Question on turning (or not turning) Eggs

[Grampa with chickens]

Here's a dumb question about not turning eggs.

I know your suppose to turn eggs so the embryo doesn't "stick" to one side and development is normal. What if you took an egg carton and put a bunch of holes in it (so egg can breathe) and set the eggs little side down for the first week(with no turning)??

I searched around and couldn't find anything on this subject.

Thanks,

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Your first week is the most critical, if your going to put them in an egg carton I don't think it matters if they have air holes to breathe, if your not going to turn. The eggs still get plenty of air to breathe in a carton. If your not going to turn trying tipping the carton from side to side with a piece of wood or block under one of the end of the carton. 3 times a day. You don't have to handle each egg but they would still get exercise. My two cents.

 

[swtangel321]

Agree with Tuffoldhen, How many eggs do you have or will have in there. Ive never tryed the carton method but others say it works good !! I turn/roll my eggs 3x times a day by hand. Why dont you want to turn ?

 

[Grampa with chickens]

I was curious, as I would like to set some eggs before I go on vacation. The son(21) will be here, but eggs are not on his priority list. In case he goes brain dead, I wanted to see if there would be any damage for the first week. These would be my own eggs so no harm if the worst happens.

 

[77horses]

Before you leave for vacation, please think twice about leaving the eggs in your son's hands. Here's some Questions to ask yourself about your son:

Does he know what temp./hum. it should be at in the bator?
Does he know what to do in an emergency(power outage, etc.)
Does he know not to take the eggs out?
Does he know not to eat the eggs(LOL jk)
Does he know to check eggs once and a while to make sure temp./hum. are correct?

Make sure he has an idea about what to do.

Good luck!

 

[swtangel321]

Quote:
WOW !!!!

 

[swtangel321]

Quote:
Why not just wait in till you get back from vaca ?? That to me sounds like it would work a lot better, JMO !!

 

[Grampa with chickens]

Quote:
Oh I could and probably will, but I was just curious. My girls are (OK just one) starting to lay and didn't want to lose any potential hatching eggs due to age.

As far as the boy........

My bator does hold the temp great and humidity is easy to control. I have it hooked up to a battery backup for a computer. Only thing I could worry about is not being turned (Oh, I forgot). However, I never thought about him actually getting hungry! Oh well, we will see.

 

[griffin45]

I think you have all the bases covered. If your son forgets some of the turning it is not a huge deal. Just make sure that he turns them an odd number of times each day, and try not to miss a day. If you have eggs that will become trash if they are not incubated, I say INCUBATE!

 

[swtangel321]

Quote:
Oh I could and probably will, but I was just curious. My girls are (OK just one) starting to lay and didn't want to lose any potential hatching eggs due to age.

As far as the boy........

My bator does hold the temp great and humidity is easy to control. I have it hooked up to a battery backup for a computer. Only thing I could worry about is not being turned (Oh, I forgot). However, I never thought about him actually getting hungry! Oh well, we will see.

All you need is a auto egg turner !!