Zero turn/ not turning eggs?

[PaulX]

This post has some interesting links, if you want to read some of those old studies.
One of them says that a broody hen turns an egg 96 times PER DAY! Wow!

My post you quoted there says day 16, but that's for duck eggs. For chick eggs it should be day 12 like you said somewhere before. Day 16 is already almost lockdown for chick eggs.

 

[MichelleBelle]

After my surprisingly good hatch rate from the first zero-turn experiment, I set another batch of eggs for a zero turn incubation the day I joined this thread (March 21). I essentially crammed one incubator full of eggs in my Hovabator 2370, and placed 41 eggs in the same model incubator equipped with an automatic turner. Zero turn batch has been hands off the entire incubation. In my zero turn group, I've currently got 4 chicks externally pipped and chirping. No external pips on the auto-turn group just yet. I'll update with my final results after everyone hatches.

 

[HatchCraft]

Were the no turn incubated in a vertical or horizontal position? Just curious. I will be interested in seeing your results.

 

[MichelleBelle]

Were the no turn incubated in a vertical or horizontal position? Just curious. I will be interested in seeing your results.

The no turn eggs are in a horizontal position, while the auto-turner holds the turned eggs in a vertical position. I recognize that's an experimental confound, and it would've been a better experimental design to have the eggs in the same orientation between groups. More eggs are pipping now, and 2 have pipped on the small side of the egg, and 1 has pipped in the center, in the no-turn group. In the control group, I haven't seen any external pips yet, but I do hear someone chirping- so at least one has internally pipped. Science is fun.

 

[HatchCraft]

Thanks for the info. I have read a number of studies which report an increase in malposition chicks due to lack of turning, but they don't always indicate the position eggs were incubated in.

 

[Ekck]

The no turn eggs are in a horizontal position, while the auto-turner holds the turned eggs in a vertical position. I recognize that's an experimental confound, and it would've been a better experimental design to have the eggs in the same orientation between groups. More eggs are pipping now, and 2 have pipped on the small side of the egg, and 1 has pipped in the center, in the no-turn group. In the control group, I haven't seen any external pips yet, but I do hear someone chirping- so at least one has internally pipped. Science is fun.

What was the outcome?

 

[MichelleBelle]

What was the outcome?

Sorry I forgot to post final results. All but one of my no turn eggs from the second iteration hatched out. I had to help one malpositioned chick get out of its shell because it couldn't get enough leverage to emerge. Once it was out, it went about normal chick business and seems just fine. The chicks that pipped on the skinny side and in the middle managed to get out of their shells. I lost one chick for unknown reason. It had fully developed and there were no obvious developmental issues. It just externally pipped, partially unzipped, then died. There were 5 chicks that hatched before all the yolk was absorbed. The umbilical area wasn't completely closed. After resting overnight, that issue seems to have resolved in most of the chicks, and the last one still had obvious unabsorbed tissue around the umbilical area that dried up, but is behaving normally.

Compared to my auto-turn group of chicks, there was a higher percentage of chicks with yolks/intestines that weren't fully absorbed. However, I hatched a much larger number of chicks (68 vs 40) in the no-turn group because I utilized all of the floor space in the incubator.

It's been several weeks since my experimental chicks hatched. I lost an additional chick from the no turn group at 1.5 weeks old, and no additional losses in the control group.

I incubated a third iteration of no turn eggs, and they all hatched out 5 days ago. Several pipped in the middle of the egg, but emerged without problem. None of the chicks from this batch had any issues with absorbing all the material before hatching. They're all eating and drinking, hopping around and healthy little chicks. With my equipment and environmental conditions, I have no problems getting no turn eggs to hatch, and it increases my output. I have been surprised, but quite pleased with the results of my little home experiment.

 

[HatchCraft]

Thanks for posting your results in such detail. You should definitely try a group in a vertical position. I never achieve results as good as yours when incubating chickens, but I am encouraged to try more based on your results. I have achieved good result with quail, having comparable hatch rates between turned and non turned eggs. I'm curious if the rough navels are related to the lack of turning or other causes like temp and humidity. I may try not turning again in the near future and will post results when I do. This method would greatly increase incubator capacity.