Not Turning Shipped Eggs For the First Three Days....Why?

[AprilAWZ]

I don't turn shipped eggs for two days or so. For me, I get more to develop this way. I use a turner and hatch with them upright in spare egg racks.

I'm going to have to try that with the next batch of shipped eggs. I've always thought that 8-12 was the way to go, but I'm up for new ideas!

I'd like to use cartons to hatch, (I hate watching the new chicks punting the pips all over while they're getting their legs under them!), but I was always concerned that they'd have trouble climbing out of the upright egg. Is this not as big an issue as I'm making it out to be?

 

[SarahIrl]

The reason why you don't turn shipped eggs for the first three days is to let the air cell re-attach if it is floating free in the egg. You will know this buy candling before you set them. If they are free floating, you need to set them upright in an egg carton until at least day three maybe up to day five, until they are set. Give them a gentle twist each day to stop the embryo sticking to the shell, but keep them as still as you can. It improves hatch rates with free floating air celled eggs ONLY.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

The reason why you don't turn shipped eggs for the first three days is to let the air cell re-attach if it is floating free in the egg. You will know this buy candling before you set them. If they are free floating, you need to set them upright in an egg carton until at least day three maybe up to day five, until they are set. Give them a gentle twist each day to stop the embryo sticking to the shell, but keep them as still as you can. It improves hatch rates with free floating air celled eggs ONLY.

Yep, thats it.

 

[Illia]

Umm, 3 days? I've never heard of that.

I've always been told and always told that it is 12-24 hours. 3 days is really long. I always do 12, anything beyond that and I worry of sticking or worse, fertility dropping.

 

[peepblessed]

Thank you for posting, this is what I am doing this time. I have hatched lots of babies, but never taken a few days to begin turning shipped eggs. I have read where others said it upped their hatch rate. So, I went ahead and turned them today. I went to put away the cartons they were shipped in and found 3 MORE EGGS. How in the world did I miss three eggs? So, I set them today (2 days after the others) and went ahead and turned the eggs that were already in there.

I am beginning to scare myself!

In my own defense I WAS sick that day...and they were extras....but for goodness sake!

Now this sounds like something I would do! I feel really sorry for you!

 

[AprilAWZ]

Ok, that makes more sense re: the air sack. Although, the more I think about it, I'll probably stick to my 8-12 hours. I'd rather get them in asap than hold up the whole batch on a couple of eggs with detached air sack. The egg carton in the hatcher, though...that one I think I'm going to try this time around.

 

[Patchesnposies]

Ok, that makes more sense re: the air sack. Although, the more I think about it, I'll probably stick to my 8-12 hours. I'd rather get them in asap than hold up the whole batch on a couple of eggs with detached air sack. The egg carton in the hatcher, though...that one I think I'm going to try this time around.

April, I think this reply is way late, but I believe they were saying to go ahead and put them into the incubator after 8-12 hours, but in the cartons or turner without turning (just the forementioned slight twist to keep the embryo from sticking to the shell) and then after 3-5 days go ahead and treat them as you would not shipped eggs.

 

[Brickman House]

I think the concept is that you get the best of both worlds if you incubate shipped eggs without turning for the first three days.

You can let them set and be still for long enough that detached air cells stabilize, but they're not sitting around getting stale and losing fertility, since they are developing.

There is little to no risk that a developing embryo is going to "stick" in the first three days, so regular turning during that time period is not as critical as it is later on in the incubation.

I set but do not turn shipped eggs for the first three days, and have had several extremely successful hatches, so I plan to continue the practice.

 

[Bryam]

I let my shipped silkie eggs sit on the counter for 12 hours, then an additional 48 hours in the turner with it off. Se Will see if this plan increases hatching rates!

 

[Tuhmu]

I let my shipped silkie eggs sit on the counter for 12 hours, then an additional 48 hours in the turner with it off. Se Will see if this plan increases hatching rates!

Was there an improvement on your hatching rates? I plan on doing this with my next batch of shipped eggs since I feel I'm getting low numbers, even for shipped eggs.