Hand turning eggs Vs auto turners?

[swheat]

Has anyone tried the wire forms(look V shape but the point is flat) that attach(with screws) to the egg trays for the Sprotsman/Dickey incubators ?

Direction says to attach 2 of these wire forms evenly spaced on the egg tray, you will then have 3 rows in the tray. You now can lay the goose/large eggs on their sides and with the autoturner running the eggs roll very little but safely in the trays, these wire forms keep the egg from breaking or moving around too much. These forms would be very easy to make, mine made of 1/4 inch hardware cloth and run the length(long ways) of the egg trays.

ETA - picture

 

[giffy]

Quote:
I do the same, although one side I write info/notes on the egg, other side is blank...........and turn them end over end. I think there also comes some benefits from a cooling period, much like when the duck (hen) leaves the nest.

It is always good to keep notes on each hatch, it helps for later hatches.

giffy
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[duckyfromoz]

Quote:
That is such a cute way of putting it. I feel very responsible for the lives of these little ducks once the eggs are in the incubator, and want to make sure that I am giving them the best possibilty to hatch. There are so many variables before and after the egg is laid. I want to know I am doing he best for them that I can.

I had even left the eggs unturned when I went away overnight twice during this hatch- and still got 12 from 14 eggs. I think I will try to hand turn as much as possible in future.
I started with three turns a day for the first two weeks then twice a day for the remaining time.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Ok my problem is I leave home at 6:00 a.m. so I can go to the gym before work, and I sometimes don't get home before 7 :00 p.m...if I turn the eggs before I leave in the morning and again when i get home will that be ok, or is it too much time in between?

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I have been using my brinsea octagon 40, where the incubator itself sets on a turner and it goes side to side. I Have been getting amazing hatches with my call duck and mandarin eggs. When I set them in my hovabator genesis I used the yellow egg turner where each egg sits individually in its own spot, and got a horrible hatch rate. Most of the eggs died during incubation, which I am 100% sure was caused by that stupid turner. From now on, I will only use the brinsea, or will use the hovabator, but I will hand turn instead.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Quote:
I though there must be otheres out there who had found similar results with duck egss to me.

I have been told that the turner is good with chicken eggs- but duck eggs always do better being hand turned.



D'Angelo N VA. I was turning them at 6.30 am and 6.30 pm. So your times arent that different. The main thing about hand turning is to make sure they arent spending considerabley more time on one side on a regular basis. I dont think turning at the times you are home- IE- just before 6 am and just after 7 pm should be a problem.

 

[seminolewind]

D'Angelo N Va. :

Ok my problem is I leave home at 6:00 a.m. so I can go to the gym before work, and I sometimes don't get home before 7 :00 p.m...if I turn the eggs before I leave in the morning and again when i get home will that be ok, or is it too much time in between?

I've had hatches turning twice a day. I've not noticed a difference, but I still try to turn them 3 times a day. It will be easier with the Brinsea because I can do 2 turns using the bator (it can stand on each side), then at night, turn them by hand and shift the outer eggs to the inside.​

 

[janastasio]

I have done two hatches in my hovabator (very old) incubator. It is a still air with no turner. I hand turned 3x per day. My hatch rates were HORRID! I got 2 ducks my first hatch out of 12. I lost quite a few at the end that pipped but did not zip. I opened several of the eggs after to find that they had not resorbed their yolk. My last hatch I let the Mama duck to most of the work. She had a nest of about 15+ eggs. At around day 20 one of the eggs broke that must of have been rotten and Mama duck wouldnt get back on the nest. The smell was unimaginable! I candled and put remaining eggs in the hovabator. 2 of 6 hatched. I thought opening the incubator to turn the eggs so many times dropped the humidity levels and my old incubator would take too long to build it back up again. I just bought a new King Suro 20 incubator. Its the kind that rocks and I was really hoping it was going to improve my hatch rate.

 

[CityChicker]

It could have been a number of things, janastasio. Generally, dead in shell chicks that pip, but don't hatch are usually a result of inadequate humidity. The yolks not being absorbed though makes me think there might have been a temperature issue as well. I don't think it would have anything to do with the hand turning. It was probably a combination of factors including simply that it was an old still air machine. I'm sure the Suro 20 will do better for you!

 

[Bleenie]

This is a great thread, I will have to hand turn next time I incubate my 'Scovy eggs.

Last year I used a Little Giant & Hovabator, also hand-turned, to hatch some mixed duck eggs. I only lost a couple out of around 50 eggs. The ones i did lose werent fertile & 1 turned black part way thru incubation..... I also cracked one because it was late and well..lost the baby

PS: I also had 1 duckling that was born with a deformed foot(totally turned in), not sure if it was from an incubation problem or just random. Totally healthy otherwise & gre fine.