How important is it to turn eggs?

[owlett5]

I am thinking about getting the Octagon Eco 20 incubator, but it comes in both manual, and automatic turning. The difference in price is like 50-70 dollars though, and I'd really like to do this as cost effectively as I can. My problem with a manual turner is that since I work 12 hour evening shifts, this means on the days I work, I get home and go to bed right away. I might be able to turn the eggs once before I go to sleep, then turn them once just before I go to work 8 hours later when I wake up. They would be unattended pretty much on a schedule of 6:30pm to 8 am. Then left unattended from 9am to about 5:30pm.

Will they still hatch if I am only able to turn them 2 times every 24 hours?

 

[Triple Willow]

Yes, turning 2X a day will work just fine. Put a pencil mark on one side of the egg to help you keep up with turning. One of those "remote/radio signal" thermometers is great for keeping up with the temperature. Just put the remote sensor part inside the incubator. Also adding a couple bottles of water (like 20 oz drink bottles) will help in not losing so much heat when you have to open the incubator. Don't open it any longer or more often than necessary. Don't forget to stop turning on day 18 and leave the incubator shut. Once the chick hatches out let it dry in the incubator before you open it and take the chick out.

 

[TwoCrows]

As the embryo is growing, it feeds on the nutrients in the area he is laying. At some point, those nutrients run out in that area. So it is important to turn the eggs so that the growing baby can get at more nutrients that will be replentished when you rotate the egg. The more you can turn the egg, the more nutrients he will have available to him. They say 3 times a day is minimum for turning. So if you can only turn twice a day, make sure to never miss a turn.

 

[Triple Willow]

Back earlier this year I set 18 eggs and I only turned them 2X a day. Of the 18, 14 hatched - two were not fertile and two quit somewhere along the way. Turning two times a day worked fine for me.