Science Teacher wants eggs to incubate!

[marialane]

Being a novice chicken owner, I'm so excited over this that I could scream! The eggs should be fertile with four hens and one rooster. What is so great about it is that I get my beautiful Americauana chicks that I wanted. I get three to four eggs daily, give or take. How much notice do I need and what then do I do with my eggs that I collect?

Thanks guys for all your help!

 

[88Haywood88]

I don't really understand the ?. Are you asking what you should do with the eggs before you incubate them?

 

[bel]

Need to find out when they want the eggs. If they have an incubator and are running the hatch themselves they will probably have timing planned to fit into the lessons, just ask and try to be as flexible as possible, schools are stretching teaching hours and making them a lot of stress.

If they are having you set things up just ask when is best, For the hatches I set up for teachers I set up early in the week as possible (wednesday morning is the latest) that way if they hatch late they won't hatch on the weeked when no one is there. It's also important to schedule the hatch date to be a day that is not a vacation, holiday or furlogh day, and make sure someone will be able to be there to increase humidity and remove the turner for lockdown.

Since you get 3- 4 a day find out how many they want ahead of time (week maybe) then when you get close enough start saving eggs and store them wide end up in a cool place (like 50-65F) The fresher the better.

 

[classicsredone]

Not sure where you are located, but my sister hatches chicks in her class during the month of May. (She's in Nor. California.)

 

[Rosalinda]

I also incubate eggs in my classroom. I had a hard time finding eggs in my area and a local feed store suggested craigslist. I did a search for my area and was surprised with several listings for fresh eggs. I also found a person who would be willing to give me the eggs if I returned them once they hatched (which is perfect for me because I don't have a place for them after they are out of their 'cute' stage)

 

[marialane]

Sorry that my question wasn't clear. The teachers will do all the work; I will supply the eggs. Once hatched, I take the chicks; I needed chicks this spring and my breed are difficult to find, so again, this is perfect!

So my questions were: When do I start collecting the eggs prior to the project? They will give me ample notice, but I am not knowledgeable about the "freshness" of the egg, or how long is the egg considered "fresh" once it is laid?

bel answer gave me most of the info, so thanks bel. Just want to make sure I'm not causing harm to the eggs. bel said store them wide end up between 50 to 65F.

So I guess my question is "How long is the egg considered fresh one laid"?

Thanks all!

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

I'm in the middle of doing this myself. Here's a couple of things I do.

As I pick up the eggs, I check for cracks. Cracked eggs get put aside for eating. Identify the fatter end of the egg and write the date on it. I'm collecting from four pens, so my eggs get a couple of identifying initials: J for June, H for Miss Hamilton, and S for Miss Spot.

There is a tile floor in the breakfast room. I place the eggs in a carton on the floor. Pointy end goes down, writing goes up (see the method to the maddness? lol). The cartons are sitting on the floor. I have a board (1"x3"X12") that goes under either the left or right side of the carton. When I add eggs, the board switches sides. Before I go to bed, I try to remember to switch the board again.

Now we can observe and see if day old eggs hatch better than twelve day old eggs. Will Miss Hamilton have a better hatch than Miss Spot? I'm going to show them how to watch the air cell increase in size after marking it with a pencil (around the previous writing, lol). I put all my hatching notes in folders last night so I can show the students how to log conditions of the eggs and the actions I take.

I have eggs in my incubator right now at Day 4. Three random eggs showed a teeny embyro!!!

Btw, if you scan the hatching eggs auctions here, people usually say their eggs will be less than a week old when sent out. On the forums here most folks agree up to a week old are very good at hatching. Up to two weeks old hatch pretty well. Older than two weeks the fertility or viability of the eggs start to drop off significantly.

Hope this helps!

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

The definition of "freshly laid" around here is: still warm when you pick it up!

Maybe the day you go to deliver the eggs, you should do a quick collection and take one or two REALLY fresh eggs, lol.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think this site has great information on how to store eggs for incubation. Youy might see something here that the rest of us don't mention.

Texas A&M Incubation site
http://gallus.tamu.edu/library/extpublications/b6092.pdf

How long to store them In decent conditions, two weeks is not a problem at all. After two weeks, hatchability starts to drop. If they are not in decent conditions, they time interval is shorter. That temperature range is a recommendation. Many of us store them outside that temperature range and do OK, so don't obsess too much over that. Just come as close as you reasonably can and store them for as short a period as you can.

How to store them? Pointy end down. That keeps the air cell where it needs to be. That A&M site says you don't have to turn them the first week, but I do. It sure won't hurt. I take the turner out of the incubator, plug it in, and store the eggs in it. That way I don't have to remember to turn them.

Keep your hands clean when handling the eggs. I'm not just talking about grime. The oils from your fingers can carry bacteria. Again, don't obsess about this. Put lotion on your hands after you handle the eggs, not before. Just use common sense.

Good luck!

 

[marialane]

Thanks so much for the information! Everyone said that once you get a couple of chickens, you'll want more; they were right. The possibility of getting more this spring is so exciting.

Thanks again out there!