Turning eggs by hand vs egg turner

[Jemimapuddleduck]

either one sounds fine

 

[Birdie mom]

i personally prefer egg turners. That way if you forget about the eggs they will still be fine. If you are at home most of the time you could hand turn them. My one problem with the egg turner is that if it breaks, and you don't realize it, then you could lose the whole batch.

 

[Birdie mom]

I have a little giant incubator with egg turner and fan. I only get about 50% hatch rate, with most of the unhatched eggs being unfertile. Would I get better results with hand turning the eggs?

If most of the unhatched eggs aren't fertile than the problem isn't with your machine, it is with your chickens. How many roosters do you have and how many hens do you have?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

i personally prefer egg turners. That way if you forget about the eggs they will still be fine. If you are at home most of the time you could hand turn them. My one problem with the egg turner is that if it breaks, and you don't realize it, then you could lose the whole batch.

I get yhat. I had my quail eggs for five days before I realized that the turner wasn't workings

 

[SmoresandMinnie]

If most of the unhatched eggs aren't fertile than the problem isn't with your machine, it is with your chickens. How many roosters do you have and how many hens do you have?

I have four roosters and 20 hens

 

[TheMother]

If most of the unhatched eggs aren't fertile than the problem isn't with your machine, it is with your chickens. How many roosters do you have and how many hens do you have?

That was my thought.

 

[TheMother]

I have a little giant incubator with egg turner and fan. I only get about 50% hatch rate, with most of the unhatched eggs being unfertile. Would I get better results with hand turning the eggs?

If they are not fertilized then I do believe neither an automatic Turner nor hand turning would help them much.

 

[Birdie mom]

I have four roosters and 20 hens

nevermind. I was thinking you may have had too many hens and not enough roosters to fertilize them.

 

[nao57]

So...about this one...

This threat and topic was so helpful. Thank you!

However, I still have a few questions.

Do you have to turn the eggs by hand everyday at the same time for hand turning to be better? Or does it matter?

And is only once in the morning and once at night good enough, or does it need to be more than that?

Thanks.

 

[Kiraeh]

It's recommended to turn an odd number of times so that they spend nights(or whatever your longest period without turning would be) on opposite sides, so 3x would be your minimum. More turning is generally better. The info I've seen suggests that the most critical period for turning is days 4-7, so if you can turn more on those days I would do it. But 3x is a fine minimum that works for a lot of people.