Share Your Hand Turning Tips & Tricks!

[zaylinda]

For anyone who hand-turns eggs:

What, in your experience, is the best way to turn eggs?

Best way to prevent dropping & breaking eggs?

Best way to keep the dang things from rolling over when you just turned them to the other side?

Etc..?

 

[Barred Rocker]

I hatched 3 batches last summer in a home made still air incubator and had to hand turn all the eggs. I'm going to buy an egg turner this year though because unless you have the time to schedule 3-4 turns a day it's difficult to maintain. It just so happened that I was out of work and was available to do it but even if you do work just turn them before you leave in the morning, when you get home and before you go to bed. In my bator I had a piece of 12" plywood with 1" round notches to set the egg in. I marked an X on one side and an O on the other, keeping the blunt end pointed up I tilted the egg from X to O and vice versa every time I turned. No need to pick them up, just move em a little but you need to do it as quick as possible to avoid losing heat and humidity. I managed to do 24 in about a minute.
You really need to set them in something to keep them stable or you're going to have a hard time putting them in the right position. If you candle, just be careful handling them. That's when eggs get broken and it's heart breaking when they're actually developing. Good luck, experience will teach you more than anyone's advice.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Before I built my large incubator, I was hand turning. I put a different color X on each different batch.(wax pencil) I would turn the
eggs X up or X down 3 times a day. Before work, after work, & before bed. My hatches were usually very good. Good Luck!

I set the eggs on a piece of welded wire 1/2 X 1 inch. they didn't roll.

 

[JCoogle]

When I was had turning I marked them with an X and a O. I kept them in egg catons but laid them across instead of standing up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some people use egg cartons with the bottoms of the individual depressions cut out to give adequate ventilation and hold the eggs in place.

Depending on your incubator, you may be able to put a 6" high (or whatever works for you) piece of wood or whatever under one side of the incubator and move it to the other side whenever you want to turn the eggs without opening the incubator. Depends on incubator size and how your water is handled. Or you can maybe have a block of wood or something that you can put under one end of the carton in the incubator, if you have room.

 

[TimG]

In my home made incubator, the eggs sit on a sheet of rigid Styrofoam insulation that has indentations (made with a hot spoon). I orient the eggs so they are all facing in one direction and reverse the orientation when I turn them so that I know they all have been turned.

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
Wow! Ingenious.

 

[dinahmoe]

i hand turn mine until day 10,simply because i usually have more than the turner will hold at first.i number mine 1 ,3,2,4(so the numbers are opposite) .i turn 4 times a day so thety should all have the same number at the same time(also if one rolls over you will know.)

 

[riftnreef]

On my first go round I didn't think that far ahead, so when I had problems getting my eggs to stay x or o side up, I placed paper clips under each egg to hold them in place...I know, but it's all I had handy...

 

[bargain]

Big tip, scrub you hands like you're prepping for surgery......use the palms of your hands to roll them...Leave room for the roll. And mark them....I rotated no less than 3 times a day and often 7 times....Easier because we full time farm and I'm often around and can access those incubators...

Great luck and happy New Year!