Lay egg pointy end down or on its side ? HELP

[GeorgRodway]

Hi, this is my first time incubating so still pretty new had my eggs in my incubator 3 days now but the intrusions said its better to lay them on their side on a foam Matt because its how they lay in the nest ? Can any one share their views on this please ?

 

[Habibs Hens]

They say eggs should be pointy side down but on the side with a slight tilt down is fine

after all hens will lay eggs at a tilt on side rather than pointy side down



I think the pointy side down came about because it gives for better hatch rates in an artificial incubator

 

[GeorgRodway]

Well they are all laid on their sides at the minute, I shall see how successful it is if not i will probably buy some cheap egg cartons and use them next time

 

[echosrevenge]

Be cautious using egg cartons if you dont have a fan in your incubator - I tried it once in our still air and had the hands-down WORST hatch I've ever experienced (even the one where the dog broke open the Hatcher and it sat open for 6+ hours on hatch day was better, both by percentage and number of living chicks). We got ONE live chick out of 64 eggs...none of which were shipped or treated any differently than my 90% hatches, except for the egg cartons. Using the same incubator, same parent stock, but no cartons (laying on sides and turning 5x/day) my hatches are always over 80%. Not saying don't try it, but be careful they get enough air circulation if you're using a still air incubator.

(as always, this is an opinion and worth exactly what you paid for it...)

 

[SilkiesForEver]

Well they are all laid on their sides at the minute, I shall see how successful it is if not i will probably buy some cheap egg cartons and use them next time

I would say lay them on their sides, but here is what comes with laying eggs on their sides. Turning eggs every single hour. Are you willing to do that? If you don't, the embryo will stick to the side of the egg, and will either not hatch, or most likely will be born with a deformity.

 

[GeorgRodway]

I am turning them 3-4 times a day would you say up it 5-6 but would that mean opening the incubator too much?

 

[echosrevenge]

I turn 5 times a day, its easy because I am home on the farm all the time - I have an alarm set on my cell phone for five points evenly spaced throughout the day, first one at 7am and last one at 8pm. I've read that the minimum for hand turning is 3 times, but that a mother hen will turn the eggs up to 90(!) times a day. That said, the only time I've had embryos stick to the side of the egg and die is under a (first timer) broody hen. For the sake of full disclosure, we have three incubators running, the first one is a Genesis whatever-number-has-the-fan, with am auto turner that the eggs are in for the first (most critical) 7 days. Every Monday when we set new eggs, we move the 7-day eggs to the still air Little Giant (ultracheapo model) and begin hand turning. At 18 days they go into the Hatcher, which is another cheapo LG, but worls fine and I like that I only have to clean one base (hatching is messy).
Turning an odd number of times per day is best, as they dont end up spending all night sitting on one side - it alternates from day to day. If they sit every night on the same side, they're more likely to stick and have issues. What I do to tell one side from another is write the date (in pencil) on the side of the egg when I collect it, and which hen if I catch her 'in the act', then when I set them I write the date set on the blunt end of the egg, so I can tell which hatch is which. Turning is done so that dates are either up or down, and while turning 60+ eggs by hand does take a while the first few times, eventually your hands get used to the motion and you get faster - it usually takes me 3 minutes or so to turn 60+ eggs in the LG as well as however many we have stacked on top of the turner in the Genesis.

Hope that helps some.

 

[GeorgRodway]

Today is day 3. I'm going to start turning them 4 times a day from tomorrow do you all think that would be okay ?

 

[echosrevenge]

Its best to turn the eggs an odd number of times per day - 3 or 5 or more - because if you turn them 2 or 4 times a day, they'll always spend the nights resting on the same side, increasing the chances that the embryo will "stick" to that side, causing reduced hatches and possible deformities. Five times, or three times, would be better.

 

[Ms Steak]

Today is day 3. I'm going to start turning them 4 times a day from tomorrow do you all think that would be okay ?

An odd number is meant to be best George.