How to Hatch Chicken Eggs

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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Hatching chicken eggs is a common science experiment in classrooms or at home. Children can learn a lot about nature and the growth process by watching chicken eggs hatch. If you are interested in hatching chicken eggs, follow these steps.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Incubator
Fertilized eggs

Getting Ready to Hatch Eggs

Step 1

Order fertilized eggs from a hatchery or from poultry farmers. The eggs should be medium sized and free from holes or cracks. If you are breeding chickens, the best way for the eggs to hatch is to allow the hens to sit on them. This is called setting.
Step 2

Choose an incubator. A forced-air incubator is large, great for large numbers of eggs and has a fan. A still-air incubator is smaller, hatches a fewer number of eggs and does not have a fan. Most experts prefer a forced-air incubator. Speak to a veterinarian or a poultry farmer to find out which incubator is best to for your needs.
Step 3

Test the incubator before putting eggs into it for about twenty-four hours to make sure the temperature and humidity stays consistent within the incubator. The incubator should be placed indoors and the room should have proper ventilation and the ability for moving air.

The Eggs and the Incubator

Step 1

Place the eggs into an incubator. The temperature will naturally go down in the incubator for the first few hours. Do not adjust the temperature for the first 48 hours after setting the eggs. The incubation period is about 21 days.
Step 2

Keep the temperature steady at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit in a forced-air incubator. In a still-air incubator, the temperature should be kept at about 102 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 3

Set the humidity at 58 to 60% and then increase it to 65% when the eggs start hatching.
Step 4

Turn the eggs about half a turn four to six times a day. However, do not turn the eggs within three days of hatching. Never set eggs with the small ends pointing upward. All the eggs should hatch within about twenty-four hours.
Step 5

Do not help any of the chicks out of the shells once the eggs start hatching. Chicks need to work their own way out of the egg for proper maturity.
Step 6

Clean the incubator after the eggs have hatched and before reusing the incubator.

Comments

diaz-farms said

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on 5/26/2009 NO IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT SEX THEY ARE.SAME TEMP FOR ALL CHICKEN EGGS. www.buyhatchingeggsonsale.com

Merdo11 said

on 4/19/2008 Step 4 is incorrect. You should always turn the eggs an ODD number of times per day so that in the time when you are sleeping each night a different side of the egg is up longest. To be sure of this, mark one side of each egg with an X and the other side with an O. Use a pencil, only. I suggest searching the internet for 4H embryology sites for more complete information on hatching chickens.