Chicks in the classroom.

[KinderTeacher]

Hi everybody, I am a kindergarten teacher and have recently been given the ok to hatch some chicks in my classroom.

I have a dozen coturnix quail eggs and a Brinsea mini advanced incubator. About how long does it take for these chicks to hatch and do they generally hatch on schedule? I read that it takes about 18 days and day 18 would land on a Thursday if I started them on the 1st. I don't want them to end up hatching late on the weekend. Any advice? My main problem with waiting for the next week is that Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday the children have off for Thanksgiving so I'd have to make sure they hatched on either Monday or Tuesday.

Perhaps this was a wrong time to start...

Any suggestions would be great! There are 19 little people very excited about hatching birds and we could use any knowledge you could give!

Thank you!

 

[chickhopeful12]

They say 16-18 days. I usually get the most hatching on the 18th day. Best wishes with your hatching!~

 

[Robo]

I would set them on Sunday. You can bring them in and plug them up Sunday so they will be ready for the kids to see by Wedsday. Hatching eggs at school is hard without a turner. Trust me I have tried. Do you have an egg turner?

 

[KinderTeacher]

Yes, the brinsea has an autoturner.

So if they hatch on the 18th day... That would be Friday... Oy. The school isn't opened on Sunday.

 

[KinderTeacher]

What if I set them at my house and then transport them in my car? I have a converter that I can plug the incubator in inside the car so they would only be unplugged for the walk from the car to the building. Would that be ok?

 

[chickhopeful12]

That should work. A friend of mine took his incubator on vacation with him that way. Had a great hatch too!

 

[Robo]

Yes that would be perfect.

That is what I did. How far are you away from the school?

 

[KinderTeacher]

It's about a fifteen minute drive.

 

[Robo]

You could just rap the incubator in a blanket. I did this, and it dropped to about 90 after 20 minutes. I ended up having an 86% hatch rate.

 

[JJMR794]

Set Them Soon Enough(16-24 Hrs Before You Move Them) For Them To Get Up To The Proper Temperature Inside The Egg, Dont Opne The Bator During The Move, And It Should Hold Close Enough For The Time It Takes You To Transport Them To School. Even If The Bator Looses Temperature A Lil Bit The Eggs Will Not-- It Takes Them Quite A While To Cool Down.