Hufflefluff
Songster
Hi there!
I'm running an incubation with a Kindergarten class as part of their study of birds. I haven't hatched eggs before, and have been reading everything I can get my hands on to make sure I don't mess up. I turned the incubator on yesterday, and got it to a steady temperature of almost 99 degrees. The incubator I'm using is a Brinsea Mini Eco, and so it doesn't have a humidity monitor nor automatic temp control, but I got the temp pretty steady. I filled the one out of two water pots, like recommended, and so I think that's all good.
The incubator said it could hold around 10 eggs, but this morning I put a dozen eggs in- three are bantam eggs, and they all fit. Their sides are touching, though- is that okay?
Additionally, I'm not sure what to do about turning. I set the eggs around nine hours ago, and haven't since turned them because I read that you shouldn't turn on day 1- is this accurate? Should I turn them before I leave school?
Also, what should I do about turning on the weekends? I might be able to come once each day- is that enough? Will a missed day kill the embryos?
Finally, any advice on when to candle? I was thinking days 7, 14, and 18- too much? Wrong days? Good?
And I lied about the finally...
any tips on humidity?
As you can tell, I'm just a little nervous. I want to get as many chicks to hatch as possible, because we have at least two potential families and possibly a third who are very willing to take chicks, and I really want the kindergartens to see the process- they're already really excited and have begun doing a lot of chicken research; some have even brought their parents into the room to the bator, and it's only day one!
Thanks for any advice
I'm running an incubation with a Kindergarten class as part of their study of birds. I haven't hatched eggs before, and have been reading everything I can get my hands on to make sure I don't mess up. I turned the incubator on yesterday, and got it to a steady temperature of almost 99 degrees. The incubator I'm using is a Brinsea Mini Eco, and so it doesn't have a humidity monitor nor automatic temp control, but I got the temp pretty steady. I filled the one out of two water pots, like recommended, and so I think that's all good.
The incubator said it could hold around 10 eggs, but this morning I put a dozen eggs in- three are bantam eggs, and they all fit. Their sides are touching, though- is that okay?
Additionally, I'm not sure what to do about turning. I set the eggs around nine hours ago, and haven't since turned them because I read that you shouldn't turn on day 1- is this accurate? Should I turn them before I leave school?
Also, what should I do about turning on the weekends? I might be able to come once each day- is that enough? Will a missed day kill the embryos?
Finally, any advice on when to candle? I was thinking days 7, 14, and 18- too much? Wrong days? Good?
And I lied about the finally...
any tips on humidity? As you can tell, I'm just a little nervous. I want to get as many chicks to hatch as possible, because we have at least two potential families and possibly a third who are very willing to take chicks, and I really want the kindergartens to see the process- they're already really excited and have begun doing a lot of chicken research; some have even brought their parents into the room to the bator, and it's only day one!
Thanks for any advice
