1st hatch question.....HELP PLEASE

[gnatboy911]

I've done quite a bit of research on here but haven't found the answer yet. I currently have 33 of 42 eggs looking good in an incubator in my 3rd grade classroom. The kids are VERY interested and excited. We have done lots of lessons the past couple weeks in regards to the eggs, life cycle, chickens, etc. Each day the kids write down on a calendar the new developments in the eggs. We are getting close to hatch day....

I put the eggs in the incubator at roughly 8:30 AM on Tuesday April 3rd. I have that day as day 1. That makes today (wednesday) day 16 of the hatch.

The humidity has been floating between 20 and 40 percent, it's fairly dry here in CO and I'm trying the dryer hatch method I've read about.

I'm planning on upping the humidity to 60 - 70 percent during lockdown.

Now to my big question.....when do I need to take them out of the turner and go on 'lockdown'? Tomorrow is day 17, Friday is day 18. I've read they go on lockdown on day 18. Should I take them out of the turner friday morning? late friday evening?

Am I stressing too much? This is my first hatch, and I really want it to go well for the kids.


A big THANK YOU in advance for any advice or answers to my question.

Nate.

 

[Atomic Ranch]

I'm a bit new, but here's what I understand (before you turn in for the night, some rudimentary answers):

The day you placed them in the incubator is Day 0, so today at 8:30am would be day 15. At day 18, you're supposed to "lockdown" and not turn, touch, etc.. That would technically be Saturday morning. Which would mean that they'd start hatching on Tuesday, according to plan. I don't know much about the humidity since I go the old fashioned way of the broody, but the 60-70% sounds right.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong! Good of you to do this for the kids, and I understand your apprehension. My folks were both teachers before they retired (happily, but they miss the kiddos).

 

[Atomic Ranch]

If you haven't consulted this link (with some wonderful photos) yet, it might be of assistance:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation

And the overview:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...hing-eggs-important-topic-index-please-review

Good luck!