To turn or not to turn?

[amsunshine]

I had 2 peachick eggs under a chicken hen. Our peahen's nest got destroyed and these 2 were the only ones not broken, so I moved the eggs to under a chicken hen. Well the chicken hen decided she wasn't broody anymore, so in the incubator they went.

Admittedly I have kept no records other than a vague mental memory of when I pulled those eggs. I usually keep good records so i know when the hatch will be. I've been candling the eggs, and they're coming along well.

Tonight when I went to turn the eggs, I noticed that the air sac at the big end is quite big, and the mass of the bird inside appears to take up the entire rest of the inside. They look similar to how my chicken eggs look when I stop turning them on Day 18 (3 days before hatch). Should I stop turning the eggs now? What's the risk of keeping on turning the eggs if a hatch is imminent in the next couple days or so?

Oh, and I have other eggs in this incubator at various stages: some goose eggs and some guinea eggs. Some of those were under the same hen who decided she wasn't broody. My records on those are no better.

Sorry to pester you all as a result of my inadequate record keeping, but any help you can give would be much appreciated.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

If the peachick(future peachick that is) has their beak poked thru the airsack normally within 24 hrs or less they will pip the egg. The airsack really begins to expand about day 22-24 and I stop turning around day 23 because 99% of the time,my pea eggs hatches on day 26-27 at the latest.

 

[amsunshine]

Thanks much; I've decided to stop turning the one with the bigger air sac. I think the other one might be a couple days behind so I'll keep turning that one for a couple days yet and recheck.

 

[zazouse]

I had 2 peachick eggs under a chicken hen. Our peahen's nest got destroyed and these 2 were the only ones not broken, so I moved the eggs to under a chicken hen. Well the chicken hen decided she wasn't broody anymore, so in the incubator they went.

Admittedly I have kept no records other than a vague mental memory of when I pulled those eggs. I usually keep good records so i know when the hatch will be. I've been candling the eggs, and they're coming along well.

Tonight when I went to turn the eggs, I noticed that the air sac at the big end is quite big, and the mass of the bird inside appears to take up the entire rest of the inside. They look similar to how my chicken eggs look when I stop turning them on Day 18 (3 days before hatch). Should I stop turning the eggs now? What's the risk of keeping on turning the eggs if a hatch is imminent in the next couple days or so?

Oh, and I have other eggs in this incubator at various stages: some goose eggs and some guinea eggs. Some of those were under the same hen who decided she wasn't broody. My records on those are no better.

Sorry to pester you all as a result of my inadequate record keeping, but any help you can give would be much appreciated.

I stop turning them when the air cell is that big and elongated and within a day or two they have hatched, this is my second year with pea eggs so i am still learning like many folk here