So, gonna give hatching eggs a go.....

[mrwoodboat]

My wife teaches kindergarten and they were given a Hovabator incubator. She is interested in hatching some of our eggs for the class to watch but wants us to do a run before she does it at school. I bought an egg turner for it and for our location, I am going to use a closet that has power in it. Given that the temps are up and down here, we are going to put a small heater w/ thermostat in the closet to keep the closet temp about 80 degrees. This should come close to the setting my wife will be able to use at school.

Questions- I have read on here where people clean the eggs, dont clean the eggs, etc. We have one hen that makes a mess in the nesting box so her eggs are usually dirty- we typically use a wet paper towel and wipe them off- yes or no?

We are planning on setting tomorrow about lunch time but we have 2 Ameracaunas that lay at or around 5:00 pm instead of the am like everyone else- could we put their eggs in tomorrow evening if we have already set the others at lunch? (the only reason for doing it at two different times is my wife is running home to see how we do it- I coach HS soccer so I am out of town tomorrow evening)
thanks

 

[Ridgerunner]

What happens to the temperature at school on the weekends? Many schools turn the heat off or down to save money on heating costs. I don’t know what Hovabator model you have, but they can handle some temperature swings as long as that swing is not real fast.

Personally I would not set the dirty egg, depending on how dirty it is. A little stain is no big deal but I have some that really do get messy. Someone I consider a real good source showed a graph of what happens when you set a really dirty egg, and he included washing them or using sandpaper to clean them. The hatch rate of all three drops about the same. I can’t remember what that drop was but there just was not that much difference in the three methods. But there was a difference in how many got bacteria in side and turned rotten. Trust me, you don’t want a rotten egg in there, even if it doesn’t explode. All three methods were more likely to get bacteria inside compared to regular clean eggs, but the ones that were dirty and not cleaned were a lot more likely to explode.

It’s best to not set those eggs to start with, but if you feel you must, definitely clean it first. Whether washing or with sandpaper did not make a big difference.

That difference in time in setting them is not critical. Hatching is not an instantaneous process but is drug out over a time. That few hours difference is not likely to be noticeable.

I don’t know your schedule, but there is nothing wrong with storing the eggs for a few days before setting them if you wish. Just try to store them in a fairly cool place, 55 to 60 degrees being about perfect, and try to avoid temperature swings.

 

[mrwoodboat]

they turn the air handlers off on the weekends, that is why she wants to use the closet with the small heater to try to keep it a constant temp such that the incubator doesnt have to contend with such a huge temp swing. We were also thinking that we may put the bator in a very large box with pik foam insulation surrounding it on all 6 sides.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The eggs need to breathe, especially later in incubation. The first week or so them breathing is not a problem but later it is. Do what you can to avoid temperature swings, but don't go overboard.