incubating - tilting vs. turning?

[Davaroo]

Ive always just reached in and sort of rolled them around with the flat of my hand.
No elaborate turning schemes or penciled "X's" and "O's." Just pop the window, roll them around some, gently, and put the window back.
I learned this from a guy who has hatched more birds than all of us put together.

Your mileage may vary of course.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
In a natural nest, the shape is cupped, so the eggs naturally seem to point downward into it, no matter how often a person would change that position...big end up, little side down most of the time in a natural nest.

If you've ever seen a hen rolling her eggs she doesn't do a roll like folks who hand turn..it's just a nudge, nudge, nudge and the egg repositions just a tad differently but you rarely see a complete turn like people do who mark one side and the other and turn them completely over. Too many eggs in the nest for complete turning...it's just a nudge in one direction or other and the "turn" isn't a turn at all but a tiny repositioning.

I'd like to do the tilt this year and the eggs will be lying on their side, so it will be interesting to see if I get any difference than hand turning. I'll be tilting side to side and front to back....any known issues with that plan?

 

[lazy gardener]

In a natural nest, the shape is cupped, so the eggs naturally seem to point downward into it, no matter how often a person would change that position...big end up, little side down most of the time in a natural nest.

If you've ever seen a hen rolling her eggs she doesn't do a roll like folks who hand turn..it's just a nudge, nudge, nudge and the egg repositions just a tad differently but you rarely see a complete turn like people do who mark one side and the other and turn them completely over. Too many eggs in the nest for complete turning...it's just a nudge in one direction or other and the "turn" isn't a turn at all but a tiny repositioning.

I'd like to do the tilt this year and the eggs will be lying on their side, so it will be interesting to see if I get any difference than hand turning. I'll be tilting side to side and front to back....any known issues with that plan?

Bee, are you talking about your nest or your bator eggs? In my bator, I leave them in a cardboard carton with lid torn off. I don't even cut the bottom out of the carton like folks say to do. I tilt the carton on a single axis, but rotate the eggs 90* in the carton "cups" every day, so that even though the carton only moves in one direction, the eggs are getting rotated in multiple planes.

 

[Beekissed]

I probably won't be using the natural nest this year but if I do, I'd like to use the tilt there as well. I figure if a person would rotate the tilt, first left side, then back, then right side, then forward and just keep doing that throughout the incubation they should get pretty good shell coverage, shouldn't they? And I'm thinking that would also depend upon the degree of tilt?

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, it should. There was one guy several years ago who tried an experiment where he'd gently shake the incubator several times/day. Or he tipped the whole bator side to side. Sounds a bit too rough for my liking. Now, if the eggs were cushioned, or in egg cartons, tilting the whole bator would work quite nicely. I never did hear what his hatch results were. The recommended tilt with auto turners is 45*.

 

[Beekissed]

Thank you, LG! I'll definitely be trying that this year, as even the tilt will also move the eggs a bit much like the very small movements a hen produces when she nudges with her beak, so they will eventually be "turned" even as they are tilted. I'll have to secure them into place with a mesh "lid" to the tray.

 

[WalnutHill]

I'd like to see someone make up egg rails for common turners that hold the egg on the long axis. They would just need to be long, flat trays with rods on the bottom and pegs on the sides to keep the eggs from rolling off. Ideally they would be able to hold everything from bantam to turkey eggs.

This design would dramatically reduce incubator capacity for standard eggs, though.

 

[dheltzel]

I'd like to see someone make up egg rails for common turners that hold the egg on the long axis. They would just need to be long, flat trays with rods on the bottom and pegs on the sides to keep the eggs from rolling off. Ideally they would be able to hold everything from bantam to turkey eggs.

This design would dramatically reduce incubator capacity for standard eggs, though.

You mean something like this:

You're right about the capacity issue, I think that's why cabinet incubators tilt the trays.

 

[WalnutHill]

I was thinking more like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Goose-Egg-Rac..._sbs_hi_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0HEFZ8RA1AWY71WS8JFZ

 

[lazy gardener]

I was thinking more like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Goose-Egg-Rac..._sbs_hi_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0HEFZ8RA1AWY71WS8JFZ

I've never seen that idea before. I like it. It wouldn't be too difficult to duplicate, even in a manual design. I was initially thinking of using the previous design, but can see how this one could be an advantage over the sliding tray with dowels.