Egg turning while incubating.

[Dan2005]

Hello all,

Chicken keeper from Germany here and new to BYC.

I have pre-ordered some Serama eggs (plus three green US-Silkie eggs) and am thinking of manually turning the eggs this time as I don't really trust the automatic turner in my incubator.

Is it enough if I turn the eggs first thing in the morning (5:30 am), then the second time after work about 9h later and then a third time when I finish the day at around 9:30-10:00 pm ?

Would be very thankful for some help

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi, Dan, and welcome to BYC!

It's not critical to be timed within the hour, but just three or four times a day works, so your schedule sounds great!

The last week isn't as critical as they're larger then and mobile so won't stick to the sides.

 

[FunClucks]

That sounds fine. Turn an uneven number of times per day, so they don't spend all night lying on the same side or something. Also, you don't have to do full turns. Thirds or half turns is fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Your schedule sounds great, should do the job.

Serama and Silkie eggs can be pretty small so they may not fit the turners that well. Nothing wrong with hand turning.

How do you plan to turn them? I've seen different methods. The way I do it is to put a black x-mark on one side of the egg and a red o-mark on the opposite side. That makes it easy to tell when they have all been turned.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Dan2005]

Thanks all for the answers!

Your putting my mind at ease

@Ridgerunner I was thinking of doing the same as you do. An X on one side and an O in the other.

Will definitely keep you posted on this!
I can't wait

 

[Susan Skylark]

I had an awful hatch when my turner wasn’t working and I didn’t realize it vs no trouble with just 3x a day. Though they did some research and discovered if you turn 87 times an hour (or something like that) you can increase hatch rates by .1% (or so), I’m thinking it probably isn’t worth it!! Enjoy!

 

[Dan2005]

I had an awful hatch when my turner wasn’t working and I didn’t realize it vs no trouble with just 3x a day. Though they did some research and discovered if you turn 87 times an hour (or something like that) you can increase hatch rates by .1% (or so), I’m thinking it probably isn’t worth it!! Enjoy!

I had the same problem!
Relied in the turner...2 chicks hatched out of 16 eggs..
One of them a rooster. His face was somehow wonky and he had a hard time breathing. I had just come to it that I would have to relieve him but found him dead next morning

Will definitely do manual turning this time! Do not want to risk it again.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had an awful hatch when my turner wasn’t working and I didn’t realize it vs no trouble with just 3x a day. Though they did some research and discovered if you turn 87 times an hour (or something like that) you can increase hatch rates by .1% (or so), I’m thinking it probably isn’t worth it!! Enjoy!

One turn every 41 seconds, that is moving it.

Susan, what was that 0.1% compared to? Turning it 3 times a day?

It has been quite a while since I read any of those studies. Turning 3 times a day versus not turning them makes a noticeable difference. The difference in 3, 5 7, or more times each day is there but it pretty insignificant for us. If we were hatching 1,000,000 chicks a week every week of the year it would add up but for most of us it will not be noticeable.

 

[Shadrach]

The sitting hens I've timed turn their eggs every twenty minutes, approximately. during the first three days. Whether she turns all her eggs each time I don't know.

 

[Dan2005]

The sitting hens I've timed turn their eggs every twenty minutes, approximately. during the first three days. Whether she turns all her eggs each time I don't know.

that is quite a lot.
Well, I won't have the time for that.
Don't want to loose my job