egg turning question

[Arielle]

Read a study looking at the hatching rate based on three options: turning the first week , the last week and the while 18 days. Guess which had the best hatch rate? Turing all 18 days. COnsidering a hen seems to always be bothering the eggs, and a turner turns, I'm gessing, 6 times a day, more is better. A minimum of 3 times a day also gives better results. GL

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
I am going to try to answer this one.. I never have read much about hatching.. all I have to say is from experience.. If someone has read about it, please, do not attempt to argue with me.. I will be gone in a heartbeat..

Granny Roost is correct..

I wouldn't take advice from somebody who is guessing..

I have auto turners. they turn about every two hours..

when you are saving eggs for hatching, the recommended time is twice a day.. this never made sense to me , if you should turn them 3 times a day after starting them in the incubator.. but it does work..

turning them supposedly keeps the yolk from settling to the bottom and becoming stuck to the shell.. I have never seen this happen in my life time.. I am 69 years old.. have had chickens since 1966.

If you are turning eggs by hand, the concensis is: do not turn them in the same direction every time.. turn them one way and then the next time turn them back.. this supposedly keeps the embryo from twisting.. another thing I have never witnessed..
theoretically it makes some sense..

turning is over rated.. If you miss a turn, don't panic.. turn them the next time as if you never missed a beat.. timing is not important either.. if you are walking past the incubator and feel the urge to turn, go ahead, do it.. If you are at a partty, don't rush home just to turn the eggs,, (unless you want to use that as an excuse to get away from a boring party)

a hen does not actually turn every egg.. sometimes she just jostles them.. if you are in a hurry,do the same..

after the embyo starts to move on it's own, turning is not as important any more..

one of these fine days, I am going to set a batch of eggs and not turn them at all.. just to see what happens..

.........jiminwisc...........

 

[cmom]

I read some studies on hatching without turning and the results were some hatched but it was not a good hatch rate. Don't recall the exact numbers. I will see if I can find it again.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
What I plan to do is collect eggs from my own flock.. then I will really mix the eggs up and put half in a turner, and the other half in the non turner.. then I will do it again , only I will switch the incubators so each one had a chance at turning or not..

In reality, I expect the non turned eggs to have a lower rate of hatch, but if any hatch at all, it will still prove that turning is not 100% necessary.. or that turning daily is not all that critical..

and I know that these tests still do not determine the best times to turn or not turn. I am not a scientist.. and I have a lot of different kinds of eggs to hatch, so who knows if and when I will even ever do the test ? I have been thinking about it for years, and still haven't done it..

If I did do it,, nobody would take my results seriously anyhow..
so, it boils cown to: how much do I want to know ??

 

[rarely bored]

Quote:
x2
lol, best reason ever for leaving a dull party!

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Why do you say that?

If you just popped up on a thread about turning and said 'I don't turn eggs and I still get a good hatch rate' then no, I probably wouldn't pay much attention. But if you treated it as a serious experiment and started your own thread detailing everything you did, and gave precise numbers, well, I for one would be very interested.

You'd probably have to do a few incubations for statistically significant results, so, how much DO you want to know?

 

[ChicwannaB]

Quote:
I am going to try to answer this one.. I never have read much about hatching.. all I have to say is from experience.. If someone has read about it, please, do not attempt to argue with me.. I will be gone in a heartbeat..

Granny Roost is correct..

I wouldn't take advice from somebody who is guessing..

I have auto turners. they turn about every two hours..

when you are saving eggs for hatching, the recommended time is twice a day.. this never made sense to me , if you should turn them 3 times a day after starting them in the incubator.. but it does work..

turning them supposedly keeps the yolk from settling to the bottom and becoming stuck to the shell.. I have never seen this happen in my life time.. I am 69 years old.. have had chickens since 1966.

If you are turning eggs by hand, the concensis is: do not turn them in the same direction every time.. turn them one way and then the next time turn them back.. this supposedly keeps the embryo from twisting.. another thing I have never witnessed..
theoretically it makes some sense..

turning is over rated.. If you miss a turn, don't panic.. turn them the next time as if you never missed a beat.. timing is not important either.. if you are walking past the incubator and feel the urge to turn, go ahead, do it.. If you are at a partty, don't rush home just to turn the eggs,, (unless you want to use that as an excuse to get away from a boring party)

a hen does not actually turn every egg.. sometimes she just jostles them.. if you are in a hurry,do the same..

after the embyo starts to move on it's own, turning is not as important any more..

one of these fine days, I am going to set a batch of eggs and not turn them at all.. just to see what happens..

.........jiminwisc...........

Oooooo, I never thought about turning them as I collected them BEFORE incubating. I placed them in a cinnamon rool pan with a clear lid on it and stored them in a 60* closet but never turned them. Oh my, hope I don't have disaster. Thanks for info. Day 2 has passed, so I won't know anything for awhile......

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
If you are storing them for less than 7 days, turning daily isn't essential. After 7 days, hatchability is increased by turning them once daily.

Info from an incubating and hatching guide published by the University of Texas.
If you google, you can find it and download it for yourself - it's got tons of useful information in it.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
What I plan to do is collect eggs from my own flock.. then I will really mix the eggs up and put half in a turner, and the other half in the non turner.. then I will do it again , only I will switch the incubators so each one had a chance at turning or not..

In reality, I expect the non turned eggs to have a lower rate of hatch, but if any hatch at all, it will still prove that turning is not 100% necessary.. or that turning daily is not all that critical..

and I know that these tests still do not determine the best times to turn or not turn. I am not a scientist.. and I have a lot of different kinds of eggs to hatch, so who knows if and when I will even ever do the test ? I have been thinking about it for years, and still haven't done it..

If I did do it,, nobody would take my results seriously anyhow..
so, it boils cown to: how much do I want to know ??

I will take your results seriously. I am curious too. I promised DH no more hatching until after the holidays then the first batch that goes into the incubator is his Pheasant eggs he's getting. I won't be able to experiment with those.