nunber of turns?????????

[chick mad]

I read that we should turn the eggs ODD nunbers. I turn at 4am, 10am, 4pm, 10pm. so, no long night on same side. Is my eggs OK??????????

 

[KattyKillFish]

yeah they will be fine. i reccomend turning them 3 times a day though. they will be fine

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I hand turn 3 times. 8 a.m., 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. Odd numbers of turns they will be fine.

 

[dkluzier]

I "try" to turn 3 times. There were days that I only turned twice and days I turned 4. LOL . We've had good hatch percentages.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This Texas A&M site site discusses turning eggs during incubation. It gives great information on using an incubator.

http://gallus.tamu.edu/Extension publications/b6092.pdf

You turn the eggs to prevent the developing chick from attaching to one side of the egg shell. An egg that is turned four times a day is less likely to stick than an egg turned three times a day. An egg that is turned three times a day is less likely to stick than an egg turned four times a day. An egg that is turned six times a day is a lot less likely to stick than an egg turned three times a day. To the egg, even or odd does not matter. Being turned regularly does.

If thinking that an egg absolutely has to be turned an odd number of times causes you to stick to a regular schedule of turning the eggs, then it could be important, but only because it gets you to turn the egg.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
Wonder if broody hen "counts" odd or even turns. LOL

I also have reasons to believe that uneven time intervals are better than regular turning.

Seems to me I am getting better hatches turning the eggs manually with all imperfection associated with it, than using an egg turner (either LG or GQF turner).

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
Don't you love the hard and fast rules that don't seem to be that important. At one time, it was thought to allow the temperature to drop occasionally to mimic the time that the hen was off the nest. That is not recommended anymore that I have seen. Maybe the manual turning allows the incubator to cool a bit and mimics the cooling off time. I don't know. And things keep changing.

Different things work for different people. There are probably more variables at work on any of this than we will ever know. There could be something unique in your set-up that makes manual turning better for you that neither of us would ever figure out. The main thing is finding what works for you.

 

[jacyjones]

This was my first hatch and I turned 5 times a day - my chicks are hatching and so far are great so it worked!!

 

[Momo]

I turned my last batch *mostly* three times a day, not on any sort of set schedule. Some days they only got turned twice. 31 out of 33 hatched.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
Don't you love the hard and fast rules that don't seem to be that important. At one time, it was thought to allow the temperature to drop occasionally to mimic the time that the hen was off the nest. That is not recommended anymore that I have seen. Maybe the manual turning allows the incubator to cool a bit and mimics the cooling off time. I don't know. And things keep changing.

Different things work for different people. There are probably more variables at work on any of this than we will ever know. There could be something unique in your set-up that makes manual turning better for you that neither of us would ever figure out. The main thing is finding what works for you.

Well, in my case I did not open bator to turn eggs, I have Brinsea ECO 20 without the turner, no need to open it for turning.

Doing it manually with Brinsea 3-4 times a day, I got 9 of 10 shipped bantam eggs hatched, my first Brinsea hatch.

I turned it at random intervals not by a clock.

But I think, the LG and GQF turners swing too many cycles per day, I never really counted how many but far more than three.

I will try to put the turner in my other bator on timer next time to limit the turns and make it stop for a few hours to stop and hold the eggs in fixed random position mimicking hand or hen turning.

Also motor vibrations may be a negative factor? Who knows?

I would just love to have one of those old Sears or Lehay real wood bators, you turned the eggs manually with a lever.