Hand-turning eggs w/ the eco

[hd_darcy]

I finally bit the bullet and bought an eco 20 - YAY!

I decided to not get the turner right now since there is no break on the shipping charges anyway..ugh.. So my question is can they be turned more often than 3 times a day? And do they have to be turned at regular intervals (like 7 hours apart, or whatever). I will have my incubator in the kitchen and I'm sure it will be easy for me to remember to turn them, but a little tougher to keep the turns spaced out just perfectly.

Would love to hear from those of you who hand-turned with the eco too. Regrets? Should I have gotten the turner as well?

Thank you!

 

[CedarRidgeChicks]

I'm not sure what others will say; but, I turned mine at 6 am, 1pm and 7pm..had a 95% hatch rate.

 

[Denninmi]

Well, I don't know any reason you CAN'T turn them more -- the autoturner unit on the Brinsea goes through its full cycle in roughly 45 minutes or an hour - I haven't paid that much attention to mine but it seems to be the approximate timeframe.

I don't think it has to be right to the moment precision, but you should probably try and turn them so that they never go longer than 8 hours without a turn.

 

[burquechick]

I just read somewhere that said "at least 3 times a day". In my GQF Manufacturing instructions for my bator it says "2 to 3 times a day". So I don't think it really matters much if you turn it more. I think it seems more important to try to alternate the side they sleep on at night. Like, first night on X's, second night on O's, etc. But I don't think the hens read these instructions as well, so I think you'll do fine if you aren't perfect with turning or anything. Also, remember that you are letting heat and humidity out each time you do it, so maybe best not to do it too often.

 

[CedarRidgeChicks]

With the Eco you don't need to open..use the flat edges on bottom and tilt forward, backward and center..just make sure you have the rails snug enough to keep the eggs in place.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
And the eggs snug in the foam. I learned that the first day I used by Octagon 20 Advanced. A couple of my duck eggs fell out when the turner was at the extreme position of its cycle and rolled down on the others. I had to wait until the unit was more horizontal to open it and fix the problem. Luckily no one was hurt, as duck eggs are pretty tough.

When I put my quail eggs in it about 3 weeks ago I made sure they were very secure in the foam, such fragile little things.

 

[Kedreeva]

I don't know about this particular incubator, but eggs can be turned pretty much as often as you like. I think my auto turner turns them about every 2-4 hours. The major thing to understand is that the # of times turned should be odd (ie 3, 5, 7 etc), so that egg is never sitting on the same side for 2 overnights in a row (since this will be the longest they sit still without turning when done by hand). When you turn, ideally you're not turning 360 degrees. Turn 180 clockwise, then 180 counterclockwise. Marking the eggs with an X, an O, and an arrow between them is the usually the best way to keep your turns straight so you don't forget.

Turning the whole incubator sounds fun too haha

 

[MikeS(erama)]

If you're talking about the Brinsea Eco 20 Octagon, I just had a really good hatch from this bator! If not, please disregard lol. The best thing with this bator is that even though it's a "manual" turn, it's semi automatic! You just set up the metal rails inside, then tip the bator forward or backward so that it's sitting either on the front or back angle. back->\\_/<- front
No need to open the thing other then to candle or to remove the rails for lock down. I turned them 3 times a day, and I was never exact with the time or time in between turns. The temperature remained exactly 99.5F through the whole incubation process and Humidity stayed exactly where I wanted it to be with minimal adjustments to the vent opening. For lock down I just put two old socks in the bottom so that they were hanging into the water wells, and then soaked them and filled the wells. Seramas, which are hard to hatch to begin with, I ended up with 5 out of 14 (this was from my own birds) compared to the last set I had which was in an LG and 0 out of 12 hatched. I also had bought some silkie eggs from ebay. 7 out of 12 hatched. Definitely a great purchase, and very easy to use!

 

[hd_darcy]

MikeS(erama) :

If you're talking about the Brinsea Eco 20 Octagon, I just had a really good hatch from this bator! If not, please disregard lol. The best thing with this bator is that even though it's a "manual" turn, it's semi automatic! You just set up the metal rails inside, then tip the bator forward or backward so that it's sitting either on the front or back angle. back->\\_/<- front
No need to open the thing other then to candle or to remove the rails for lock down. I turned them 3 times a day, and I was never exact with the time or time in between turns. The temperature remained exactly 99.5F through the whole incubation process and Humidity stayed exactly where I wanted it to be with minimal adjustments to the vent opening. For lock down I just put two old socks in the bottom so that they were hanging into the water wells, and then soaked them and filled the wells. Seramas, which are hard to hatch to begin with, I ended up with 5 out of 14 (this was from my own birds) compared to the last set I had which was in an LG and 0 out of 12 hatched. I also had bought some silkie eggs from ebay. 7 out of 12 hatched. Definitely a great purchase, and very easy to use!

Yes, that is the one I have ordered. It's coming on Monday!!!

I am sooo excited. I already have some eggs ordered too.

I think I am hopeless!!!!

Anyway, I have read some awesome reviews on the Eco 20, and I figure if I end up hatching more than I think I will, I can always buy the turner later. I am thinking I will have eggs on the brain when they are incubating so to remember to turn them won't be a problem anyway!!

ETA: THANK YOU everyone for sharing your experiences / thoughts. I have learned sooo much from BYC!!​

 

[MikeS(erama)]

At least you are starting out with a good bator! Like i said, i started with an LG and decided i needed to upgrade if i didn't want to continue killing all my eggs lol. Also be careful, hatching eggs becomes extremly addictive! I'm already going through withdrawl from having nothing inside my bator lol