Egg positioning

[PatS]

I have a domed Lyon tx6 incubator with automatic turning every hour. I'm on Day 4 with chicken eggs.

Placement of the eggs is on their side, small end toward the center of the round incubator, but after several hours many of the eggs get turned around and some even end up with their narrow end higher than the big end, at least for a few hours. How often should I open the incubator and fix this?

Will this awkward positioning be okay so long as for lockdown the eggs are on their side with the air sack end slightly higher than the small end?

No one answered my last question and I hope this one does get answered, as I would really like this hatch to be successful. Thanks.

 

[CayuseRanch]

I'm not sure how the turning mechanism works in this bator. But I would say that brief openings in the bator daily this early on shouldn't hurt them. People turn by hand all the time. Also physics should cause the small end to be slightly lower than the big end.

 

[PatS]

Thank you. The turner works by moving a small grate (pie-slice shaped), and the eggs sit between (inside) the sections of the grate. So sometimes when the turner stops, the grate "props up" the egg so the small section is higher than the large. Most of the time the large end is slightly higher, as if the egg were on a perfectly flat surface.

Through day 17, does it matter if occasionally the smaller end is higher once in a while? When we have had broody hens hatching eggs, I've checked on the eggs and just put them back under her, not placing them in any particular position.