Using egg cartons?

[TinyTotsSeramas]

How many of you have used egg cartons for home made turners?
Also what was your hatches like?
which end do you prop up when you "turn"?

 

[Gypsy07]

I've done it and had decent hatch rates. Too small numbers to properly compare with hand turning each egg or auto turners, but it did work fine. It's a lot quicker than turning each egg by hand and they don't all roll about the place and get you annoyed. Put the eggs in pointy end down, then tip the carton side to side so that one of the longer edges of the carton is always on the floor of the bator. Doing it that way is easier to get a good turning angle without lifting the other edge of the carton too high.

I did it the other way once without thinking about it and when I checked with a thermometer I found that the top of the bator was a lot hotter than the bottom and so the higher up eggs were getting heated up far too much. And that was in a bator with a fan; a still air one would be even worse!

 

[TinyTotsSeramas]

Quote:
I am getting 16 Silkied Serama eggs today and I really dont want to lose any because I have been wanting Silkied eggs for MONTHS now... so if I want a better turn out, you would suggest hand turning?
my last batch of hatching eggs I would have gotten a 100% hatch if I got the humidity up but I shrink wrapped my babies an 6 died in pip.. 7 I had to assist and 1 hatched on its own.. those eggs I turned by hand but like you said it took forever and they rolled about everywhere... I want to find a way that keeps them from rolling around without buying an egg turner because I cant afford it just yet..

 

[Gypsy07]

If I didn't have a turner I think I'd prefer to use egg cartons. It's quicker, it's easier, and you can do it without touching the eggs at all, which is good as the less you touch the eggs the less chance there is of skin oils and bacteria getting on the shell. I mean, as long as you wash your hands really well every time before you hand turn, that shouldn't nake any difference, so it's really just a personal preference. I don't know which would give the best hatch rates (probably both about the same) and I wouldn't like to recommend one over the other to you as I almost always use an auto turner and that's the set-up I'm most familiar with...

The egg cartons will definitely keep them from rolling around though, so if that's what you're looking for they'll definitely do that!

 

[TinyTotsSeramas]

Okay the eggs just came today at 330pm and I dont know if they'll fit in an egg carton! their soooo small!! I think I might just get stuck with hand rolling them anyways!

 

[Gypsy07]

Haha. I didn't even think of the size of Serama eggs. LOL! Silly me. You'd need some teeny weeny egg cartons for those babies I'll bet!

Well, good luck with them...

 

[The Critter Place]

Congrats on your eggs arriving!

I will be ordering Serama at the end of the month. Cant' wait!


I will be in the same situation soon. I have ordered quail and chicken eggs. But some of the quail are button, so they will be tiny!

Even though a chicken egg carton is big, I would think it would still benefit the egg to be propped up. When incubating on the wire, i've read to try and prop the egg as best you can with large end up. So wouldn't a carton still help for that? I know it wont' help for "turning" but was thinking of using them to prop the eggs.