Favorite eggs in incubator

[SproutGirl]

This is my first time trying to hatch eggs in an incubator, and as I watch them and turn them 5 times a day (once at 2:30 am *yawn!) I am starting to have favorites. This seems really strange since they are just eggs so far, and I am only about a week in. I don't even know if they will hatch! Why should I have particular favorites? I think I am going a little crazy. Does anyone else have favorite eggs? Jeez!

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
I do, a very brown Coturnix Quail egg...i named it "brownie"...

if i know which chick hatched out of it and keep knowing im going to try to keep track of it so it will say "Brownie"......annnd i hope it's a hen and lays more brown eggs like it...pretty nifty....

Cept i'd have trouble naming a 'bator full of of all white eggs, but eggs with different colors and patterns I can totally see (and do) naming certain ones lol!

 

[NYREDS]

Personally, I wouldn't give up on that "going a little crazy" thought.

BTW-getting up @ 2:30 am to turn eggs is really above & beyond.

 

[SproutGirl]

"BTW-getting up @ 2:30 am to turn eggs is really above & beyond."

Really? But I thought they had to be turned at frequent, even spaced intervals, a odd number of times a day. The best system I could come up with involved 2:30 am. Does no one else wake up to turn the eggs?

 

[arlee453]

3x per day is sufficient. I turn in the morning, mid-afternoon and before bed time - approx 8am, 4pm and 11pm

I've had good hatch rates doing it this way... I think the 2:30 am thing is overkill too

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
LOL! You poor thing, Im sure someone does!!!

I honestly just turn them when i feel like it (but i make sure to turn them atleast 3 times a day). I do turn them the same time everday the first time though (when i get up).

 

[dangerouschicken]

I have an automatic turner.

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
Actually turning eggs isn't really as critical as some would have you believe. If you ever want to spend the time closely observing a setting hen you'll find that when a hen does infrequently turn eggs it's to adjust them for her comfort.
A nother interestin observation is ducks who like to makr their nests on the ground. I've seen duck eggs so pressed into the dirt that you'd need to pry them out with a stick if you wanted to turn them. They hatched.
Once, a an experiment, I set 18 Guinea eggs in an incubator and never touched them again. 15 of them hatched, the other 3 were infertile.
Would I advocate for never turning eggs, no although the colling period while turning may be more valuable than the turning itself.
I would, however, advocate "chillin out" a little about the whole thing. If you miss a turning it won't be a disaster. If you get a good nights sleep you'll feel better. The business of hatching is simpler than some people here make it sound.