Hand Turning Eggs

[Shaun Hagan]

Hey All, I am thinking about incubating some Silkie Eggs in a home-make incubator. I am not quite clear on the turning thing. How often to turn? How much of a turn do they need? How much of a turn is too much? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[arlee453]

Lay the eggs on their sides. Put an X with a soft pencil on one side of the egg. Turn them an odd number of times a day - I do 3x - and turn them from the X side to the blank side. When I hand turn, I turn them first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon, and then again right before bed time - approx every 8 hours.

You can roll them, or turn them end over end - either way.

Other people put their eggs in a carton and then lift one end of the carton with a block to tip the eggs and then put the block on the other end to tip them back the other way.

On day 19 stop turning and raise humidity to around 75% for hatching.

Good luck!!

 

[yotetrapper]

You'll get dozens of answers on how many times to turn. 2-3 times a day seems average. Turn them one half complete turn, side to side, not end over end. Mark an X on one side, so that all Xs are facing up, then roll them so that all Xs are down.

 

[donnap1967]

I am getting some silkie eggs for my homemade incubator this week. I am so incredibly nervous. I pray that my homemade bator behaves and temps stay fairly steady, I hope I don't burn my house down like my so-NOT encouraging hubby says I will, and I pray they are ok in the mail and hatch for me.

I am planning to hatch mine in a carton so they dont get tossed around too much. I have a little strip of wood that is about 1/4 inch thick. I am planning to put the board in the incubator and leave it in one spot and instead turn the egg carton so that not only are the eggs tilted three times a day but also switched back and forth from facing toward and facing away from the light bulb which is my heat source. (Man that is one heck of a run on sentence!) I thought this would help with a more even heat exposure. I have no idea what I am doing here but these are just my thoughts.

When are your eggs coming? Maybe we can bite our nails for three weeks together

lol

Good luck with your silkies!!


Donna

 

[Shaun Hagan]

Thanks for the advice! I have to order mine, but I am holding off until June so they don't show up while I am away.

I like the idea of using the egg carton! I will have to give that a shot.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

I just did my first hatch and used egg cartons. It was great....I just couldn't imagine turning each egg by hand.

I did 3 times a day using the cut off lids of the cartons to prop them up.

 

[mamaboyd]

I hand turned my eggs 3 times a day, marked one side with an x and the other side with an o. It wasn't too bad to turn them each time, but I only had 22 eggs to start with. If there were more, it would have been a real pain

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Quote:
Awwwww come on!!! You are making me feel bad!!!!

I only had a dozen and was still too lazy to turn each one!!!! LOL

 

[mamaboyd]

I actually enjoyed turning the eggs because it kind of made me feel closer th the chicks. I know that sounds lame

Don't feel bad, alot of people don't hand turn their eggs, I guess it's each one's preference! So how are your babies today?

 

[CrowinKing]

I turned mine 3x a day!