Incubators Anonymous

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: oz pretty much covered it as did Donna below..... I treat all shipped eggs differently as the air cell presents based on much research and knowledge that turning is EXTREMELY important at the start of incubation...... and if I can supply more proof for reasoning I will supply a paste from my research below

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

WHY IS EGG TURNING IMPORTANT EVEN WITH SHIPPED EGGS?​

REMINDER to see the Shipped eggs section of the article and to treat every shipped egg differently as its air cell is presented to you!​

Failure to turn eggs during incubation CLEARLY​

reduces hatchability in every scholarly study and every clinical trial. ​

http://www.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_Center/BB_Resources_Tools/Hatchery_How_Tos/08HowTo8EggTurningEN.pdf
Also SEE HERE for DETAILED Scientific explanations of WHY TURNING IS IMPORTANT!
HUBBARDS GUIDES: http://www.hubbardbreeders.com/managementguides/Incubation guide (english).pdf

WHAT FACTORS ARE IMPORTANT FOR EGG TURNING?
Frequency of Turning, Angle of Turning, Smoothness/Gentleness of Turning
SIGNS OF TURNING INADEQUACY
Increased Deaths
Malpositions
Sticky Chicks due to unabsorbed Albumen

The effects of turning during a critical period for turning. Generally, failure to turn eggs retarded growth of the area vasculosa. Turning during the critical period stimulated the extent of growth of the area vasculosa by day 7 of incubation and of subsequent embryonic growth by day 14. Incubation at low temperature resulted both in reduced expansion of the area vasculosa and retarded embryonic growth in a pattern similar to that observed for unturned eggs. It is suggested that turning stimulates development of blood vessels in the area vasculosa via localized increases in blood pressure.

We were able to demonstrate that it is critical to turn eggs for at least the first three
days of incubation and better for the first seven. READ MORE HERE and HERE



CONCLUSION ~ Shipped eggs
If an egg has a normal intact air cell PLEASE TREAT IT AS A NORMAL EGG!
PLEASE PLEASE READ THE TURNING SECTION of this article FIRST!

For rolling, detached or disrupted air cells
(cells no longer at fat end of the egg but like a bubble level on the long side, rolling or saddle shaped cells), you’ll need to change your hatch plan. These eggs need to sit and settle to room temp 12-24 hours NO TURNING, pointy end down in a Egg Carton to possibly reattach air cells.

For SETTING in the incubator......

If your air cell is ROLLING end to end do not turn for 36-48 hours of the first incubation hours to help air cell re-attach and in some cases are really bad loose air cell should not be turned either, if after 48 hours and you have embryo growth and the air cell is still completely loose, do not turn another 24 hours. I personally throw eggs that have air cells roll end to end out.

If air cells are saddle shaped but intact (meaning not jiggly) I put them in the turner and begin with the gentle turning or you can turn by hand in the carton by simply tilting side to side, see image below.

TREATMENT AT LOCKDOWN.......
I personally have found that any shipped egg that survives to day 18 lockdown has an awkward but re-attached air cell so I lay my eggs down for hatch. Please refer to day 18 lockdown for more information on why laying eggs for hatching after day 18 is the best way to go.
​

My turn to time in on turning.

One of the great things about forums is the exchange of information. One of the problems with forums is the exchange of information. Myths get perpetuauted.

Shipped eggs have the same development as a non shipped egg right? So why not turn them when the most critical time to turn is days 1-3? If the air cell is completely dislodged and rolling from one end to the other the chance of that egg hatching is just about zero so trying to "save it" is a lost cause. If you must - do it before you incubate. Once you start warming those eggs, start turning them.

if you have a 2 foot long incubator and you are "tilting" it, you need to raise the edge a full 2 feet in height to reach 45o. If you tip a cooler bator 45 on its other axis, it will probably be dangerously close to tipping over.

By raising it 1 foot you will be only getting 22o

A hovabator or LG needs to be raised 15 inches or so. Now thats a big stack of phone books or Bibles to rest the hopes of your hatch on.

There are loads of studies who make a living from hatching eggs. While we hate the mushy quality broilers and bland eggs they sell in the supermarket, sometimes its good to ask the experts.

 

[Tuhmu]

Sigh, I just can't wait till I get to the point where I have a good grasp on all this and get a rhythm/system going. All the conflicting info on the incubation process is horrible, haha.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Sigh, I just can't wait till I get to the point where I have a good grasp on all this and get a rhythm/system going. All the conflicting info on the incubation process is horrible, haha.

I hear that!

This is the exact reason I started to educate myself with scholarly articles/abstracts/studies and stuff and not hearsay, as I was going insane with confusion! This is why I share almost everything I learn in the hatching 101 article and I take time to add those trials and abstracts links as well, they are very important back up information.

 

[Tuhmu]

I think this evening I'm going to play around with some 1 x 1 and see if I can make some sort of little rack or something to stick in there.

/I\
/ I \
/ I \ <===something like that but at a 45 lol, if that makes any sense. The only thing I would be worried about would be that it would restrict the

air flow.....

 

[DMRippy]

I was told not to use cartons as they hold heat and restrict airflow ?

Never heard that. I used to incubate in paper type cartons with the bottom out to help with air. HOLD HEAT? no I don't see that happening. Besides it is only about 100 degrees in there anyway they are not going to get hotter than that. I also used to hatch in cartons but I used the foam. I used them as is. NOW I use the hatching trays you can order. They are plastic and have about 50% of the sides cut out. They are the same ones in incubate in. I use a dremel type tool to cut them to 12/9/6 sections for hatching.

 

[Tuhmu]

Never heard that.  I used to incubate in paper type cartons with the bottom out to help with air.  HOLD HEAT?  no I don't see that happening.  Besides it is only about 100 degrees in there anyway they are not going to get hotter than that.  I also used to hatch in cartons but I used the foam.  I used them as is.  NOW I use the hatching trays you can order.  They are plastic and have about 50% of the sides cut out.  They are the same ones in incubate in.  I use a dremel type tool to cut them to 12/9/6 sections for hatching.

Can those trays you speak of be stacked? I was trying to look for something like those but so far no luck.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Yes. REALLY? http://cutlersupply.com/zen_new51/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_91&products_id=591

 

[ladycat]

These egg trays?

http://www.qcsupply.com/420381-plastic-egg-tray.html

http://cutlersupply.com/zen_new51/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_91&products_id=591

 

[ladycat]

Oh, Rippy beat me to it.

 

[Tuhmu]

Yes.  REALLY?  http://cutlersupply.com/zen_new51/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_91&products_id=591

Thx, my amazon searches were quite fruitless. Not the greatest at finding these things either though.