I want to share our experience. I am a science teacher and our class decided to so an experiment of mass weight on eggs throughout the incubation process. Our 1st try with 2 dozen eggs none hatched. We came up with the variables of what might have effected the process.
One of the variables was that a child who brought in the eggs brought them in dirty. We knew they could not be washed, so we went on with the process with eggs after having had saw research that bacteria from dirty eggs can have a negative outcome. By the end of 3 weeks the stench was disgusting. The eggs all lost weight over the 21 days which gave the students data on the mass question.
For the 2nd attempt I went and purchased 2 dozen lavender Orpington Eggs and the lovely breeder gave me a 3rd dozen to help with the project. I immediately the following day on a Sunday went into the school and placed them into the incubator and got them started. My husband suggested that maybe the thermometer might have been wrong due to what comes with the incubator is very cheep. He gave me a digital thermometer to use.
On Monday morning I placed the digital thermometer in to get a 2nd reading to check the thermometer and while the manual one read 99.5 the digital read 106.6. I panicked and turned down the incubator immediately and got it to 99.5 digitally. We had the hydrometer in as well and the humidity is set right.
On day 18 I caught the stomach flu all the students had and had to go home sick. I brought the eggs home with me (12 minute ride) because they were due to hatch that Sunday and being sick I felt like I needed to err on the side of caution.
On Sunday nothing, not a sign. On Monday nothing, not a sign, On Tuesday afternoon nothing, not a sign. My husband went out to the shed and found 3 more thermometers and when I arrived home from school I saw all these Thermometers. He said he wanted to check the accuracy of the digital one and it is 7 degrees higher then all the rest, it is the digital one that is wrong. My stomach sunk. I had to tell the students that the second batch was not going to work. I was so disappointed. They were all disappointed as well.
I remember having had read that sometimes if the temperature is a "little" low that it may take an extra couple of days. I said to my husband lets just leave it and see. He had his doubts and so did I but I wanted to try. There is no smell this time so it can't hurt.
As of last night Friday day 26, nothing, not a thing. In the morning I will have to dispose of the eggs. Here it is Saturday morning, Day 27. We hear peeping. We look into the incubator and there is one egg piping. I am so excited. I don't know how many out of the three dozen will hatch but we have one that is pipping. The hole is maybe 3 cm in diameter. We can see the little baby moving.
Today I was going to clean up the incubator journal the possible variables that led to the failure. Maybe it was patience, Maybe it was prayer but we have at least one baby chick.
Now we have a new experimental question. The temperature variable and hatchability. Now to keep the patience and leave them alone while the process continues.
One of the variables was that a child who brought in the eggs brought them in dirty. We knew they could not be washed, so we went on with the process with eggs after having had saw research that bacteria from dirty eggs can have a negative outcome. By the end of 3 weeks the stench was disgusting. The eggs all lost weight over the 21 days which gave the students data on the mass question.
For the 2nd attempt I went and purchased 2 dozen lavender Orpington Eggs and the lovely breeder gave me a 3rd dozen to help with the project. I immediately the following day on a Sunday went into the school and placed them into the incubator and got them started. My husband suggested that maybe the thermometer might have been wrong due to what comes with the incubator is very cheep. He gave me a digital thermometer to use.
On Monday morning I placed the digital thermometer in to get a 2nd reading to check the thermometer and while the manual one read 99.5 the digital read 106.6. I panicked and turned down the incubator immediately and got it to 99.5 digitally. We had the hydrometer in as well and the humidity is set right.
On day 18 I caught the stomach flu all the students had and had to go home sick. I brought the eggs home with me (12 minute ride) because they were due to hatch that Sunday and being sick I felt like I needed to err on the side of caution.
On Sunday nothing, not a sign. On Monday nothing, not a sign, On Tuesday afternoon nothing, not a sign. My husband went out to the shed and found 3 more thermometers and when I arrived home from school I saw all these Thermometers. He said he wanted to check the accuracy of the digital one and it is 7 degrees higher then all the rest, it is the digital one that is wrong. My stomach sunk. I had to tell the students that the second batch was not going to work. I was so disappointed. They were all disappointed as well.
I remember having had read that sometimes if the temperature is a "little" low that it may take an extra couple of days. I said to my husband lets just leave it and see. He had his doubts and so did I but I wanted to try. There is no smell this time so it can't hurt.
As of last night Friday day 26, nothing, not a thing. In the morning I will have to dispose of the eggs. Here it is Saturday morning, Day 27. We hear peeping. We look into the incubator and there is one egg piping. I am so excited. I don't know how many out of the three dozen will hatch but we have one that is pipping. The hole is maybe 3 cm in diameter. We can see the little baby moving.
Today I was going to clean up the incubator journal the possible variables that led to the failure. Maybe it was patience, Maybe it was prayer but we have at least one baby chick.
Now we have a new experimental question. The temperature variable and hatchability. Now to keep the patience and leave them alone while the process continues.
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