questions on turning and time before incubation

[wheredesalt]

to the more experienced folk; i have a few q's:

1 - i read here that the preferred position for egg setting is as it would be laying on a flat surface with the pointed side slightly lower than the rounded side. i noticed that most incubators have them seated as they would be in the cartons from the grocery. how should i place my eggs within the incubator?

2 - do the eggs need to be turned all they way over (180 degress) or is a 45 degree turn from horizontal on either side sufficient?

3 - how long after the hen lays the egg can i wait before placing it in the incubator to be able to hatch a healthy chick? i read here on one post that one guy had eggs in the fridge for 5 days and they still hatched after incubating. please advise on these.

you help is appreciated

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Quote:
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This is how I do things here:

If not using a turner I place the hatching eggs with the big end towards the back of the incubator and the pointy small end towards the front. When placing the eggs in a turner they go the same way as in egg cartons from a grocery store, Big end up.

I mark the eggs I hand turn with an X on one side and a O on the other and turn from one to the other odd numbers of times a day, I do 3.

Eggs used for hatching should be kept in a cool spot in the house not the refrigerator, (but sometimes refridged eggs can and will hatch usually don't get a good hatch rate) in egg cartons and tilted acouple times a day from one end to the other by placing a book or piece of wood under one side. This keeps the blastoderm from sitting in one spot til incubation time. Eggs can be collected for 7 to 10 days til you have the desired about you want to set. Fertility goes down after day 10.

 

[LoveMyBirds]

Quote:
TuffOldHen covered it pretty well... I just want to say also do not refrig your eggs if you're planning on setting or hatch them in INC.

My hens went broody on me back in March which I was not expecting and was putting the eggs in the refrig prior ..

When they went broody, I didn't want them to just hatch 2 eggs so I put some refrig eggs under them..

I only got 3 chicks from about 8 eggs.. Can't remember exactly how many I put there now, that included the 2 already there.. So you can see what the results were..

 

[wheredesalt]

guys, thanks for the responses. very helpful.

so i plan to start doing some hatching of my own, i have some jersey black giants, wyandotts and araucanas. i am thinking of doing a bigger amount of rhode island reds though.

also, can you point me to some wiring diagrams for the incubator set up ie. heating bulb, thermostat, cooling fan bypass etc.

i think there are some somewhere in the forum haven't been able to find them yet though.

thanks again.