Turning eggs

[Shadrach]

I’m just going to write this as a piece of advice/warning.
There have been a number of studies that show the correct turning of the egg (timing and orientation) in the first three or four days in particular has long term impact on the long term health of the chicken. Most people know not to disturb the eggs during the last three days but I still read about people doing exactly this here.
Another point to bear in mind is eggs are porous and whatever you may have in the way of bacteria on your hands can be transfered into the egg.
If, as you should, turn the eggs regularly then you will be handling the eggs a lot so hygiene is important.

 

[Stacyoung13]

Thank you !!!! I will probably have more questions later.​

 

[bya1305]

Hey! I just saw this thread. I am close to the end of my very first hatch, tomorrow is lockdown, saturday is hatch. At first I did not have the money to buy an auto turner and decided to just do it by hand, I work from home so I can do it throughout the day. What I did was wash my hands and walk straight to the incubator, lift the lid and start flipping them. My eggs were shipped and so were in rough condition upon arrival. I have had them in the cartons, fat side up, the whole time. I orient them leaning left and right (while facing the incubator). Each time I turn them I lean them to the opposite direction of the way they currently are and then spin them about a quarter of the way. I saw it on a video for how to treat shipped eggs and all I can say is that a greater number than I expected have developed well and as of last night I can see them moving around inside. For most of the days I turned them 5 times per day. I live in the same state as the awesome Alchemist Farm and I drove a few hours last weekend to pick up some of their last fertile eggs. I put them in same night and laid them directly on the plastic floor of the incubator. I turn them with the same frequency and do a 180 degree spin and all 8 eggs are showing superb development and progress.

 

[Stacyoung13]

How much weight should a silkie egg lose during incubation ?