Am I turning my eggs wrong

[AltonaAcres]

I am just wondering if I am turning my eggs wrong. I got 6 out of 12 shipped eggs to hatch last batch. I hand turned until day 8 or so. The developing embryos looked odd, but some shipped eggs do. They are healthy birds now though! This time I am also hand turning, and the ones in my Brinsea (auto-turning) look healthier, more normal, and more typical than do the ones I'm hand turning in another incubator. Because I don't want the humidity to drop I try to turn them all pretty quickly. I just roll them. I don't individually pick up each egg, rotate it, and set it down like I've seen some ppl do. That'd take too long with 15 eggs. I hope I'm not being too rough or anything...........

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

If you are not using an automatic egg turner, they have to be hand turned 3-4 x per day.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Yes, I've been doing it 5 times a day.

 

[50-45-1]

You are doing just fine by rolling them.
Turn odd times each day 3 or 5 or 7. This way the night is spent on altenating sides.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Thank you! Would you say that you recommend hand turning or auto turning............which has a higher hatch rate

 

[Criticalicious]

Auto turning has a better outcome because it's more consistent and happens more often, which is more similar to using a broody. A broody hen will give you the best hatch rate but we can't always control that.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Thanks guys

 

[cmom]

I agree with an auto turner. I also have hand turned. I did it 3 times a day at 7am, 3pm and 11pm. 8 hours apart. I'm so glad I eventually invested in an auto turner. Back then I had a still-air styrofoam incubator. I marked one side of the egg with an X and the other side of the egg with an 0. I rolled the eggs with wither all with the X up and then the next turn, all with the 0 up. Can't get mixed up and the chicks get rolled. Also still-air incubators tend to have cooler and hotter spots so I also rotated the eggs around. My next investment was a fan to circulate the air. Much better too in my opinion. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

When you open the incubator to hand turn, to bring the humidity up quicker, you can mist the eggs with warm water. The humidity will shoot up pretty quickly. Give it some time to settle out before making any adjustments. I keep mine around 75% during lock-down. I have a hatch due today & Wednesday.