Do not turn eggs??? What do you think???

[TerrasCritters]

I did post the first message as just something to think about and not to tell anyone not to turn there eggs, just an eye opener that maybe it is not so much needed as we all thought.

I personally love to read about other peoples methods etc, and try them out, if I hadnt of read them from other places, I would of never learned or experimented different methods and work with what works for me.

For example, humidity, adding water to the incubators, I always did it by the book pan was always full etc etc well I read some old timers say they never add water until the egg is pipped then moving those to the hatcher and adding humidity, so I gave it a shot and have had the best cleanest hatches ever. So I NEVER EVER ADD WATER TO MY INCUBATOR DURING INCUBATION AND GET EXCELLENT RESULTS!

 

[ChickenGirl2008]

This is a VERY interesting topic, thanks for sharing it, I am going to give it a try.

 

[aberfitch]

If it works that would be the only meathod anyone would use. Personally I would not risk any eggs with sill incubation. Its hard enough hatching eggs with an automatic turner.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

<<Its hard enough hatching eggs with an automatic turn>>


That statement alone would indicate to me a need to investigate other methods.

 

[Oblio13]

Do the huge hatcheries turn or not? I'm sure they've devoted resources we can only dream about into improving hatches.

 

[Guitartists]

That video link someone posted showed that they flip them every hour or something like that

I don;t remember for sure, but they certainly did not just sit still.

 

[Oblio13]

Hey, we're ALL moderators now! Is this sort of like being a Walmart Associate?

 

[BirdBrain]

No, It is sort of like being April Fool's Day.

 

[mountaintopchicken]

Given the importance of good hatching rates to the poultry industry in general I thought it would be pretty easy to find lots of more recent studies on the effect of turning on hatching rates than the ancient one mentioned in the Country Stock Journal article.

So I did a quick Google Scholar search and found some articles right away, although I only got the abstracts.

Developmental patterns of O2 consumption, heart rate and O2 pulse in unturned eggs

"The effects of failure to turn eggs on the developmental patterns of oxygen consumption, heart rate and O2 pulse during the second half of incubation of individual chicken eggs were examined. The O2 of unturned eggs increased at a significantly lower rate than the control toward the end of prenatal incubation, and the plateau O2 between day 17 and 19 was significantly lower than the control. Lack of turning also resulted in significant changes in the developmental patterns of and O2 pulse. It is suggested that the effects of lack of egg-turning on the developmental patterns of ImageO2 may be attributable to lower embryonic growth rate in addition to impairment of gas exchange through the chorioallantoic gas exchanger. "

Adverse effect of failure to turn the avian egg on the embryo oxygen exchange.

"Fertile chicken eggs belonging to the same flock of hens were divided into two groups and incubated for 16 days. During incubation, group 1 eggs were turned twice a day and group 2 eggs were left unturned. Blood sampled from the allantoic vein or artery was analyzed for gas tensions (PO2 and PCO2), pH and Hct. These values were compared by unmpaired t-test for significance differences between the two groups. While the differences of PCO2 and pH were found insignificant, failure to turn the eggs caused a pronounced fall in the arterialized PO2 which was accompanied with an increase in Hct. In addition, the embryo weight was reduced in unturned eggs. Lack of turning retarded the absorption of albumen. The unabsorbed albumen interposed between the chorioallantoic membrane and inner shell membrane, impeding the blood oxygenation through the chorioallantois. Little change in PCO2 might be attributed to a large diffusive conductance of the chorioallantois for CO2. The present results suggest that the eggs must be turned periodically during incubation to prevent the distortion of normal oxygen exchange especially for the study of egg respiration."

Failure to turn eggs during incubation: effects on embryo weight, development of the chorioallantois and absorption of albumen.

"Turning eggs during incubation is essential for good hatchability. In the present paper additional effects on the development of the chorioallantois, absorption of albumen and growth of the embryo are recorded. The ability of an unturned egg to hatch was not affected by egg weight, egg shell porosity or water loss during incubation. The ability of the chorioallantois to spread around the inner surface of the inner shell membrane and the degree of absorption of the residual albumen affected the growth of the embryo and its ability to hatch. Unturned eggs hatched later than eggs which were turned throughout incubation."

A quick search of Google Scholar using different keywords will turn up lots. Generally if a something is economically important to an agricultural industry it will have been studied to death, and hatching rates are important to every aspect of producing poultry products economically. I would imagine that not turning also works a lot of the time, because chickens are so resilient, having been selected over human history to survive in so many different types of artificial environments over the years

.

 

[MaransGuy]

<<Its hard enough hatching eggs with an automatic turn>>


That statement alone would indicate to me a need to investigate other methods.


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Norma

I would agree. And, if it did work, and no one turned eggs any more, then what? What is the big deal? It seems as though there is a resentment to the change in doing things for no reason other than it being different than what is typically done. I mean, so what if you don't turn your eggs? If you can get a 100% hatch rate on still incubated eggs (like Jim did) by doing so then why do it differently? Personally, I don't think it is that big of a deal what we each do with our eggs. Find what works for you and go with it.

Richard​