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| Setting the eggs in the incubator |
Today was the day! Pretty straight forward, actually. Put the incubator in a dark area of the house that stays consistently between 65-72 degrees, marked the eggs (an X on one side, an O on the other) so we can keep track of turning them, made sure the water channels were full, gently placed the eggs inside and left it alone for the first four hours (aside from keeping an eye on the temperature). We had a brief temp spike, but we caught it early and were able to stabilize the air temperature pretty quickly. It spiked to 103...Hoping we didn't cook any potential chicks! Guess we'll find out when we "candle" the eggs on day four:-/ I had no idea there was so much drama surrounding egg hatching...
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| the illusion of organiziation;-) |
Above is a photo of our record keeping form that I downloaded from Backyard Chickens. This link will bring you to a PDF of Texas A&M's handbook titled "Hatching chicks in the classroom: A Teacher's guide". Even if you aren't a teacher, the handbook is pretty comprehensive and explains each step in detail. I highly recommend it, and it's free!
As you may notice in the photo... I included a friendly hand-washing reminder for everyone involved in our project. It is important to have clean hands when handling eggs because dirt and oils can block the pores of the egg. Bacteria on one's hands can potentially contaminate the growing embryo, and affect hatching rates. Honestly, I would recommend washing your hands pretty well AFTER handling the eggs too. Unlike the eggs you buy in the grocery store, fertile chicken eggs are not routinely washed or cleaned. Again, washing the eggs beforehand can cause a decline in hatching rates. Remember peeps, higher hatching rates make this all worthwhile;-)
