Science Fair Project (please vote wich is better) chicks avail?& incu?

[usschicago1]

Ok! I have science Fair thats due early January. So of course, i want to go something with chickens. SO tell me wich one you like better please
#1-
Take 10 fresh eggs and store in room temperature for 2 days and take 10 fresh eggs and store in refridgerator for 2 days. Then let both sets get to room temp and incubate. See if the temperature affects hatch rate.
Or
#2
Does temperature affect how long eggs take to hatch. Do one set at the reccommended temp and one set at a lower temp. (or higher what do you think)
Question 1- Will eaither of these work.. I want a good grade on this project and i want to see that on whichever one i choose there is an apperent diffrence in hatch rate wether its temperature or storage.
Ok question #2 What do you think?
Q # 3 is there anyone local that would want the chicks I hatch, if you PROMISE to take any chicks if any hatch, let me know. If you do Let me know the breed you want me to hatch (common breeds not extremly rare) and ill try to get that breed.
Q # 4 This is why i posted it in the section. With school at 7 ( u have to turn eggs 3 times a day right) i can turn before school After school (at 3) and when i go to bed (1030) right?

 

[wildorchid053]

do one reg temp and one lower so you don't fry them. it is supposed to take longer if the temp is just a tad lower. do you have two incubators?

 

[usschicago1]

I have one and the school has one for use, so basically ;D gotta learn and research alot about incunbation first. Thats why i love this sits.
Ohh I forgot to add, the chicks would of course, be free <3

 

[cbiblis]

I to did a science project on chickens in school. I however did the incubation periods of chickens. I incubated 34 eggs, if i remember correctly, every evening i would drop two of them in a glass of vinegar. Then when the shell would melt away leaving a soft clear egg that you could see though, i would take the best of the two and mix up a batch of epoxy, once again if i remember correctly, and wrap the egg in clear plastic wrap then submerge in the gel. then when it hardened i had a day by day representation of the incubation cycle of the embryo. it sounds cruel but it was very educational. I got second prize in the fair. This maybe a lot out dated from today's fairs but maybe you could use this method to better your project presentation. Hope this helps.

 

[usschicago1]

Quote:
That is extremly ineresting. I will print this out and show it to my science teacher! thanks alot They have a rule "no harming vertebrea animals" but ill see if i can get around that since for most of the developing they odnt have one yet@

 

[thespinningcottage]

Many school systems these days don't allow animal experimentation. The schools have received a lot of flack in recent years from animal rights groups. Before planning anything that compromises a life, get clearance from your teacher. The times they are a-changing!

 

[FenDruadin]

What a great project! Wonderful that you're able to do this for school.

I like all your ideas, and I think the temperature one is most likely to show a difference. But how about these ideas too:

You could trace (in pencil) the shape of the air cell at each candling and record its growth. Then you could test all kinds of things--for instance, you could set half the eggs so that the air cell faces down and half so they face up & compare their hatch success.

Or you could try a "dry incubation" (uses less humidity--I can post a link to instructions if that one catches your fancy) in one incubator and standard incubation in the other, record the air cell growth in both and compare hatch rates.

You could have one batch that you candle every seven days but then don't open the incubator at all during the hatch (which is the usual recommendation) and another where you open it at least once a day and candle the eggs throughout the hatching period, and compare the hatch rates. This would also afford you the opportunity to record things such as air cell growth during the hatch.

You could hatch one batch lying on its side in the incubator and another batch standing up in an egg carton.

So many possibilities! Any of the options above would not only be interesting, they would be helpful to folks on a board like this--these are all issues we talk about all the time, and I haven't seen much in the way of scientific testing of them.

Good luck in any event, and let us know what you decide and how the experiment goes!

 

[Billy7871]

The times that you suggested for turning the eggs are exactly the same ones that we turn ours at so that has never been a problem in our hatches. Hope that helps.