Hi, I'm a newbie - I have kept chickens in the past, but this is the first time that I have ever tried to incubate my own eggs. I chose a manual incubator, and a 'cheap' incubator, which meant that besides turning the eggs myself, I had to keep a close eye on temp (apparently 35c is close enough to 38c on the gauge!).
My family - I have 3 daughters, aged 17, 16 & 8. Super easy to get the 8 year old involved in anything. Quite frankly you just have say 'hey come and hang out with me'
, and she is keen. Can even bribe her with promise of using the vacuum cleaner if she cleans her room.Getting teens involved, even the lovely ones that I have (quick aside - commercial tv is not a reliable source on what teenagers are really like), is a different ball game altogether. But hatching these eggs was one absolutely wonderful way to get them out of their bedrooms and off their computers. It really has been a family experience. Maybe not quite at Brady Bunch standards, but I reckon as close as you can get in the real world without a housekeeper and a 30min window to solve all problems. Even before the hatch, they wanted to help turn the eggs. Well, after a couple of goes they thought it was boring - but they continued to show an investment by constantly asking 'Mum, did you turn the eggs?'.
Fast forward to hatch day - wow - all 3 kids, plus 2 parents in close proximity watching a chick hatch. It was complete harmony. Comments like ' eww, you stink'; 'I can't see' & 'omg did someone fart?' was all in good humour, really. And as a family, we called out in concert 'ooooohhhh'
and then 'aww' :-( as the little chick tried to push its way out of the egg. (I'm going to ignore the occasional covering of eyes of younger sibling accompanied by a false cry of 'it hatched!' because it goes against this wonderful story of family harmony I am trying to impart).All in all, it really has been a wonderful family experience, really, and I know they will remember it as fondly as I do. And hey, I have now had two teenagers hanging out all day with the family, completely forgetting about their iPhones, iPads, etc..
And, no, teenagers, we aren't having chicken nuggets for dinner tonight - but you are both very, very funny...(and would both be horrified if I said yes!!!).
