Bit of an experiment,What do you think??

Hello, so I have a broody hen sitting comfortably on 11 fertile eggs that I purchased a couple of days ago, I had a couple of fertile eggs left over (3 to be exact) so I thought I may aswell give it ago at hatching them too, rather than throwing them out, Bit of an experiment to be honest I have a heated seed propergator that I have insulated and have put a cup of water in, I have marked the eggs and I'm turning them, I have the make shift incubator at a steady 37.9 degrees (100.2f) although it does drop a slight bit when I open it to turn the eggs, do you think Theses eggs stand a chance??has anyone ever done anything similar?

The ancient Egyptians incubated eggs thousands of years ago using heat piped in from fires. Incubating eggs does not depend on electricity, precise measuring tools, and fancy incubators though they make it a lot easier for us. I don’t know how good your chances are but yes, you do have a chance. I admire you for the attempt. Good luck!

Thankyou, I have read stories on eggs hatching in airing cupboards so I was hoping I might be in with a shot fingers crossed

Beekissed has a natural incubation thread on here where she takes us through her journey of using a heating pad and a "nest" to incubate eggs. It's fascinating reading, and proves that you don't need a fancy, expensive incubator to hatch eggs. I use a heating pad cave to brood chicks in an open pen outside and have had more success with that than with a brooder box and heat lamp.

I'll be following your project! Good luck!

Link to Bee's thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ral-nest-incubation-experiment-1-so-it-begins

The link to Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update

Brilliant thankyou I will have a read! I will update when I have news

Quick update!! I candled the three experiment eggs (early I know, but wanted to see if I could see anything) there is definite veining in 2 eggs unsure on the 3rd but will candle again around day 10.

Can you pop another ventilation hole in the container? I was told to keep eggs at 99.5-100.5 to avoid deformities such as spraddle leg, curled toes, hip problems, or angel wing. It is okay for them to cool off for a minute while you get in there to check on them or turn them but it is not okay to overheat them as they will become dehydrated and stick to the side of the shell causing the deformities i listed above. You might be just fine if the temp doesn't increase at all. I am interested how your experiment turns out. I also did an experiment with my kindergarten class and i cracked an egg on day 3 and watched it continue to develop outside of its shell for several days.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SFrati

I am so glad I found this post. My kindergarten class is hatching eggs this year for the first time! We are all so excited.The embryology professor from UCONN taught the 4H groups and a few teachers how to open an egg while it is in day 3 and watch it continue to grow for up to 14 days. It is amazing to see the development from just one day to the next. My students are using words like fertilized and embryo in their writing and daily conversation. I love seeing the excitement that goes along with learning something new.


Day 3 Embryo You can see the heart beating.

Day 6 Embryo beginning of the day. You can see the black eye.


Day 6 Later in the day. Veins grow substantially.





I will post more pics as the days progress. Hatch date is March 24th.
Day 9

It has a vent at the top which I can open as much as I need throughout the day so I keep adjusting it (open during the day and closing a little through the night) it's just keeping the temp at a constant as it doesn't have a thermostat and I'm having to fight against the forever changing room temp but it does stay around the 99-100 f mark fluctuating a slight bit so fingers crossed, wow that's an amazing experiment It's amazing it continues to develop when out of the shell!!