tilt or roll DIY. i'bator

[334dave]

I tried a LG bator with rocker but no hatching on any egg at all ..
So might sell it and build one
My burning question for you guys -
What is better one that rocks eggs OR
One that sorta does like a chicken and rolls the eggs from side to side like a hen would do ... this seems to me to be more like nature and thus should gave a better hatch rate or am I missing some thing here ?
SO am seeking advice from you hatches here...fel free to post links to plans materials list ect !!!
Thx, Dave & Cindy

 

[HatchCraft]

I think the purist would say rolling is superior to tilting as it is closer to the natural behavior of the hen. Some of the most expensive incubators on the market roll the eggs. Grumbach Incubators for example. While tilting is not a natural motion it works very well. There are differing opinion on how much to tilt or how often . All large commercial poultry incubator I know of tilt egg to 45°. The small turner trays tilt closer to 30°. I enjoy hand turning small batches of egg, but have hatched thousands of egg in the auto turn trays. I know the turner was not the cause of your hatching problems. I use them in incubators I build. So my advice is build an incubator and keep the turner.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I think the purist would say rolling is superior to tilting as it is closer to the natural behavior of the hen. Some of the most expensive incubators on the market roll the eggs. Grumbach Incubators for example. While tilting is not a natural motion it works very well. There are differing opinion on how much to tilt or how often . All large commercial poultry incubator I know of tilt egg to 45°. The small turner trays tilt closer to 30°. I enjoy hand turning small batches of egg, but have hatched thousands of egg in the auto turn trays. I know the turner was not the cause of your hatching problems. I use them in incubators I build. So my advice is build an incubator and keep the turner.

X's 2. The turner isn't the issue, so whichever way you feel better turner your eggs, go with that. I use a LG bator with the fan kit and egg turner. It's a little more work monitoring and making sure the temp stays steady than a higher priced bator, but it works decent. My last hatch I had 16 go into lockdown (after clears and 2 blood rings removed) and 13 hatched with only one loss (digestive problem) after hatch. So I am happy with it. I would love a higher priced model with less babysitting, but I use what I can afford and just put the extra effort into it, because I can. (Honestly,even if I had a higher priced less maintenance machine, I'd still be hanging over it because I'm obsessive like that...lol).
Good luck with whatever you decide and let us know how it goes.