turning eggs by hand

[monster1]

i was wondering if i could place my hatching eggs pointed end down in a paper egg carton and use that to keep the eggs placed in while they incubate and then just tilt the carton from side to side to turn them five times a day. if not should i just place them on the tray and turn them by hand using the traditional x and o method? they are one dozen guinea eggs i just purchased on ebay. they were kind of expensive and i don't want to mess this one up.

thanks

 

[chickmamawannabe]

There's alot of people on here who keep the eggs in the carton to turn. Alot easier!

 

[bloomnbeauty]

I have used the carton before. Just be sure and cut the bottoms out for ventilation.

 

[swtangel321]

I think either way you will be fine !!!! Egg cartons are just easyer than turning by hand !!!! Some dont mind turning/rolling a few times a day !!!!

 

[monster1]

so if i keep them in a carton with the bottoms cut out then i just tilt the carton every four to five hours to simulate an automatic egg turner?

 

[chuck12]

Quote:
Yep,.. that is what I do,.. I do not even cut the bottoms out of the carton.

 

[dbcooper02]

Gosh I hate to see someone trying to hatch expensive, shipped eggs in an untested homemade incubator. Its a sure setup for disappointment . A good rule of thumb is to find cheap or free local eggs and learn what it takes to make the bator work. After you get it dialed in then you are ready to try to hatch shipped eggs which are often damaged by the PO before you ever get them.

But you are already in this so you will just have to press on and hope for the best.

One thing I noted in the post about your 'bator, you said you candled the Pekin eggs at 3 days and decided they were infertile. Truthfully, at 3 days you probably wouldn't see any development. Generally the first candling is done at 7 to 10 days. Guinea eggs are much harder to see into when candling than duck eggs, so if you don't see any thing don't give up on them.
db

 

[monster1]

yeah, i should have waited and just tried to hatch some inexpensive eggs instead. the incubator i made is of a 48 qt igloo cooler. it uses a wafer thermostat with a 100 watt bulb for heat and also has a fan to circulate the air. it stays a contant 99.4 degrees when left alone. i would like to have put an automatic egg turner in but the cooler isn't wide enough. the egg carton turning method will allow me to turn the eggs without upsetting the temp and humidity much. hope this turns out. btw, the ducks the eggs came from are barely mature enough to produce fertile eggs so i figured they weren't fertile after three days. i read to candle the eggs after three days to check for growth.