How EXACTLY do you turn an egg?

[Akane]

You can do it with a still air but it's tricky. I've done it with hundreds of eggs. The absolute minimum needs to be 96F and the absolute maximum needs to be 103F. This is the temperature a chick will continue to grow at for at least 12hours on the high side and a couple days at the low temp. Since you are turning the eggs an equal amount several times a day they spend an equal amount of time at the low and high temps without being too hot or too cold for long enough to do them harm. I've had 95% hatches with everyone hatching on time doing that. I don't recommend it though and I had about 5 thermometers in my bators to make sure no spot got too cold or too hot. If you are using a still air it's much less complicated and risky to lay the eggs down flat rather than tipping a carton. I finally got a forced air and a turner so I don't have to go through the effort anymore.

never saw a hen put an x and o on her eggs.

No but hens turn eggs a heck of a lot more than we do so they make sure to get them rolled all around. I don't know the average for a chicken but someone recorded robins and found they turned their eggs at least a dozen times a day. The x and o is just for us lazy humans that only turn our eggs about 3 times a day to make sure they get fully turned.​

 

[Nefertiti]

We put arrows on the eggs with the marks so the eggs all go one way ,and then back the next turning. Also cut thin cardboard boxes - like cereal or noodle boxes-down to strips not quite as wide as eggs are tall. -Walls only: no bottoms or tops- These help keep the eggs frpm getting all mixed together and makes turnings go ALOT faster.(eggs just sitting in a bator tend to shift and/or roll as they deem fit)
Being that we also tend to have several different batchs going at the same time, we usually date the eggs as well.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
No but hens turn eggs a heck of a lot more than we do so they make sure to get them rolled all around. I don't know the average for a chicken but someone recorded robins and found they turned their eggs at least a dozen times a day. The x and o is just for us lazy humans that only turn our eggs about 3 times a day to make sure they get fully turned.

That's because a broody doesn't do much of ANYTHING except sit there and fiddle with the eggs all day long.
If I could get a hen to go to work and bring home the paycheck for me, and still have time to hatch out some eggs on the side, well I think I'd have found the hen that laid the golden egg!