Hatching Eggs

Setting Up Our Incubator

This is for our incubator. Make sure to read your incubators owners manual before beginning!

Temperature Settings: 99.5°F-101°F
Humidity Setting:
Day 1-18, 50-60%
Day 18-21 65%-75%

Chicken Embryo Development

This is a wonderful video from AXS Biomedical Animation Studio Inc., that shows the development of chicks inside of an egg. It allows for kid and adults to see what is happening inside the egg.

The Parts of an Egg

This video discussed the parts of an egg.
Vocabulary:
Embryo- The unborn chick at the earliest stage of development.
Shell- The hard, thin, outside layer of an egg that is not edible.
Air Cell- This forms at the large end of the egg and is where the chick turns to as it develops
Albumin- This is known as the "egg white" and protects the yolk, it also provides protein for the embryo.
Chalazae- Part of the Albumin and attaches the egg yolk to the shell.
Yolk- The yellowfins or orange part of the egg that is nutritional for the chick.

Candling Eggs- Day 7

On Day 7 we do our first candling. You will need a very dark room and a bright flashlight. By Day 7 you will be able to see the beginnings of chick development. Visible in the egg will be veins and if you're lucky you will be able to see movement inside the egg.

Make sure you don't keep your eggs out long!

Candling Eggs- Day 14

On Day 14, we will do our second candling. You will need the same things as day 7. A dark room and a bright flashlight/candler.

Today you will see how much the chicks have grown inside the egg since last time. This time if you notice an egg is not developing it is time to discard the egg. If you do not you are risking the eggs exploding and no one wants to smell that!

Watch A Chick Hatch!!!

What an incredible sight it is to watch a chick hatch! It may take the chick a while to unzip itself and completely hatch after pipping. So once you see a pip don't be too surprised if it takes sometime for them to emerge!

Vocabulary-
Pip- The first break the chick makes in the shell at hatching time.