Took them to science fair and lost one

[FarmSweetFarm]

We incubated 12 eggs. 2 hatched yesterday and we took the whole incubator to my son's science fair today. We plugged it in as soon as we got there and 2-3 hrs later one lay down, went to sleep and stopped breathing. One minute they were fine, chirping and crawling all over the over eggs, then she just died. Could they have been too stressed with people looking at them in a noisy room? The incubator stayed shut the whole time.

Is there any hope that the other 10 will hatch? The other chick seems a little stressed too. I feel so bad.

 

[debilorrah]

What was the reason for unplugging the bator and taking it somewhere?

 

[FarmSweetFarm]

It was my son's science fair project.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Well, I am sorry that happened. You can learn from this though. Never unplug the bator - they probably lost too much heat in the ride to the science fair. I bet the other eggs will hatch, but not if they got jostled around too much. It was probably not a good idea to transport it either.

Next time, plan the hatch so they are three to four days old when they go to the fair - they will still need a heat source though.

 

[miniwhipkey]

The incubator goes into lock down for a reason. You don't want temp change or humidity change. During a hatch unpluging the incubator can seriously do damage. I am sorry for your loss. Just a lesson learned.

 

[debilorrah]

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I think the OP didn't have the correct information going into this project, and probably didn't see the harm in doing what she did. As most of us do, she will learn from her mistake and not make the same one again.

 

[FarmSweetFarm]

I just wanted to share the experience with the other kids. When a hen hatches her own eggs, she gets off the nest sometimes right? I thought they'd be ok as long as we kept it shut and plugged it in as soon as we got there.

 

[canada-goose]

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They don't get off for the last few days and the eggs don't get jostled while the hen is gone.

I'm sorry about the chicks.

 

[debilorrah]

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Incubating is different from a bird sitting on the eggs. You notice that the only movement a hen does to the eggs is turn them, which is what a turner in an incubator does. I'm sure the kids would love to see it from start to end, so maybe donate your time to the school and let them incubate some eggs in the classroom. You could teach them about adding water for humidity and why the temp has to be at a certain level. Then they would probably get to see them hatch, which is something they would never forget!

I apologize if I sounded harsh, that was not my intent.

 

[FarmSweetFarm]

I homeschool, so there is no school to donate my time too. This was a homeschool science fair. I understand what you're saying. It was a bad decision.

I did have them in a seat beat in the car.

The other one seems like she's doing better now.