That's interesting.
Wonders if I should change turning from 6 to 4 on my Incuview?
What's the ascorbic acid dip for?
...and the 'daily cool down'?
With egg turning, I'll have to look it up but I read that studies of jungle fowl showed hens turn eggs many more times a day during the first week of incubation and not as frequently later. I'll come up with the numbers when I find it.
Cool down mimics nature.
Here is a research study on vitamin C and cooling.
http://www.epsaegypt.com/pdf/2011_june/15- 1271.pdf
Even though most birds can make their own vitamin C, the embryo provided ascorbic acid helps it deal with stress, especially at hatching.
A hen gets off the nest approximately once a day or even less. With hens in their own broody apartment on fresh bedding, I've been able to count the days they defecate and that tells me they don't necessarily come off the nest every single day. They occasionally skip days. But when they come off the nest, the eggs cool briefly. That has long been understood to benefit the embryo. Embryos from the same parents will have the same genes but gene expression can be affected by temperature changes.
Further research shows that post hatch development, especially of musculature can be enhanced by brief periods of higher temperatures in days 4-7. Also, temperature spikes at days 18 and 19 help the bird deal with higher temps later in life.
Other research shows that exposing the eggs to light periodically during incubation enhances the health of the hatchling. I surmise that would coincide with the cool down period. However, I believe the frequency (color) of light is the important parameter.
You may find this read interesting.
http://issuu.com/pasreform/docs/pas_reform_circadian_incubation/5?e=1715832/5683407
