Short answer: Turning means tilting the tray through about 45 degrees at set intervals, from the day the eggs go in until the last move on the morning of day 18. Each turn moves the tray through about 45 degrees, and each egg is marked so you can see it has moved. Turning keeps the embryo from settling against the inner shell membrane and stops the yolk resting on one side. After the final turn the eggs stay still, and that is the start of lockdown.
Key takeaways
- Turn at least three times a day, and spread the turns evenly rather than bunching them into one busy hour.
- Aim for roughly 45 degrees from level on each side. Check it weekly, because turner arms wear.
- Mark every egg in a small machine, or a spread of eggs in a large one, so a stopped turner shows up quickly.
- Make the final turn on the morning of day 18, and then leave the tray alone.
- Turning cannot rescue eggs that were stored badly or chilled overnight, so get the eggs right first.
Why an embryo that never moves can stick to the shell
Inside the egg, the embryo floats in the thin white and hangs from the yolk. Early in incubation it sits close to the inner shell membrane. Without any movement it can settle against that membrane and stay there. Once it has stuck, it cannot move freely as it grows, and the chick can hatch with a crooked neck or legs, or die in the shell. Turning is the cheapest insurance you have against that.
The yolk has a similar problem. It is lighter than the white around it, so an egg left still will let the yolk drift up and rest against the shell on one side. Turning keeps the yolk near the middle and the embryo supported while the membranes and blood vessels spread out across the shell. Our explainer on how an incubator works shows where the embryo sits at each stage, if you want the picture before you read on.
In our experience the damage from missed turns does not show on the first day. It shows at the hatch, when chicks that should be strong come out weak, or when a set that looked healthy at day seven loses a run of embryos around day 12. By then the cause is hard to trace back, which is why the routine matters more than any single turn.
The tilt that works: about 45 degrees each way
Most automatic turners tilt the tray around 45 degrees from level, one way and then the other, and that is the target most careful keepers work to. A smaller tilt moves the eggs too little to shift the yolk. A bigger tilt rolls the eggs against the tray edge, and eggs that knock together can develop hairline cracks. The shell looks fine on the day, and the crack shows up later as a dead embryo.
Check the angle with a ruler or spirit level once a week. The arms and hinges on automatic turners wear, and a turner that once tilted 45 degrees can slowly drop to 30 without any sound to warn you. Mark the zero position on the frame with a piece of tape, so you can see at a glance whether the tray is still level between turns.
Load the eggs pointed end down, as our setting guide explains, so the air cell stays at the top while the eggs move. Never load the tray at an angle, and never let the tray sit tilted for long on one side.
How often to turn, from day one to the last turn on day 18
Three turns a day is the minimum we would accept. Four to six turns spread evenly through the day is the routine most careful keepers run, and an automatic turner that moves every two hours does better than the minimum still. Never bunch the turns into one hour. A long gap between turns does more harm than a slightly lower count spread across the day.
| Stage | Days | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Early turning | Day 1 to day 6 | At least three turns a day, ideally every two to four hours |
| Middle turning | Day 7 to day 14 | Same frequency. Check the trays at each candling and note any loose egg |
| Late turning | Day 15 to day 17 | Same frequency. Watch for stuck or cracked eggs and fix them early |
| Final turn | Morning of day 18 | Make the last turn, then stop. Lockdown begins |
Marking eggs so you can prove the turn happened
A turner that stops silently is the most common turning fault we hear about. The tray looks as though it is moving, the motor clicks, and not one egg has actually changed side for a day. Marking solves this. Put a light pencil X on one side of each egg and an O on the other, then check the marks at every visit. In a small machine, mark every egg. In a large machine, mark a spread of eggs, one in each row and one in each corner, and check those.
Use a soft pencil and do not press hard enough to dent the shell. Ink can run when the box is humid, and a faded mark tells you nothing. When you check a mark, look for the X and the O swapping sides since the last visit. If they have not moved, do not assume the turner is fine. Stop the machine and find out why before the next turn is due.
Turning by hand, step by step
If you turn by hand, the routine matters more than the tool. A calm, short and repeatable turn does far less harm than a rushed one with the lid open for ten minutes while you look for a pen.
- Wash and dry your hands, and warm them against your body so the eggs do not get a cold touch.
- Open the lid only for as long as the turn takes, and close it within a minute.
- Lift the tray level, without tipping it, and turn each egg a half turn so the X moves to the other side.
- Check that every marked egg now shows its O on top, and note any egg you could not move.
- Return the tray to its place, close the lid and let the temperature recover before you walk away.
- Write the time, your initials and any missed egg in the log.
Keep the log sheet on the machine, not in a notebook in another room. The turns you forget to write down are the ones that turn out to matter when a hatch goes wrong.
Automatic turners: what to check before you trust one
A motorised turner is only as good as the few things it depends on. Check that the motor runs at the times you set, that the stops hold the tray at the ends of the tilt, and that the power comes back properly after an outage. Some turners do not restart on their own after a cut, so an afternoon blackout can leave the eggs lying flat for hours without anyone noticing. A simple timer that restarts the drive after a cut is worth more than a fancier unit that needs a button pressed.
Test the turner once a week with a marked egg. If the mark does not swap sides at the time the machine says it turned, the drive is slipping, the stop is loose or the tray is catching on the frame. If you run the machine off a battery or an inverter, the backup options in our guide to incubating through power cuts cover what to keep running.
Eggs that stick, crack or roll out of the rack
Eggs stick when the shell is damp from a sweating box, or when a dried smear of albumen glues the egg to the rack. Never pull a stuck egg free. You will tear the membrane under the shell, or the shell itself. Lift the tray gently, wait a minute, and try again with a slow rolling motion. If it still will not move, leave it and check it at the next visit.
An egg that cracks needs to come out. Remove it, wipe the rack and check the rest of the set that same day, because a crack lets bacteria in and can spread to neighbouring eggs. An egg that rolls out against the front lip has sat on a tray that is too steep or too shallow. Adjust the tilt, and fit a foam or rubber lip if the rack has room for one.
What turning cannot fix in a weak set
Turning is one job among many. It does not rescue eggs that were stored warm for a week, eggs with thin or sandy shells, or a set that spent its first night at 33 °C because the thermostat dropped out. Get the eggs right first. Our note on how to store fertile eggs covers the storage side, and it matters more than most keepers expect.
Turning in a machine that is too hot or too cold does not make up for the temperature either. The embryo needs to be in the right place, and it also needs the right warmth and moisture while it is there. Each job is only one part of the hatch. A good turner in a bad machine is still a bad set.
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Turning in Ghana's heat, dust and rains
Each time the lid comes up, the eggs and the air inside change. In the harmattan, fine dust settles on the tray, and it sticks to damp shells if the box is opened often. Keep the trays covered while you work and wipe the rack weekly. In the hot months, a room above 32 °C makes every lid-open minute cost more heat than you would expect, so turn quickly and do the job in the cooler hours of the morning or evening.
In the rains the risk flips. Room humidity is high, the box holds water more easily, and mould starts on the rack and the lid seal. Clean the rack between sets with a mild disinfectant, and dry it fully before the next use. Our guide to cleaning and disinfecting an incubator sets out the order to work in.
A worked example: counting the turns across one set
Take a 90-egg tray in an automatic turner set to move every two hours from 6 am to 10 pm. That is nine turns a day. From day 1 to the final turn on the morning of day 18 is 18 days, so the tray moves 162 times. Each of those moves is a chance for a stuck egg to be noticed, and each one is a chance for the turner to fail quietly.
Now suppose the power goes off in the afternoon for eight hours, and the turner does not restart when it comes back. You have missed about four turns. Restart it at once, mark the log and do not try to catch up by turning the tray hard or doubling the next few moves. One interrupted afternoon will not ruin a set on its own. A turner that stops every day, unnoticed, will.
The turning mistakes we see most often
- Opening the lid for ten minutes to check everything at once, which drops the temperature and the humidity together.
- Lifting the tray by one edge so the eggs roll to the far side.
- Forgetting the log after a power cut, so nobody knows whether the turns were missed.
- Relying on a marker that smears or soaks through in a humid room.
- Taking the tray out to turn it in a cold room, and leaving the eggs chilled on the bench.
- Turning after the morning of day 18, which disturbs the eggs at the point they should be most settled.
Where turning ends and lockdown begins
The last turn is the morning of day 18. After that the eggs stop moving, the humidity goes up, the lid stays shut, and the chick takes over. Most keepers feel least sure of themselves at this handover, because nothing visible happens for the first hour. Read our lockdown stage guide before day 18 arrives, so the change does not catch you off guard.
If the eggs in your set are close to the end and you are not confident in the machine, do not wait until the last day to ask. WhatsApp us on +233 24 915 1503 with your day count and what the log shows. If you are planning a fresh set, our fertile eggs and egg hatching service pages explain the two routes, and you can place an order with the price confirmed in writing first.
Questions farmers ask
How often should I turn eggs in an incubator?
Turn at least three times a day, and more often if your machine can do it. Four to six evenly spaced turns is a sensible routine. Keep turning from the day the eggs go in until the final turn on the morning of day 18. Long gaps between turns do more harm than a slightly lower count spread across the day.
Why do eggs need turning at all?
Turning keeps the embryo from settling against the inner shell membrane, and it stops the yolk resting against one side of the shell. Without turns, the embryo can stick, and it may hatch with a crooked neck or legs, or die in the shell. Turning is a small job with a large effect on the hatch.
How far should I tilt the tray?
Roughly 45 degrees from level on each side is the common target. Less than that moves the eggs too little to shift the yolk. More than that rolls the eggs against the tray edge and can crack shells. Check the angle with a ruler or level every week, because the arms on automatic turners wear over time.
When do I stop turning eggs?
Make the final turn on the morning of day 18, then stop. From that point the eggs stay still while the humidity rises and the chick prepares to hatch. Turning after day 18 disturbs the eggs at the point they should be most settled, so resist the urge to give them one more move.
What if my automatic turner stopped during a power cut?
Restart it as soon as you can and write the time in the log. Do not try to catch up by turning the tray hard or doubling the turns. A few missed turns in one day will not ruin a set, but a turner that stops every day will. Test it weekly with a marked egg to catch the fault early.
Should I mark the eggs?
Yes. A light pencil X on one side and an O on the other shows at a glance whether the eggs have moved. Mark every egg in a small machine, and a spread of eggs in a large one. A marked egg that never changes side tells you the turner has stopped, before it costs you a whole set.
Can I turn eggs by hand instead of buying a turner?
Yes, and many keepers do. Hand turning works if you turn at the same times every day, keep the lid open for as short a time as possible and log each turn. The risk is forgetting on busy days, so set alarms or pin a turn sheet to the machine where you will see it.
