To Turn or Not to Turn?

[Vampiric_Conure]

Somewhere I saw on youtube a fellow who did an experiment with his quail eggs. Half he turned during incubation, half he did not. He got almost equal hatch rates doing it both ways. I wish I could remember who did it.

What are your thoughts? Is Turning absolutely necessary? I would say yes, but this fellow's experiment made me think

 

[Shadrach]

Somewhere I saw on youtube a fellow who did an experiment with his quail eggs. Half he turned during incubation, half he did not. He got almost equal hatch rates doing it both ways. I wish I could remember who did it.

What are your thoughts? Is Turning absolutely necessary? I would say yes, but this fellow's experiment made me think

The time to wonder if egg turning is necessary is when the hens stop doing it.
Getting chicks to hatch isn't the end of the story. It's what effect the incubation and hatching has on the long term health of the chicken.
Rather than seeking knowledge via UTube have a read of a proper study and then decide if turning eggs during incubation is necessary.
https://www.scielo.br/j/rbca/a/ZFYLhJkZ8VSVpXZSJmCcKvr/?lang=en

 

[Nabiki]

Turn.

 

[FloorCandy]

My turner has conked out during incubation and many chicks quit late, anyone who says their numbers aren’t affected is probably lying to get people to watch their videos.

 

[le_bwah]

Just turn the eggs. Mama hen doesn't do it for nothing.

 

[Canina]

My turner has conked out during incubation and many chicks quit late, anyone who says their numbers aren’t affected is probably lying to get people to watch their videos.

I decided not to turn in the first 3 days as some say to do then turned normally until lockdown. All of them dead in shell... I will turn 3 times a day the first 3 days then increase frequency as the embryo gets bigger next time. I think the logic in not turning during early days is that too much movement could cause early quitting or somehow scramble the development of vital organ etc something like that... Perhaps that's only a problem if you have shaky hands or excess vibration form traffic/machinery or more of an issue with shipped eggs.

 

[Shadrach]

I decided not to turn in the first 3 days as some say to do then turned normally until lockdown. All of them dead in shell... I will turn 3 times a day the first 3 days then increase frequency as the embryo gets bigger next time. I think the logic in not turning during early days is that too much movement could cause early quitting or somehow scramble the development of vital organ etc something like that... Perhaps that's only a problem if you have shaky hands or excess vibration form traffic/machinery or more of an issue with shipped eggs.

Turning in the first three days prevents the embryo from sticking to the inside of the shell.
The hens I've observed turn their eggs about evey twenty minutes during the first three days. I don't know how many eggs they turn in that period. I've had a few hens sit and hatch in my house in a nest box a couple of metres from my bed.

 

[gimmie birdies]

turn the first 12 days most important.

 

[gimmie birdies]

My last 4 hatches were in a turner till day 17...
going in to lockdown 4/4, 7/?, 7/8, 11/11...

 

[MadamContrary]

Days 3-12 are the most important for turning. That said quail are amazing and beat the odds frequently. Yes, birds will hatch with no turn methods, but it won't improve your hatching ratios. I get 95% hatch rates for my birds eggs. I have talked to people who follow "stacked hatching" which is a no turn, high humidity method with a small cult following. Those people started with abysmal hatch rates and saw improvement moving to the no turn which boasts a 30% hatch rate. I think that speaks volumes alone. There is no data to support increases in hatch rate with no or less turning.