Turning eggs question

[mja9346]

I had a hen that hatched several chicks last year. She has been sitting on some eggs lately for some time and I was going to let her hatch them on her own . Last night a dog got in our coop and killed our chickens. I put all of the eggs in an incubator and want to attempt to hatch them. I know you have to turn the eggs except for 3 days prior to hatching. The problem is i don't know how long she had been sitting on the eggs. I know it was between a week or two. Since I don't know the exact time I have no way to know when to stop turning the eggs. What should I do? Should I just continue to turn the eggs until they hatch? Can candling help give me an idea when to stop turning?? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ve lost chickens to dogs. I feel for you.

You do have a problem but it’s not as bad as you may think. Chicken eggs don’t really need to be turned after 14 days. If you have a definite no later than this date start date, you can quit turning after the total is 14 days. The 18 days is tied more to the need to up the humidity at the end of hatch. That’s just a good time to take them out of the automatic turner. It’s more of a convenience to do that at the same time than anything else.

If you go over the 18 days turning them it’s not a huge problem. It’s not likely to hurt them. Just stop when you see pipping or hear the chicks peeping inside the egg.

On the humidity, I’d suggest watching them and upping it when you see eggs moving, hear peeping inside, anything like that.

We all strive for ideal conditions, but I have the conditions I deal with. Sometimes they are not perfect. Just do the best you can and you can’t do any better.

Good luck!!!