Chook Me!

how do u turn chicken eggs in homemade incubator?

On the net it says one end put a cross and other put a o i am confused i though turning ment 180 degrees spinning do you have to flip them though? please help thanks!

Public Comments

1. you just turn them over so the side that was on the floor is in the air and the side that was in the air is on the floor and the cross makes sure you have done them so on one turn you see the cross and on the other turn you don't easy.
2. NO hen turns her own eggs in the nest, so WHY do you feel you have a need to do so? That said, SOME breeders have found that they have a higher yield of fertilized eggs becoming healthy offspring if they are turned every day or two. Are you breeding chickens? If so, then it MAY be helpful regarding survival of the eggs to hatch into a healthy chicken or rooster. All you need do is mark the egg and then consider the mark the top or bottom and turn it accordingly when it is time to do so. X and O is irrelevant. I could use a simple DOT or a STAR or a DASH or whatever... as the key to to know which end is "up" so you can flip the egg over until the next day when it is due to be turned again. I think it does not matter, but then again, only YOU can judge since it is YOU raising the offspring...
3. My Dad often put eggs in a homemade incubator when we were kids and the eggs always hatched. What he did was put a X on each egg in black texta or crayon and then once every day he would turn the eggs over to cover the X and then turn them back the next day and so on. Too easy. I can guarantee it works.
4. You do not turn them end over end, you need to turn them 1/4 turn 3 times (not at night) on their side write the numbers 1,2,3,4 in tiny numbers around the egg if it helps because if you knock them you won't know where they should be placed back. Stop turning 3 days before hatching so the chicks can orientate themselves and increase humidity. You really should read up on incubating before you start, it is an art in itself and any incubator is only as good as the person operating it. Rowlfe do you know anything about incubation? Of course broody hens (and all other birds) turn their own eggs when they sit on them and hatch them out.
5. You just put an O on one side and an X on the other side so you know which side you turned. Don't write out the O and X on the tips of the eggs, put it on the sides and with pencil is better because marker can sink through the egg and kill the embryo. Just turn it over back and forth. If the O is facing up pick the egg up gently and turn is over so the X is pointing up and do that 3 times a day making sure the bigger end of the egg is higher than the smaller pointier end. Don't roll the eggs and think ok the X is facing up now so its turned. You have to pick it up and turn it over not roll the eggs over.
6. easy we did this in 4-H club all you have to do is put an X on one side and an O on the other side so every couple of hours you flip the eggs so make the O side the "already flipped Side" then make the X side the "flip me" side so you know if you flipped each egg.