Hand Turning vs. Auto Egg Turner... Which is better??

[Chickie Mamma]

Hello, I am curious to see other responses. I have done both over the past couple years, and I have realized that hand turning has better hatch results than the auto turner. Anyone else notice this too? Oh, I should also mention I mostly incubate duck eggs. I've noticed that the duck eggs that were turned in the auto turner seem to have trouble "zipping"... the pip is usually high on the egg. Chicken eggs seem to do better in the auto turner... Just curious

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

I have not tried hand turning yet - my bator came with an auto turner and I have been lazy and use it

but I only have hatched my chicken eggs, not the ducks (yet).


I have read, that duck eggs should not be place in an auto turner - they need/like to develop on their side -

 

[Doodle_Doo]

ive been turning by hand and just recently got the auto turner..to hand turn them
its just tough to keep the time of turning close.. dividing hours into threes or fours
and didnt sleep well or had to stop doing things

but now since the auto, ive been calmer but now must wait and see how good its for
hatching. hand turning always did good even better than letting my broody do it..
again just wait and see the auto results

 

[Lotsapaints]

I only hand turned and I've had good hatches I have a new incubator that turns well rocks the eggs I put some eggs in it and they weren't good ones so I can't tell you the difference. Soon I should get my fancy incubator a Turn X but I noticed that it turns the eggs on their side too not like my other one so who knows. I like mine on their sides.

 

[Chickie Mamma]

Thanks for all the input

It is a pain to remember to keep turning the eggs 3x a day, but I'll stick with that for my duckies.

 

[FenDruadin]

I've always used a turner in the two summers I've been hatching, and I've always had good hatches. My worst hatch was 76% and most of mine are 90+%. No trouble zipping. The hatcheries all use them too.

I guess it's possible that hand-turning might give slightly better results, but I can attest that it's not strictly necessary.

 

[Chickie Mamma]

Quote:
Do you hatch chickens or ducks? I've noticed no problems using the turner with the chickens, but the ducks always seem to have a tough time after pipping..

 

[FenDruadin]

Sorry--I didn't specify. Mine have all been ducks except one batch of chickens last summer, and a batch of quail recently. Altogether, I've hatched out six batches of ducks--gosh, it feels like more than that until I actually counted it up, lol.

 

[Chickie Mamma]

Quote:

I know... I've hatched so many ducks too, I lost track. Mine seem to pip higher on the egg and almost seem to go across the top when zipping (when I use the turner).

 

[FenDruadin]

That's weird. Mine will sometimes pip near the top, but they always work their way down before zipping--and it only happens occasionally. I wonder what's different between your hatches and mine. What incubator are you using? What kind of turner was it?

I definitely buy the theory behind hand-turning--it is indeed more like the way nature does it. Maybe I'd have *even* higher hatch rates if I did it. But I'm pretty happy with 90%, lol!