In my experience remove egg turner and place in its natural position on bottom of incubator. As far as not sure on which end is the pointy end if it is to obvious make your best guestimation and go with that. And on the dry, I have no experience with that so can't advice, hopefully someone else...
I hate to be the devil's advocate on this one but I would say that is a cockerel. Orpingtons are slower to mature than some of the other breeds. Had one "Nosey Rose" didn't become "Nosey" until he was almost 20 weeks old and he was the BEST rooster I have ever seen and very sadly missed
Need better pics to determine what they are, if your looking to find out about breed/sex we need to see legs (looking at size and color), comb and wattles (looking at color/size/shape), stance (how the bird stands when just standing alone), etc. so if you can post individual pictures of each one...
I have been told by a very old farmer that spraying vanilla keeps them at bay. I live in mid Missouri and have the same issues, headed to store for vanilla, I'll let you know how it works
The muffs are a trait that is passed by the Ameraucana breed which is what also provides the gene that gives you easter egg colored eggs which brings you back to why they are called Easter Eggers.
Throwing a towel or getting her off the roosts in the morning sounds like a good option, you would probably have to get her pretty early to catch her before she's awake good. I grab the fishing net, that seems to work the best for me. I have also heard of others using a wire hanger.
I am not sure this is the correct thread to this on and if not I apologize ahead of time. At what point can you tell the sex of the polish breed, any tell all signs like coloring or Feathering or "hair"? My second year with chickens, first year with polish, are only a little over week.