egg and the mechanism probably caught it.

 

[Cerise1924]

You might want to leave the slots next to the turner open to avoid problems. Looks like the Svart Hona looks like a medium size egg and the mechanism probably caught it.

Thanks. I am new to auto turners, so I need to figure out what the hazards are. I appreciate your help.