Urgent! Chicken Egg, No Incubator!

[Hopefully]

Hmmm a heating pad? I don't know, I'll ask my mom though! And of course, keep writing! I want all the help I can get!!!

awww thanks! This support is really making this so much easier!Hey I love the rice idea! I can actually do that

I'm scared to go to high school with an egg in my bra! OMG but I'm sure I'll remember this for the rest of my life haha

 

[Hopefully]

My mom said I have to buy the heating pad myself, I have about five bucks... how much are they? And I'm determined to make this work!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Really truly if you keep that egg in your bra while it is barely developed you will jostle that little chick to death.
Quiet and warm. No jiggling...
Get a box, put an old towel on the bottom and then the heating pad on top of the towel.
You will have to cut a hole in the side of the box to run the cord out of so you can plug it in.
Then put an old towel on the top of the heating pad (so you have a kind of sandwich)
Then put your egg(s) in there and close the box up. If you have a good thermometer put it in the box next to the eggs.
Dont use too big a box or it will be harder to keep it warm in there and you will have to check the thermometor and see if it needs to be higher setting (low, medium or high) to get the temp to 99.5 or up to 101 even. Try not to get it higher than that though
Just keep it between those numbers.
If you can, get a small container and put some water in it. Put this in the box too (don't let it get knocked over) This is to add humidity (eggs like some)
You need to turn the egg 1/2 way when you wake up in the morning, when you come home from school and before bed. You don't want to forget or the embryo may grow onto the shell and it will die when it hatches or even before. If you forgot once in awhile it will most likely be ok, but turn it at least 3 times a day. Don't let it go to sleep on the same side each night either. Mark an x on one side and an O or the date it should hatch out on the other side.
Do this for 18 days. Then stop turning it and leave it alone. Keep the water in the box too. Dont open the box until you hear the chick peeping and then only peek. If it is not hatched out, and you open the box, it makes it very very hard for the chick to get out of the shell.
Good luck to you.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Oh and my husband hatched out goose eggs when he was younger this way

 

[kcfuerst]

Gee Whiz, why can't mom chick just do her job? I don't get the worry.

 

[ChooksChick]

Another way to make a stable temperature is to use quart jars filled with warm water and wrap them in towels.

You'll need to put the eggs in a plastic box on a towel and cover them with yet another- lightly, because you want air to move around them. Now, surround them with jars, keeping a distance of several inches from the eggs- you can use a big Rubbermaid tote for the set-up. You can use a ton of jars if you have a bunch, and stand them up, or if you have fewer, lay them down. Fill them with water about 105 degrees, and wrap each one in a hand- or dish-towel. You can lay a thermometer on top of the eggs to see how the temp is- you'll need to change the water every 4 or 5 hours, but less if you have more jars. You can change the water in every other jar to keep it more stable. So long as you leave the eggs in the center, they ought not change so much while you change the water- just pull out the jars all at the same time, close the box until your water has all been replaced- keep the box closed as much as possible. You'll want some holes around the top and in the bottom to allow air flow.

Read the incubation posts in here- there are many that talk about optimum temp and humidity, and the reasons why...99.5-101 for temps, and generally around 50% humidity for the first 18 days seems to be the common idea.

I hatched out 2 chicks for the last 4 days using a combination of my bra, a heating pad, and warm water in jars- it was a ginormous pain and I was a train wreck of stress by the time it was over!!

Did you know the hatching part can take over 24 hours, and YOU CAN'T HELP THEM?!?!?! They can bleed to death in a heartbeat if you pick away even the tiniest bit of shell for them. It's an amazing and yet very complicated process.

I encourage you to do this, but I also strongly suggest you read through all of the stickies on the hatching and incubating page, and learn as much as you can before you do this- there are going to be questions you'll have in there, and you'll be far better off knowing in advance. With that reading done before starting, you'll know the right questions to ask, and you'll know the right people to ask, too!

This is a very inspirational, fabulous experience you shouldn't miss- I have been hatching here with my daughters, and they have learned a lot- it's been great for us to learn together.

I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO want you to also make sure you can make an incubator environment that can stay stable. Put something together and test it for a couple of days- use 2 thermometers so you know one isn't off, and make sure your environment can stay stable for 21 days- up and down is going to kill developing chicks. Only when you can feel confident of the stable environment should you put in any eggs, and the fresher the better. Give those 2 back to your mom and get some the day you decide it's right.

I just don't want you to get something going and then have a slip-up and lose your babies- that's heartbreaking, but very common.

Good luck!!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Wow, good to know about the jars of water! If there is ever a power outage and it's cold outside I am going to use that tip!!
Thanks

 

[Hopefully]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to get a heating pad tomorrow. So I just set the jar of water beside the eggs, the eggs don't touch the water... right? If not tomorrow, I'll get it the day after, whenever my mom can take me. But until then I've got to keep them warm. This is so tense, I'm going to try to keep them very stable until I get the box and heating pad set up. Please feel free to send more advice!!! Gosh, I am SO nervous... this is a very scary job. Oh, and I tried returning them to the mother hen, she ended up pecking one and denting it. So I cannot return these. Hopefully they make it. Nothing is impossible.

 

[Hopefully]

When I take my shower tonight, I'm going to put the eggs in a box. I just put some towels in the dryer, they're very warm right now. So that should keep them warm for ten minutes.

 

[fowltemptress]

If this is going to be something that will continue to bother you, can you build a separate little coop to keep the two roosters in? That way you won't have to keep feeling guilty about your mom cooking fertilized eggs.