First time hatcher, any advice?

[basteph1977]

We (me, 3 teachers, 3 teachers aides and about 50 preschoolers) are going to attempt a hatching this spring. I have 8 RIR at home and know what to do after hatch but the incubating them ourselves thing is foriegn territory for us.
We have a little giant still air that i am planning to install a computer fan....
Question 1 face the fan up twards the lid or down on the eggs...
we were thinking about an egg turner but would like to have to kids get the experiance of turning the eggs and moistening our sponges...
question 2 how do i turn the eggs after we enter the lockdown phase..
question 3 what day does lockdown begin...
We are hoping to set eggs the second week in april. Aiming for a first week in may hatch. This will give the kids about a week to care for them before we are out of school for the summer.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
You DON'T turn eggs in lockdown phase. That's part of it. Stop turning and raise humidity, then don't open the 'bator until the chicks all hatch.

Average chicken egg incubation is 21 days. Look at it this way:
Day 1 is the first full day of incubation, so it's the say AFTER you set the eggs. For an example, look at the month of May in a 2011 calendar - say you set your eggs on Sunday the 1st. Monday May 2nd is Day 1. The 21st day after that is the 22nd of May, a Sunday, which is the same day of the week you set the eggs. The day you set the eggs is basically Day 0.

Notice that Day 21 is the same day of the week as day 0.

You lock down the 'bator on day 18, and days 19, 20 and 21 are the three days of "lock down" for an AVERAGE hatch. Average means "most" but it also means some chicks hatch before then and some hatch afterwards.

 

[CCourson05]

Question 1 face the fan up twards the lid or down on the eggs...

Fan upward. If it blows on the eggs, it will dry them out too quickly...​

 

[txhomegrown]

Quote:
Fan upward. If it blows on the eggs, it will dry them out too quickly...

Don't the ones that come already installed blow down? It's not like the fan blows a lot of air, it just keeps it circulating. Unless you install a fan that is too big.

 

[beckim5]

Keep in mind when turning eggs with your preschoolers that it's recommended that you wash hands before and after with antibacterial soap to protect both your peeps and your preschoolers. I don't know how many preschoolers you have, but that could be a very lengthy process!!

 

[basteph1977]

Wow thank you for your advice...The lock down phase was making me nervous but i feel alot better about it. As for how many preschoolers. Our current count is 47 and each will get a turn help me turn and check temp and humidity (before i open to turn i will check these). We plan to break it up in small groups of 3 or 4 kiddos for each turning and only have a dozen large dark cornish eggs. We were planning to turn them at say 730am 930am 11am 3pm and once more later in the evening. Is this too much? Too little? too close together? Not close enough? And we do plan handwashing before and after egg handleing. Would hand sanitizer be a good idea as well or is it too much chemical on the egg shells? I think im more excited than the kids