How many times a day do you turn your eggs?

[Ebony Rose]

Auto-turner in incubator.

 

[Kessel23]

3x a day by hand.

 

[RainbowRabbits]

From what I read, chickens turn their eggs every 30 minutes to assist with not only the embryo not sticking to the sides of the egg, but also to help the embryo absorb more of the yolk as the yolk can move away from them and make absorption more difficult which can cause issues with development and early deaths (maybe someone else can clarify more on how it's beneficial).

Regardless, here's a study that showed that eggs turned 96x a day (around every 30 minutes) had the highest hatch rates.


I've been trying to turn my eggs at least every hour or so (actually, Brinsea's frequently turning options is one of the reasons I originally liked them, although I am sticking to hand turning due to having shipped eggs).

Would love to hear from anyone else who has tried to turn frequently!

 

[casportpony]

From what I read, chickens turn their eggs every 30 minutes to assist with not only the embryo not sticking to the sides of the egg, but also to help the embryo absorb more of the yolk as the yolk can move away from them and make absorption more difficult which can cause issues with development and early deaths (maybe someone else can clarify more on how it's beneficial).

Regardless, here's a study that showed that eggs turned 96x a day (around every 30 minutes) had the highest hatch rates.


I've been trying to turn my eggs at least every hour or so (actually, Brinsea's frequently turning options is one of the reasons I originally liked them, although I am sticking to hand turning due to having shipped eggs).

Would love to hear from anyone else who has tried to turn frequently!

Excellent feedback, thanks for posting this!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think it’s interesting that letting broody’s do it tied at 22.2 I thought I’d be the only loner old timer.

 

[Knighstar679]

My auto turner does every two hours and I certainly had better hatch rates that way than if I hand turned 3 or even 5 times a day

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

My approach depends on the type of egg: I use an autoturner for chicken (but will do the hour-long autocooling if the eggs are in my Brinsea). For ducks, I have usually hand-turned them 3xday, but if they're small enough, I put them on an autoturner and just mist/cool manually. Goose eggs are manually turned 3xday plus misting/cooling.

 

[HuffleClaw]

3 times daily, manual turning.

 

[Shadrach]

I don't use an incubator but I have timed hens turning eggs. Given the nest box in my house is only a few metres from my bed and the turning process can be quite loud when the ambient noise is only 30db
What I found interesting is the turning rate not only varies from hen to hen (this may be due to temperature differences by month and whether or not the eggs are under the hen, or spread around her)
Anyway, roughly the hens that have sat here turn their eggs every twenty minutes. I have tried to see how many they turn at this time interval but it wasn't possible. This goes on for the first three or four days, then the turning rate slows down to just under hourly as an average.
I've timed 5 hens in the house nest box and two in the maternity unit I have just outside my house.

 

[BantyChooks]

If I hand turn, I do it at least twice. Three times if I remember. I currently use an auto turner.