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I stated that they could go for 3 or 4 days just to let you know not to worry about them but I do agree with Hangin Wit My Peeps about giving them water earlier and I usually have mine out of the bater in about 12 hours also. If you have a brooder set up and ready for them by all means put them in it with some food and water. The kids will enjoy watching them run around also.
The little black one with the umbilical cord was all dry and fluffy in the morning with no sign of the cord, yea! I didn't have brooder set up yet, so I kept them all in the bator another night. I was able to get a lamp that evening, so was able to get everything set up and running before the kiddos came in the morning. Well, the class had all been over to the brooder to look at the chicks, and we were sitting down to circle time when I heard a crash. I looked over to see the lamp had fallen over and smoke was coming up from the brooder. Well, I immediately raced over, scooped up the chicks and stuck them back into the bator. Turns out the lamp I got can only handle a 40 walt bulb. The one I had in it was much hotter than that of course, and it had overheated, and the glue that attatched the glass bulb to the socket had become loose, and bulb fell out of the socket. No chick was hurt, but I was in tough bind to find something to use a new heat source for the remainder of the morning. I really wanted the kids to be able to watch the chicks in the brooder, and I was worried that the chicks would need water. I had also bought everything for the brooder and didn't want it to go to waste! About the only light source we have in the whole school is an overhead projector, so that's what I used! (I also used it as my candler, works great). It was hard figuring out how to postion it, and it really only focuses the heat in this direct beam in one spot, but it worked well enough for the day. Burned through the paper towels, though.
Chicks didn't really hang under the light, but they didn't really huddle for warmth in some far coner either. So now I know for next year, right?! Chicks went back with the girl who gave us the eggs today, all and in all, it was a sucessful hatch! Thanks!
I'm glad it all worked out for you.
Maybe the girl who gave you the eggs would have a friendly hen or rooster she might bring in for a little while to show the kids what the chicks would look like when the grew up. We always think "cute little chickies" but a friend of mine brought his granddaughter out the other day and she was just as interested in the mama and papa chickens as she was the babies. Just an idea.
